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26-09-2021
LONDON: A temporary visa scheme to make it easier for foreign lorry drivers to work in the UK is set to run for three months, ending on Christmas eve.
It is understood that about 5,000 temporary visas could be issued, with more details expected on Sunday.
A shortage of drivers has disrupted fuel deliveries, with some petrol stations closing, and queues forming.
The government has said there is no fuel shortage at refineries, and urged people not to panic buy and the president of the AA also said panic-buying rather than supply chain issues was driving the shortage of fuel at some petrol stations.
Edmund King added that the problem should pass in a matter of days if drivers only fill up when they need it, adding “there is plenty of fuel at source”.
MPs and police forces have called on drivers to be “sensible”, to consider filling up another time, and to avoid stockpiling fuel in jerry cans.
One petrol station boss from Ferndale, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, appealed for calm amid continued high demand for fuel on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the continued shortage of hauliers threatens more disruption to deliveries of petrol, food and other goods.
The Road Haulage Association estimates that the UK is short of about 100,000 HGV drivers – with existing shortages made worse by a number of factors, including the pandemic and Brexit.
The foreign drivers eligible for visas will not be limited to the EU, but the expectation is most of the drivers will be from Europe.
A raft of longer-term measures including training up more drivers and addressing the backlog of driving tests, are also to be introduced by ministers.
Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood welcomed the introduction of the temporary visa but said this would not help overnight.
As well as training more domestic drivers and speeding-up testing, Ellwood outlined other “imaginative ideas”.
“We could retrain hundreds of Afghan refugees many of them are over here, they drove much bigger HGVs in their own countries,” he said. “There are solutions out there but we need to act.”
Jennifer Ward, a student paramedic of three years for Medicare EMS, which provides 999 frontline supports to the East of England Ambulance Service, said she had to travel to five stations to get diesel for her ambulance.
She was eventually able to use the lorry pumps at a petrol station in Chelmsford.
The 21-year-old said: “No patient care was delayed because of this, ambulances were still being sent to jobs.
Matt McDonnell, chief executive of Medicare EMS, said a member of staff cancelled their shift on Saturday because they had been unable to get fuel. Ambulance drivers were also struggling to get enough fuel for their shifts, he said.
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “We have ample fuel stocks in this country and the public should be reassured there are no shortages.”
The spokesperson said the government was looking at temporary, time-limited measures to introduce.
“We are moving to a high wage, high skilled economy and businesses will need to adapt with more investment in recruitment and training to provide long-term resilience,” the spokesperson added. (BBC)
