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Following a letter written by Logistics UK and British Retail Consortium, the Business Secretary has responded by rejecting calls to utilise skilled workers visas to help ease staff shortages. Kwasi Kwarteng, Business Secretary, has stated that HGV drivers from abroad will not be eligible to receive skilled workers visas in order to meet the growing demand. This comes as Brexit, the pandemic and a reform to IR35 rules have taken a toll on the number of drivers, leading to a current shortfall of around 90,000 HGV drivers and having negative implications for supply chains overall. According to research carried out by Logistics UK, the pandemic halted driver training and testing for more than 12 months, while an estimated 14,000 EU drivers returned home during the pandemic and following the end of the transition period. This has already had a notable impact on restaurants such as Nando’s and McDonalds which reported food shortages over the last few weeks as a result of a lack of staff. As such, the two business groups, Logistics UK and British Retail Consortium, wrote to Mr. Kwarteng and suggested the use of temporary work visas as well as reforming the National Skills Fund which, they argued,
