Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on extending the additional HGV driver visas beyond Christmas 2021.
The UK Government is working with the haulage sector to promote jobs, training and a range of other initiatives to get more people into HGV driving.
Like other sectors the focus should be on training and recruiting from the UK based workforce in the first instance, especially given the impact of the pandemic resulting in more looking for secure new employment.
The temporary visa provision for HGV drivers was introduced in response to potential reduced availability of some food products in the run up to Christmas, enabling drivers to work in the UK until 28 February 2022. There are no plans to extend the validity of these visas beyond this date.