Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Transport Sector Vacancies and Shortage Occupations

Thursday 13 October 2022 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • The Department regularly reviews the impact of labour shortages on the transport industry
  • There are 54,000 vacancies in the transport and storage sector
  • The transport employment and skills taskforce is identifying and addressing shortages of skills and jobs across the transport sector

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Owen Thompson SNP
Employment Transport
Context

The MP raised concerns about labour shortages and potential merits of expanding the shortage occupation list for the transport sector, specifically noting recent discussions with the Home Secretary.

Question

Whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the (a) level of vacancies and (b) potential merits of expanding the shortage occupation list in the transport sector.

Answer from Anne-Marie Trevelyan

The Department regularly reviews the impact of labour shortages on the transport industry. Currently, there are 54,000 vacancies in the transport and storage sector, so my officials are in frequent contact with Home Office colleagues to ensure that the needs of the transport industry are reflected in their next review of the shortage occupation list.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific merits of expanding the shortage occupation list were not addressed

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Q2 Owen Thompson SNP
Employment Transport Brexit
Context

The MP highlighted issues with HGV driver shortages, exacerbated by Brexit and COVID-19. He noted that recruitment from the bus driving sector has led to significant driver shortages, cuts in timetables, service cancellations across the UK, impacting passengers and net zero ambitions.

Question

Despite issues remaining for many, the HGV driver shortages, exacerbated by Brexit and covid, have marginally improved and drivers are now receiving the higher pay they rightfully deserve, although working conditions remain an issue. Many of the recruits are coming from the bus driving sector, which is causing significant driver shortages, cuts to timetables and service cancellations across the UK, and which is having an impact on passengers and net zero ambitions. What recent discussions has the Secretary of State had with the Home Secretary on expanding the shortage occupation list to include bus drivers?

Answer from Anne-Marie Trevelyan

The newly established transport employment and skills taskforce is already taking steps to identify and address the shortage of skills and jobs across the transport sector that we face now, and it is thinking about how we tackle this for the future. We are supporting new HGV driver training through apprenticeships and we are working with the Department for Work and Pensions to support jobseekers to become HGV drivers. We want to make sure that we grow this pool.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific discussions about expanding the shortage occupation list to include bus drivers were not addressed

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