Government of U.K. may announce temporary visa scheme till christmas for foreign lorry drivers due to shortage of HGV drivers
The Government of United Kingdom (U.K.) is all set to announce new temporary visa scheme on Sunday, i.e., September 26, 2021, to make it easier for foreign lorry drivers to work in the U.K.
The change is being done to address the shortage of drivers which has disrupted fuel deliveries, with some petrol stations closing and others witnessing queues.
The changes to immigration rules would be for a limited period only and there would be a cap on the number of workers allowed to enter the country. As of now, only 5,000 visas would be issued.
The Road Haulage Association (RHA), a U.K. based trade body of road haulage estimated the U.K. is short of about 100,000 Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) drivers. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) and the post-Brexit rules have further made it difficult to have drivers on board. The new immigration rule which came post-Brexit made it difficult to have cheap foreign labour. The companies had to rely on U.K. based labours, train them and pay them better wages.
Taking it to twitter, RHA tweeted,
“There really is no reason for panic buying – there is no fuel shortage. But there is a shortage of drivers to deliver it at the instant that it’s needed. Just be patient and we’ll get through this.” @RHAKateGibbs https://t.co/dHi5QCPTjn
— RHA News (@RHANews) September 25, 2021
Taking about U.K. issuing temporary visas, Rod McKenzie, Managing Director of Policy & Public Affairs, RHA tweeted,
If this 👇turns out to be true it’s a major win for @RHANews in our long campaign on #lorrydriver shortage: But temp visas won’t solve it – much more needs to be done on training, apprenticeships, testing and welfare facilities for truckers https://t.co/aQhch3ifKB
— Rod McKenzie (@RHARodMcKenzie) September 25, 2021
The Government said it has ensured there is no fuel shortage at refineries and urged people not to panic buy. The Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth, U.K. – Greg Hands said fewer than 1% of petrol stations were closed and there was easily enough petrol available for normal use at this time of year. He even said that Brexit made it easier to become an HGV driver and help make the profession more attractive through higher wages.
The Government has called on drivers to be sensible to consider filling up another time and to avoid stockpiling fuel in jerry cans. Meanwhile, the continued shortage of hauliers threatens more disruption to deliveries of petrol, food and other goods.
Nike and Costco have already warned of product shortages and delays. Sainsbury’s said it was experiencing high demand for fuel, with a tiny proportion of sites temporarily closed.
BP, the British multinational oil and gas company said that 20 of its 1,200 petrol forecourts are closed, and 50 -100 sites have been affected by the loss of at least one grade of fuel. A small number of Tesco refilling stations have also been impacted. EG Group, which has 341 petrol stations in the U.K., is introducing a limit of £30 per customer on all grades of fuel due to unprecedented customer demand. One petrol station in Stockport sold 5,280 gallons (24,000 litres) of fuel on Friday as compared to 1,760 gallons (8,000 litres) on the same day the previous week.
