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Written Question
Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Facilities
Friday 13th January 2023

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure adequate toilet and washing facilities for HGV drivers.

Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

On 24 November Transport Minister launched the HGV parking and driver welfare grant-scheme.

The Department will be investing £32.5 million match-funding to assist operators to improve HGV parking and facilities. This is in addition to the previously announced £20m National Highways match-funding.

These funding schemes are going towards supporting lorry parking operators to make improvements such as enhancing security, showers, toilets and eating facilities as well as possibly increasing spaces for lorry drivers.


Written Question
Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Facilities
Tuesday 26th April 2022

Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to review facilities for commercial vehicle drivers.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

We are undertaking a new National Lorry Parking Survey supported by direct industry engagement to help identify where improvements are most needed.

HGV drivers will also benefit from £20 million National Highways funding, to improve roadside facilities, as part of continued Government action with industry to boost driver welfare and tackle the effects of the global driver shortage in the UK. This is in addition to the £32.5 million funding previously announced. The funding takes the total Government investment in driver facilities to £52.5 million.


Written Question
Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Facilities
Thursday 3rd March 2022

Asked by: Dehenna Davison (Conservative - Bishop Auckland)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that there is an adequate supply of rest areas for HGV drivers.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

The Government recognises the need to ensure hauliers have access to appropriate services and facilities.

We are aware of the concerns expressed by many HGV drivers about the provision, quality and value of lorry parking in the UK. We have announced £32.5 million in new funding to improve roadside facilities for hauliers and are undertaking a new National Lorry Parking Survey supported by direct industry engagement to help identify where improvements are most needed. We continue to engage with key stakeholders to encourage the development of safe, secure and high-quality lorry parking.

The National Planning Policy Framework already sets out that local planning policies and decisions should recognise the importance of providing overnight lorry parking facilities, taking into account any local shortages, to reduce the risk of parking in locations that lack proper facilities or could cause a nuisance.

The Government recently published a Written Ministerial Statement to reinforce the importance of providing hauliers with access to parking and services.

The Department for Transport continues to work with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUCH) to highlight the criteria and consideration for lorry parking with Local Authorities.


Written Question
Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Facilities
Thursday 24th February 2022

Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to (a) improve rest facilities for HGV drivers and (b) ensure the safety of lorries in refuge areas.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

(a) The Government recognises the need to ensure hauliers have access to appropriate services and facilities.

We are aware of the concerns expressed by many HGV drivers about the provision, quality and value of lorry parking in the UK. We have announced £32.5 million in new funding to improve roadside facilities for hauliers and are undertaking a new National Lorry Parking Survey supported by direct industry engagement to help identify where improvements are most needed. We continue to engage with key stakeholders to encourage the development of safe, secure and high-quality lorry parking.

(b) Safety remains our top priority and our motorways are the safest type of road in the country.

On motorways where the hard shoulder has been converted to a traffic lane, there is a whole system of inter-related features, working together to help drivers. They include clearly signed and orange-coloured emergency areas set back from the road to provide greater protection than a hard shoulder and with telephones linking directly to our control rooms.

Emergency areas are available for when a driver has no alternative but to stop and it has not been possible to leave the motorway or reach a motorway service area. They are approximately 100 meters long (the average length of a football pitch) by 4.6 meters wide and set back from the left-hand edge of the motorway.

A Smart Motorway Driver Education Course was designed and developed jointly between National Highways and Logistics UK specifically for the freight sector. Its core objective is to help improve drivers’ understanding of smart motorways and how to use them. It is available free of charge and is recognised by JAUPT (the Joint Approvals Unit for Periodic Training) as part of professional drivers’ formal accreditation. Since its launch in 2018 it has been supplied to more than 150 organisations with almost 400 courses delivered to more than 2,800 delegates.


Written Question
Supply Chains
Tuesday 22nd February 2022

Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the article in The House magazine published 7 February 2022, entitled Shelf Preservation Society, if he will publish details of (a) the 32 actions that the Government has taken to support the UK's supply chain, (b) the cost of those actions and (c) his assessment of their effectiveness.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

The Government has published details of the 32 specific measures to deal with the shortage of HGV drivers on Gov.uk at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/hgv-driver-shortage-uk-government-response/about#stay-up-to-date

