In 2021, stories began to circulate about an HGV driver shortage. Retailers were warning that “Christmas was at risk” due to disruption to deliveries and supply chain pressures.
The road haulage industry, meanwhile, estimated that the HGV driver shortage was between 90,000 and 100,000 in 2021 – around double the 45,000 shortfall in 2016.
Costs of training and obtaining a licence can act as a barrier to new recruits who are not funded by an employer. These recruits can include people looking to get into the industry as self-employed or agency workers as well as those in the logistics industry wanting to upskill.
The situation in 2021 was compounded by a testing backlog as a result of Covid. Normally around 41,000 drivers pass their HGV tests each year, but in the 12 months to March 2021 only 16,000 HGV test passes were achieved due to the eight-month suspension of testing.
The pressure was on to come up with solutions quickly.
In response, the UK government put in place 33 interventions to support the sector, including measures to increase HGV driver testing capacity. As part of this package, the Department for Education explored what role the skills system could play and, in particular, how Skills Bootcamps could be scaled up quickly to help.
Skills Bootcamps were launched in 2020, initially to teach digital skills. They were designed to be flexible training courses for people aged 19 or over – generally lasting up to 16 weeks – to respond to the skills needs of employers and improve people’s job prospects.
The DfE team sought to adapt the Skills Bootcamp model to quickly address the skills deficit in the road haulage industry by providing up to 11,000 additional fully-funded HGV driver training places over two years.
The “Skills Bootcamp in HGV Driving” training allowed individuals with no or limited prior experience to be trained, supported to get a licence and then moved into jobs in the industry. It also allowed qualified HGV drivers to gain additional in-demand HGV qualifications, upgrade their licence or return to driving.
The DfE Skills Bootcamps team – together with commercial business partners, the DfT and DVSA – rapidly swung into action to engage the market, design a procurement and plan out delivery including increasing testing capacity. The aim was to contract providers who could train learners to achieve large truck and articulated lorry licences as well as additional qualifications such as the Petroleum Driver Passport for driving vehicles hauling fuel.
The procurement took around three months and was heavily over-subscribed. We eventually awarded contracts to 21 independent training providers and further-education colleges, to deliver a full end-to-end service including all training, tests, licences and qualifications and then employer engagement to secure an interview with an employer with relevant vacancies. In summary, each Skills Bootcamp learner needed to be able to work as a fully qualified HGV driver by the end of the bootcamp.
In the first year of the scheme – 2021-22 – we delivered 4,740 HGV driver places. Overall, these Skills Bootcamps have been very popular and are supported by learners, providers, industry bodies and employers. Although we don’t yet have the final numbers of completions and outcomes for Skills Bootcamps in HGV Driving, indications are encouraging. The industry says that the shortage of drivers is being alleviated and has called for bootcamps to continue. The best thing has been hearing the stories of our learners: some had always wanted to go into HGV driving but had been unable to afford it, or were unemployed and secured a career through the Skills Bootcamps.
For the delivery team, this has been an incredibly challenging but rewarding experience. To stand up a new policy solution in a matter of months, get resources in place, understand a new sector and provider base, liaise with DVLA on increasing testing where it was needed, manage contracts effectively and get results, cannot be underestimated. And all while the department was also managing the response to Covid.
This couldn’t have been done without the incredible dedication of the civil servants involved, the strong collaboration across our department and with others – namely Cabinet Office, the Department for Transport and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency – and with the support of DfE senior sponsors and ministers, No.10 and the Treasury. It is another great example of how government can mobilise and deliver at pace when the country needs it to most.
The programme has continued through 2022-23 and is likely to get close to the 11,000 learner places forecast. In response to sector feedback, DfE is extending the programme through 2023-24 to deliver more places. This is exactly what Skills Bootcamps were designed to do: respond to priority skills needs as required.
Fiona Mee Alvares is Skills Bootcamps policy delivery lead; John Wright is Skills Bootcamps enabling lead; and David Bussey is commercial lead, category manager at DfE