The RHA has welcomed Rishi Sunak’s pledge that some funds from the scrapped HS2 Birmingham to Manchester line will be directed to improving roads.
The Prime Minister announced Network North at the Conservative Party Conference to replace the scheme.
Declan Pang, RHA Director of Public Affairs and Policy, England, said:
“We welcome the investment into the A1, A2, A5, M6 and A75, alongside more than 70 other road schemes that were announced. Together with increased funding for road maintenance, this will help the commercial vehicle sector continue to keep Britain moving, and we await publication of the timetables for completion of these schemes.”
With the skills agenda so important to the future of the road transport industry, on the announcement regarding post-16 education he said:
“It was good to hear the Prime Minister speaking about equality of esteem for vocational education but we have concerns about the abolition of T-levels.”
“The new Advanced British Standard must ensure young people are invested in their education post-16 and connected to jobs for the future. Any change which puts the focus purely back on academic, classroom learning where not all children thrive would be a backward step.
“It is vital that the high-quality vocational training required for working in the road transport industry is available to young people.”
He said the RHA was disappointed not to hear of any reforms to the Apprenticeship Levy and reiterates for it to be replaced with a Skills Levy which would offer wider training choices for the commercial vehicle sector.