Costs of the Measures

  • The cost of processing visas for up to 4,700 HGV drivers for the food industry and 300 fuel drivers were borne by the transport operators and included travel, accommodation and the costs of the visas.
  • The cost of processing endorsements for the fuel drivers was met within existing Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy budgets.
  • The extension of cabotage rights for foreign hauliers in the UK to 30 April 2022 has no direct implementation cost to Government.
  • £500,000 was added to the Mode Shift Revenue Support grant scheme
  • The cost of the HGV Skills Bootcamps to train just over 11,000 more people to become HGV drivers is £34 million.
  • Large Goods Vehicle Driver and Urban Driver apprenticeships are funded through the Apprenticeship Levy.
  • The closing date for applications for the £3,000 incentive payment to employers who employed an apprentice is 15 May 2022. Therefore, costs are not yet available.
  • Data is not yet available on how many learners have benefitted from the extra funding for adults who completes a vocational qualification in HGV driving through the adult education budget in the 2021 to 2022 academic year. Therefore, the cost cannot yet be calculated.
  • The cost of the Department for Work and Pension’s driver training pilot delivered through Jobcentre Plus is £82,150.
  • Road to Logistics received £1 million in grant funding.
  • Think Logistics received £50,000 in grant funding.
  • The provisional cost of deploying 24 Ministry of Defence driving examiners to conduct vocational driving tests was £281,000 per month for up to 3 months.
  • The measures to make it easier for former armed forces personnel to qualify as HGV drivers was funded through existing Ministry of Defence budgets.
  • The cost of the letter sent to nearly 1 million HGV drivers was £224,509.04 including printing, overheads and postage.
  • The cost of the review of HGV parking and facilities will be a maximum of £360,038.05 (excluding VAT).
  • £32.5 million is being invested in roadside facilities for HGV drivers, such as security, showers, toilets and eating areas.
  • The flexible support fund is an existing budget to help jobseekers and those on Universal Credit reenter the workplace and is available for Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) training if appropriate.
  • The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Ministry of Defence continue to work together to ensure accurate costs of mobilising military tanker drivers to help make fuel deliveries are captured and re-charged to the haulage industry as appropriate under Military Aid to the Civil Authorities principles and pre-agreed contingency arrangements.
  • The cost of suspension of the HGV road user levy until August 2023 is set out at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/heavy-goods-vehicle-hgv-levy-suspension/heavy-goods-vehicle-hgv-levy-suspension
  • Other measures such as the relaxation of drivers’ hours, restrictions on late night deliveries, extension of driver qualifications and changes to regulation have been undertaken using existing departmental budgets.
  • Increases in the number of vocational driving tests taken and the number of driving licence applications received provides addition income for the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency. These schemes operate on the basis that users pay fees to cover costs.

Assessment of Effectiveness

These measures are working to assist reducing the driver shortage and its consequences.

For example, the number of available HGV driving tests has increased by over 100% compared to pre-pandemic levels and currently stands at 3,200 tests per week. Test capacity now exceeds demand, and the provision of vocational tests is not a barrier to people becoming HGV drivers. Despite the increase in vocational driving licence applications and licence renewals are being processed within five working days, unless further medical checks are required.

Recent assessments by industry bodies such as Logistics UK suggest that the shortfall in drivers is already reducing.


Written Question
Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Facilities
Friday 7th January 2022

Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve roadside facilities for HGV drivers.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

The Government recognises the need to ensure hauliers have access to appropriate services and facilities.

We will be investing £32.5 million in roadside facilities for HGV drivers on the road.

The Department continues to engage with key stakeholders to encourage the development of more safe, secure, and high-quality lorry parking to improve driver welfare.


Written Question
Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Facilities
Thursday 4th November 2021

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to improve roadside facilities for HGV drivers.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

The Government recognises the need to ensure hauliers have access to appropriate services and facilities.

This week, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced we will be investing £32.5 million in roadside facilities for HGV drivers on the road.

The Department will continue to engage with key stakeholders to encourage the development of more safe, secure, and high-quality lorry parking to improve driver welfare.


Written Question
Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Vacancies
Thursday 28th October 2021

Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Statement by the Secretary of State for Transport on 18 October (HCWS311), what are the “25 proactive actions” that are being taken to address the shortage of HGV drivers.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The 25 proactive actions are:

To increase efficiency in existing supply chains.

1.Temporary extension of drivers’ hours to allow short-term extra flexibility to the industry.

2. Relaxation of late-night delivery restrictions to supermarkets, food retailers, and distribution centres in England providing greater operational flexibility.

3. 4,700 HGV drivers were added to the existing visa scheme to help food industries with driver shortages during exceptional circumstances this year. Up to an additional 300 fuel drivers are also being allowed to come to the UK immediately through a separate scheme.

4. Opened consultation on increasing cabotage for foreign hauliers in the UK to make their trips more efficient.

To support and train new HGV drivers.

5. Department for Education is investing up to £10 million to create new skills bootcamps to train up to 5,000 more people to become HGV drivers.

