No reference to freight in government’s vision for ‘joined up’ transport

Launched by the former transport secretary Louise Haigh on Thursday (28 November) shortly before she resigned over a fraud offence, she said a “people first approach” was required to getting people around the country.

She said there needed to be a more joined up approach, with locally-led transport initiatives to make all forms of transport work together.

But Logistics UK blasted the plans and said the government must use its research for formally identifying the country’s logistics network and use that as the basis of a 30-year infrastructure strategy.

Jonathan Walker, Logistics UK head of cities and infrastructure policy, said: “The lack of mention of freight in what purports to be a vision for an integrated national transport strategy is deeply disappointing.

“The UK needs a genuinely integrated transport strategy that meets the needs of the travelling public while facilitating the efficient movement of freight, which is critical for driving growth throughout the economy and delivering the goods that consumers and businesses rely on every day.”

However, the group acknowledged that the transport secretary had identified a need to reform the appraisal system to give weight to transport projects that enhanced access to jobs: “Around 8% of the nation’s workforce work in logistics and the sector contributes £185 billon to the economy which means that, if appraisals are properly reformed, the result should be greater investment in the UK’s critical supply chain infrastructure,” Walker added.

The RHA’s director of public affairs and policy, Declan Pang, said it looked forward to working with the government on the strategy: “Reliable, predictable and efficient journeys for freight and coach drivers are key for economic growth and productivity – we need to ensure our roads are better maintained and have the capacity to reduce congestion,” he added.