BUDGET NEWS: HGV Drivers Given Huge Budget Boost & VED Frozen until 2023

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced that HGV drivers have been given a much-welcomed large boost in the 2021 Budget.

It has also been announced that the suspension of the HGV levy will continue until 2023, as well as freezing vehicle excise duty (VED) for HGVs. The HGV levy had previously been suspended until August of this year.

This news comes as a welcome boost for an industry fraught with turbulence and difficulties throughout the pandemic, particularly in lieu of the recent driver shortage crisis. Sunak has also stated that Government funding will go into improving lorry park facilities – an area of consistent complaint from HGV drivers, many of whom have sought action to improve these facilities due to their poor quality.

Funding will also be implemented into improving the quality of UK roads, with Sunak outlining the importance of financing both roads and facilities, but admitting the numerous problems afflicting the industry cannot be fixed “overnight”.

2021 has been a particularly difficult year for the global freight industry, and in the space of two years the number of HGV drivers has declined by 39,000 in the UK alone, but as previously suggested by the Government, Budget emphasis geared heavily in favour of the transport industry.

Other transport investment includes:

• An increase in the number of HGV driving tests available by up to 50,000 each year.
• Up to 5,000 short-term temporary visas for food and fuel haulage drivers to work in the UK.
• £300million will be invested into research and development (R&D) programmes.
• A £32.5million investment into roadside facilities for HGV drivers.
• A £46Billion investment also going into railway development across the UK.

This morning’s Budget news comes as a much-needed and well-deserved boost for the haulage industry and is hopefully a step towards the light at the end of the tunnel.