6. New £7,000 Large Goods Vehicle Driver apprenticeships launched 1 August 2021.

7. Expansion of DWP driver training pilot delivered through Jobcentre Plus to bring job-seekers into the industry.

8. Temporary incentive payment of £3,000 for employers taking on a new apprentice until 31 January 2022.

9. Accelerated development of new Urban Driver Apprenticeship for Category C driving.

10. DfT provided grant funding to Road to Logistics (a national, not for profit, logistics training organisation) which is working with the Welsh Government and HM Prison Service to train ex-offenders to drive lorries as well as supporting the Jobcentre Plus pilot.

11. Additional Government funding for both medical and HGV licences for any adult who completes an HGV driving qualification accessed through the Adult Education Budget in academic year 2021/22.

12. DfT provided grant funding to Think Logistics which, with Career Ready, is working to attract young people to the profession.

To expand HGV driver testing capacity and improving licencing processes.

13. DVSA has increased the number of HGV vocational driving tests by 90% compared to pre-pandemic levels through measures including overtime and allocating additional employees into testing, alongside the recently introduced capacity from Defence Driving Examiners.

14. Regulatory changes on trailer towing test requirements, staging of HGV tests and reversing manoeuvres to increase the number of HGV tests following consultation and the entry into force of new legislation.

15. Recruitment campaign launched 16 August for 40 new vocational examiners.

16. The MOD is providing Defence Driving Examiners to be trained and redeployed to conduct civilian tests with the DVSA until the end of the year.

17. New legislation to allow delegated driving examiners at the three emergency services and the MOD to be able to conduct driving tests for one another.

18. DVLA operational prioritisation to process provisional HGV driving licences has reduced processing time to around five working days. Most drivers applying to renew their HGV licence can continue driving while their application is being processed.

To attracting drivers back to the sector and improving conditions.

19. Public messaging and direct letters to existing HGV licence holders not driving professionally (i.e. those who do not hold a Driver CPC card) to encourage them to consider returning to HGV driving.

20. Support for industry-led communications efforts to promote and improve the image of the sector including an industry-led proposal for Year of Logistics, the promotion of good practice and an International Road Transport Union’s driver charter.

21. A review of lorry parking and facilities.

22. Flexible support funding for job seekers and those on Universal Credit who hold an HGV licence towards the costs of obtaining Driver Certificates of Professional Competence required for most professional lorry or bus driving.

To address the interruptions to fuel supplies.

23. Extension of ADR (Dangerous Goods) licence validity for those expiring between 27 September 2021 and 31 December 2021 until 31 January 2022, providing immediate relief to the shortage of fuel drivers by permitting affected drivers to maximise their available capacity instead of being taken out of circulation for refresher training purposes.

24. Targeted communications to ADR licence holders through the Training Advisory Panel Secretariat to make ADR members aware of the extension to ADR licences validity periods and to encourage their members and all ADR driver training providers to increase their capacity for providing the full initial ADR driver training courses.

25. Military tanker drivers have been mobilised to assist in fuel deliveries.


Written Question
Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Facilities
Wednesday 27th October 2021

Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to encourage more rest stop facilities to be made available for lorry drivers on the UK's road freight transport routes; and if he will examine all options for what more could be done to increase the number of facilities available to those drivers.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

The Government recognises the need to ensure hauliers have access to appropriate services and facilities.

Building on a 2020 review, my Department continues to engage with key stakeholders to encourage the development of safe, secure and high-quality lorry parking. This includes the sharing of information and good practice, such as overcoming planning barriers to the development of lorry parks, improving standards of security / facilities to improve driver welfare and exploring the benefits of innovation and new technology.


Written Question
Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Facilities
Thursday 21st October 2021

Asked by: Holly Mumby-Croft (Conservative - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve the (a) access to and (b) quality of service station facilities for haulage drivers in the UK.

Answered by Trudy Harrison

We recognise the important contribution that hauliers make to the nation’s economy and are aware of the concerns expressed by many drivers, operators and residents about the provision and quality of lorry parking in the UK. We are committed to looking at both established and new approaches to increase the provision for improved overnight lorry parking in England, along with developing innovative approaches to provide more capacity.

Through the Department for Transport (DfT) Circular 02/2013 "The Strategic Road Network and the Delivery of Sustainable Development", we ensure that Motorway Service Area operators provide, at a minimum, free short-term parking for up to two hours for all types of vehicle allowing people to take a break, use the facilities and or eat a meal as required.

Building on a 2020 review of lorry parking, the department continues to engage with key stakeholders to encourage the development of safe, secure and high-quality lorry parking. This includes the sharing of information and good practice, such as overcoming planning barriers to the development of lorry parks, improving standards of security and facilities to improve driver welfare, and exploring the benefits of innovation and new technology.