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Five million pounds might sound like a lot of money, but it depends how far it has to stretch. In this case the f5m is intended to help driver training. But the best guesstimate we've heard about the driver shortage in Britain suggests that some 4,c1c),c)c)c) new drivers will be needed over the next five years if road transport is to maintain normal service. That equates to 8o,000 drivers a year, so Browns's km is worth131.25 a head over the next two years...which wouldn't pay for an hour's training.
Hardly a bonanza when compared with thef2,ocio-plus it will cost every one of those recruits to get full HGV entitlement. We know there's only a certain amount of money in the pot. We recognise that Brown's cuts to fuel duty and VED, along with extra money for reducing emissions, improving enforcement and encouraging fuel saving, all add up to significant help. But that ho will do nothing of any real significance to reduce the pressing crisis of finding new blood.
That's ironic, because without drivers to keep the trucks rolling there won't be any further issues about fuel saving, vehicle emissions or even the price of a litre of diesel.
• The flipside to the training issue is how drivers are treated once they have been recruited. And few prospective candidates will take comfort from the story of John Peachey, labelled Ploriker of the Year by his employer, Christian Salvesen.
If we are really to attract and retain the workforce we all need, this kind of treatment simply must not be tolerated any more.