The government has decided to bring an abrupt end to its flagship HGV driver training initiative just three years after its launch, despite widespread concerns about the UK’s ongoing shortage of qualified lorry drivers.
Initially introduced in 2022, the 16-week Skills Bootcamps were designed to help fast-track individuals into the haulage industry. Since their inception, over 20,000 participants have gained HGV licences and secured employment. But now, with no plans to extend contracts for training providers, the Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed that all training under the scheme must conclude by 30 September. New applicants are no longer being accepted.
The news has sparked confusion and frustration within the logistics sector, especially given the current demand for drivers. The DfE has said that responsibility for future HGV training under Skills Bootcamps will now be devolved to local authorities. However, the outlook appears bleak. According to the Logistics Skills Network, only three of the UK’s 12 mayoral combined authorities — London, Liverpool and the North East — have any allocated funding for such programmes.
Commenting on the development, David Coombes, chair of the Logistics Skills Network, said: “This leaves a situation where for most of the country, the only funded HGV driver training is through an apprenticeship which requires learners to be employed for the 12-month duration of the programme.
The Skills Bootcamps offered unemployed people and those wanting to change careers a chance to gain an HGV licence and move into a better-paid job in the haulage sector. DfE research shows that 72% of HGV Skills Bootcamp completers have moved into gainful employment, earning on average £13,000 a year more than the National Living Wage.
It will also give rise to a catastrophic reduction in training capacity, which will constrain the country’s ability to deliver any large-scale HGV driver training programmes for the foreseeable future. The economy may not have the transport infrastructure it needs to deliver the government’s growth ambitions – including the delivery of building materials for 1.5 million new homes.”
The fallout is likely to be severe for training providers, too. A recent Logistics Skills Network survey revealed that nearly all HGV training schools rely to some extent on the Skills Bootcamps. For more than a third of them, the programme accounts for over 50% of their income.
As pressure mounts, many in the industry are now calling for urgent intervention to prevent a collapse in the UK’s HGV training capacity and safeguard future supply chains.