They can offer as many temporary visas as they like the problem is foreign drivers don’t want to come here to fill a gap and be sent home as soon as things get back to normal and who can blame them.
BBC News - 13:00 today.
Temporary visas are to be issued to 300 overseas fuel drivers “immediately”, the government has announced.
Under the bespoke scheme, those foreign drivers will be able to work in the UK from now until the end of March.
Additionally, some 4,700 visas intended for foreign food haulage drivers will be extended by two months, lasting from late October to the end of February.
But the government said temporary visas were not a long-term solution and urged firms to invest in a UK workforce.
Ministers have also extended the length of temporary visas being issued to 5,500 foreign poultry workers, amid fears of a shortage of Christmas turkeys on supermarket shelves.
Previously, the government said these temporary visas would last until Christmas Eve, but the visas have been extended by a week, and will now be valid until 31 December.
From Monday, 200 military servicemen and women, 100 of them drivers, will provide “temporary” support to ease pressure on forecourts, where queues are becoming commonplace and customers frustrated.
Some of those 200 will be seen on the roads this weekend. Having completed specialised training over the past three days, many will be accompanying regular tanker drivers on their deliveries.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said there was “enough fuel in the country, there always has been” but it had been a challenge to provide the number of drivers required.
JeffA:
Here we go - brexit AND free movement. The very worst outcome imaginable.
There is no free movement.
And no visas for UK drivers to go to work in better paying jobs, with better working conditions, in EUland.
Obviously only free movement of the perceived low wage low quality job expectation type.
No Swiss, German or Swedish drivers are expected to be coming here and no Brits can go to Australia, NZ, or Canada.
All EU law has been signed into UK statute there was never going to be any Brexit under the party that took us into the EUSSR.
All moot under the Paris Accord the only future for tanker drivers at least is redundancy. After they’ve finished this job of taking part in the gradual rundown of fuel station stocks ready for their transformation into EV charging stations, which no one will be able to afford unless they are on Boris’ and Ed Davey’s salary.
Obviously under a gagging order or they’ll lose their redundancy pay.
While the remainers still moan because they want more EUSSR rule over us and fossil fuel use to be closed down faster.
JeffA:
Here we go - brexit AND free movement. The very worst outcome imaginable.
There is no free movement.
And no visas for UK drivers to go to work in better paying jobs, with better working conditions, in EUland.
Can you produce the figures to show that pay is higher in the EU I’ll agree it is rising as the driver shortage is worldwide but higher than the UK across the board I doubt it.
There is nothing stopping a UK driver from applying to work in the EU plenty of work visas being dished out to the Russians and Ukrainians
JeffA:
Here we go - brexit AND free movement. The very worst outcome imaginable.
There is no free movement.
And no visas for UK drivers to go to work in better paying jobs, with better working conditions, in EUland.
Can you produce the figures to show that pay is higher in the EU I’ll agree it is rising as the driver shortage is worldwide but higher than the UK across the board I doubt it.
There is nothing stopping a UK driver from applying to work in the EU plenty of work visas being dished out to the Russians and Ukrainians
visareservation.com/schengen-vi … -citizens/
There is a bilateral agreement since 2007 between Russia and the Schengen area, with simplified rules regarding work visas.
I’m not aware of a similar agreement for the UK post Brexit?.
.
I’m not saying all EU jobs are better, than all UK jobs, by the way, nor that the majority are better, although that may be so. I am saying it is very difficult now for a UK driver to go to work in the EU. Definitely harder than before.
.
This is painted to help the fuel made up crisis. How will a temp visa help any fuel company. The drivers need experience, adr, and onsite training. No driver will be ready to go out the door unless already doing fuel tankers elsewhere and that mean they wouldn’t want a temp job.
I hope the entire uk comes to a stand still as this is a uk made issue where the mo for years was bring in cheaper ee labour and keep the wages down. If they invested in the work force this wouldn’t have happened.
No decent company in the uk is struggling for drivers, just the pond life
Thats on you fella, only you can better yourself. Your company has ripped the whole out the industry and cant cope without cheap labour. Survival of the fittest sadly
Nearly there again:
This is painted to help the fuel made up crisis.
Yep a ‘fuel crisis’ that’a all about running down fuel station stock levels and making tanker drivers redundant very soon.I guess the redundancy terms must be a very good offer they can’t refuse going by the silence from them on the subject.
