What's New

Faced with calls from business groups across a range of sectors affected by staff shortages due to employees being required to self-isolate, the Government has updated guidance which was first issued in May 2020.

In an open letter to the road haulage sector, Ministers have pledged to work with industry leaders to attract new drivers, simplify training and encourage people to stay in the industry and they have put forward a package of measures to help tackle the current shortage of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers.

Businesses that manufacture or import plastic packaging containing less than 30% recycled plastic need to prepare to register for the forthcoming plastic packaging tax, Government says.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has issued details of changes to haulier testing requirements for fully vaccinated UK hauliers returning from amber list countries.

We reported recently an announcement by Prime Minister Boris Johnson that certain critical workers would be able to leave self-isolation in exceptional circumstances (see Testing, vaccine passports and jabs for young people).

The lifting of lockdown restrictions from 19 July has triggered the next deployment of the moveable barrier system on the M20 in Kent in preparation for increased traffic numbers, Highways England has confirmed.

One of the UK’s biggest business groups has announced the launch of “Route to Net Zero”, a campaign to encourage 18,000 member businesses to commit to decarbonising their operations as quickly, effectively and urgently as possible.

Network Rail and Highways England have published the first phase of the Solent to the Midlands Multimodal Freight Strategy which forms part of the former’s Long-Term Planning Process and the latter’s Route Strategy and Pioneer Projects work.

The Government has confirmed plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel heavy good vehicles from 2040, as part of a broader plan to achieve net zero emissions from all forms of transport ten years later.

British Airways (BA) is the first airline in the world to conduct a trial of an ultra-rapid Covid-19 antigen test that displays results within 25 seconds.