Holyrood failing to help young people into transport and logistics careers

Martin Reid is Business Unit Director (North), Road Haulage Association.

The Oil and Gas sector has had a pretty rough time over the past few years with levels of investment dropping. Thousands of people across the country who had previously worked in the industry or been part of the industry’s supply chain have lost their job or been forced to move because of the slowdown. The Scottish Government recently announced a fund to help those who have been adversely affected by the downturn in Oil and Gas transition into other sectors. The RHA are managing the scheme for those wishing to move into the transport and logistics sector and we are seeing the first tranche coming through the system as I write this article. We are not only overseeing the training, but also placing the candidates with progressive, forward-thinking employers on completion.

Although this funded retraining is mighty welcome and will prove a short-term shot in the arm for the transport industry, it will not be the long-term answer to the skill shortages we have been facing for many years now. Depending on whom you speak to, estimates are that Scotland needs around 11,000 drivers just to maintain its current levels of business. The overall skills shortage in the industry is broader than that and more is needed to resolve this issue.

In England and Wales the government has set up the “Trailbazer” apprenticeship scheme which offers well-funded apprenticeships for people of all ages. Crucially, this apprenticeship includes funding for licence acquisition through to C & E, or articulated lorry. There are also Trailblazers for warehouse operative and traffic office operator, and more advanced apprenticeships are planned. No comparable schemes exist in Scotland and we are in serious danger of getting left behind.

This becomes even more problematic when you consider that from April, any company with a gross wage bill of £3 million or more will be paying HM Treasury a training levy. The theory behind this is that those firms can draw down funding to train new and existing staff. There is a clear route to do so in England – but the method of getting apprenticeship levy money back to run an apprenticeship has not yet been disclosed by the Scottish Government. Some haulage companies who operate in the construction sector will be doubly taxed as they will also be paying their existing levy to CITB.

While the industry is grateful to welcome our new colleagues from the oil and gas sector, we need the Government in Holyrood to provide us a method of bringing the younger generation into the industry and if they are not to adopt the Trailblazers model, at the very least they need to give us an alternative. Haulage companies south of the Border will have access to funds of up to £7,000 per person (depending on age and background) that Scottish hauliers cannot access. That puts firms based in Scotland at a significant competitive disadvantage when looking to continuity and forward planning.

So as Ms West said, we are delighted to welcome our new entrants and to give them a second chance “with another person” but we need to bring in the next generation too. It is not fair that the Scottish logistics sector, through the levy, will bankroll entrants to other industries while similar English companies can secure and safeguard their future by funding new blood as well as upskilling their current staff. In uncertain times, we need to safeguard the future of one of the most important sectors to the Scottish Economy.

For details on how to transition from the oil and gas sector into logistics, go to www.rha-scotland.co.uk

Martin Reid is Business Unit Director (North), Road Haulage Association.