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Petrol station closures spark lorry driver row Petrol station closures spark lorry driver row
(about 2 hours later)
A BP petrol station in Worcester was closed on Thursday due a lack of fuel The closure of some petrol stations has reignited a row over lorry driver shortages in the UK.
The closure of some petrol stations has reignited a row over lorry driver shortages, which have disrupted supply chains across the UK. A "handful" of BP stations, and a small number of Esso-owned Tesco Alliance stations, were closed on Thursday due to a lack of delivery drivers.
A "handful" of BP stations were closed due to a lack of available fuel, as well as a small number of Esso-owned Tesco Alliance stations on Thursday.
Driver shortages have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit.Driver shortages have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit.
The Road Haulage Association has urged the government to reconsider relaxing visa requirements for lorry drivers. The Road Haulage Association says the UK is 100,000 drivers short, and has urged the government to relax visa restrictions for foreign workers.
Rod McKenzie, managing director of policy for the trade body, said ministers were rejecting calls for short-term visas to be introduced. But the government said it wanted employers to make "long-term investments in the UK domestic workforce instead of relying on labour from abroad".
"We simply can't supply at the normal rate, we don't have enough lorry drivers, and this is pretty universal," he said. While the UK does not lack petrol and diesel at refineries, getting it to forecourts has been a problem in some areas.
Mr McKenzie said consumers would not run out of food or fuel, but he said that supplies would be squeezed. It is the latest problem caused by driver shortages, which have already led to supply problems in other industries, including supermarkets.
"If you're supplying Esso and you usually make five deliveries a week to their petrol station in Falkirk, or wherever, you might cut that down to two or three," he said. Rod McKenzie, policy director of the RHA, said: "Everything we get in Britain comes on the back of a lorry - whether it's fuel or food or clothes.
"Something urgently needs to be done by the government.""Something urgently needs to be done by the government."
The industry body estimates that there is currently a shortfall of about 100,000 workers. On foreign workers, he said: "We've asked for a short-term measure - it's very short-term - to allow drivers onto the shortage occupation list, and look at seasonal visas for overseas drivers, not European necessarily."
The government said it wanted employers to make "long-term investments in the UK domestic workforce instead of relying on labour from abroad". He added "we do need to attract a new generation of Brits into the industry...we need to make the industry more attractive".
Supply chain problems Supermarket Iceland - which is about 100 drivers short - joined Morrisons and Ocado in calling for the government to add HGV drivers to the list of shortage occupations.
Businesses across the food and fuel sectors have been complaining about the UK's shortage of lorry drivers, which is causing serious supply chain problems. That would allow foreign workers to apply for skilled worker visas to fill the current gaps.
Supply chain delays had been "impacted by industry wide driver shortages across the UK" and that the company was working hard to address the issues, BP said in a statement on Thursday. "I think the solution - even if it's temporary - is very, very simple," said Iceland managing director Richard Walker. "Let's get HGV drivers onto the skilled worker list."
Esso said that a "small number" of its 200 Tesco Alliance retail sites were also affected on Thursday and apologised to customers for any inconvenience. Why is there a shortage of lorry drivers?
Supermarkets Morrisons and Ocado have also called on the government to add HGV drivers to its skills shortage jobs list to allow workers from the European Union (EU) to fill the current gap. 50,000 more lorry driver tests promised a year
BP closes some sites due to lorry driver shortage Mr McKenzie said that, on top of a historic shortage of drivers, the industry had lost 20,000 European drivers due to Brexit, while the pandemic had forced 40,000 driver training tests to be cancelled.
Ministers weigh up visa changes to fix staff shortage He told BBC Newsnight that consumers should not expect "absolutely no fuel or food" but said there would be some shortages. Downing Street said people should continue buying fuel as normal.
How serious is the HGV driver shortage? Businesses across the food, fuel and construction sectors have been complaining about driver shortages for months.
Speaking on the BBC's Question Time programme on Thursday night, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said that he believed the shortages had also been caused because of working conditions that "hadn't been pleasant". BP temporarily closed a number of petrol stations earlier in summer, when driver shortages also caused short-term supply problems for McDonald's, Nandos, and the pub chain Wetherspoons.
When asked if he would be looking at changes to visas to address workforce shortages, he said that he would not "rule out anything". Some councils have also been forced to cancel bin collections.
But he insisted that the "bottleneck" was getting new drivers tested and bringing people back into the job market after the pandemic. On Thursday, BP - which has 1,200 petrol stations in the UK - said it was working hard to address the latest issues, and was prioritising getting fuel to the busiest service stations such as those on motorways.
Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen also suggested that drivers were being put off accepting jobs due to pay being suppressed by EU workers. Esso said that a "small number" of its 200 Tesco Alliance retail sites were affected on Thursday, and apologised to customers for any inconvenience.
"We're not short of HGV drivers per se, we've got 600,000 qualified to drive those trucks." Conservative MP @ABridgen tells #Newsnight the UK’s shortage of lorry drivers is due to their pay being suppressed by EU workers https://t.co/JsMatqX6kY pic.twitter.com/xRBfaYaZs5 A survey by the Road Haulage Association of its members this year reported a number of reasons for the shortage
Mr Shapps told the BBC that the government was "happy to see" higher salaries being offered to drivers by various retailers and haulage firms as a result of the shortages. Speaking on BBC Question Time on Thursday evening, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps suggested visa changes would not solve the problem, but said nothing had been ruled out.
But Shadow Justice Secretary David Lammy said that visas were needed for various sectors across the economy, adding: "You promised that immigration would come down and you know that it will need to go up if we are to deal with these problems." He said the "bottleneck" had been caused by getting new drivers qualified and bringing people back into the job market after the pandemic.
In recent weeks, the Department for Transport has made it quicker for HGV drivers to get their licences. He also said working conditions "hadn't been pleasant" and that the government was "happy to see" higher salaries being offered to drivers.
The coronavirus pandemic and drivers from Europe returning to the EU after Brexit have contributed to a lack of qualified drivers in the UK. But shadow justice secretary David Lammy said visas were needed in various sectors, telling Mr Shapps: "You promised that immigration would come down and you know that it will need to go up if we are to deal with these problems."
Tax changes to the IR35 rules have also made it more expensive for drivers from elsewhere in Europe to work or be employed in the UK. Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen said there was "an endemic problem with retention and recruitment" in the industry.
But the government has so far resisted calls for changes to post-Brexit immigration rules for drivers. "We're actually not short of HGV drivers per se - we've got 600,000 people who are qualified to drive those big trucks, but only 300,000 people chose to work in the industry," he told BBC Newsnight.
A government spokesperson said: "We are closely monitoring labour supply and working with sector leaders to understand how we can best ease particular pinch points. Similar challenges are being faced by other countries around the world. "Pay and conditions have been suppressed for a very long term by bringing in EU migrants who are willing to work for those wages and conditions."
"We want to see employers make long term investments in the UK domestic workforce instead of relying on labour from abroad," they added. Mr Bridgen suggested the industry needed to modernise and improve working conditions to retain young drivers.
The average age of a heavy good vehicle (HGV) driver is 55, with less than 1% under the age of 25, according to the Road Haulage Association.
In its recent survey of 616 hauliers, retiring colleagues and Brexit topped the list of reasons behind the driver shortages.
Respondents also cited tax changes to rules known as IR35, which have made it more expensive for hauliers from elsewhere in Europe to work or be employed in the UK.
In recent weeks, the Department for Transport has made it quicker for HGV drivers to get their licences, but the RHA criticised the changes as a risk to road safety.
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