Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of heavy goods vehicle driver shortages on local authority bin collections.

The Government is in regular contact with the waste sector and local authorities to ensure we have up to date information about current waste collection vehicle staffing levels.

We are aware of some current impacts that heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driver shortages are having on local authority bin collections. We continue to work with the Department for Transport and the other departments involved to consider all the available options.

The Government has already taken action on HGV driver shortages, including ramping up vocational test capacity so 3,000 practical tests are available each week. The Government has also confirmed funding of up to £7,000 per apprenticeship for people undertaking lorry driver training, extended driver hours and temporarily eased restrictions on delivery curfews.

The Government is working with industry and supporting job seekers to take roles in the profession. As part of this, there are increased incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice across the economy as we recover from the pandemic. Employers will receive £3,000 for new apprentices of any age who join their organisation from 1 April to 30 September 2021.