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Trade groups scramble for 150m RHMF balance
Page 7
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• by Sally Nash Trade associations are fighting to safeguard over £50m—the sum of money left in the pot when the Road Haulage Modernisation Fund (RHMF) ends in April next year.
The move follows the revelation earlier this month that out of an initial fund of £81m for England, just .26m was spent during 2001-2002 and another £8.6m the following year. Rest estimates suggest that another 1,13m of funding will be used in 2003-2004—a total spend of around only £27.5m.
Transport minister David Jamieson insisted that as the RHMF was announced as a three-year, ringfenced fund there would be "no balance available for reallocation". However, all the schemes would be evaluated and decisions taken on whether to extend any of them separately, he added.
Both Road Haulage Association chief executive Roger King and Freight Transport Association chief executive Richard Turner have urged transport ministers to give a stay of execution to the funded projects—paticularly the training initiatives.
King says: "There will be a large sum of money left. If these initiatives do stop it will be just 12 months before the Working Time Directive takes effect when we are looking to recruit another 60,000 new drivers. it doesn't make any sense at all."
At the very least, King would like to see another year's extension, and idealiy, he would like funding for training to continue without a deadline in view of its importance. He is optimistic this could happen following a meeting last week with transport minister John Speller.
FTA's Turner says the RHMF is likely to be a hot issue at the next Road Haulage Forum in early July.
When CM contacted a number of hauliers of various sizes, they claimed to know nothing about the fund.
The managing director of one large fuel distribution firm said he was not "familiar with the scheme" although he realised it had been raised in several ETA meetings. Essex firm Welch's Transport also said it had not heard of the fund "although we have several ideas about how to spend the money".
Peter Greenhalgh, director of Treasure Transport Services in Tuxford, Notts, says a lack of awareness is a problem. "Perhaps the best thing to do would be to extend the scheme and then publicise it properly."
The government initially announced the .2100m fund to modernise road haulage in the pre-Budget report of 2000.
• One initiative showing signs of success is the Modernising Operators Scheme. Joint project director Dr Mick Jackson from the FIA says that it has already managed to complete 25% of its target of 2,000 visits.
• Contact: 0870 0117715.