Even before the seismic changes brought about by Brexit and COVID, the employment landscape was volatile, with significant and widening gaps between the skills people had and the jobs the economy needed.
As economies began to adapt and open up it was clear that empty shelves in our supermarkets weren’t just a result of the pandemic, but due to a chronic lack of HGV drivers and supply chain staff that required action.
Enter the local authority, uniquely positioned to understand and address its own unemployment and skills shortage and to act in the interest of residents and businesses alike.
Our employment advisors know the local labour market instinctively – their drives, their skills, their working patterns – and can work closely and sympathetically with residents.
This financial year, for example, our jobs recovery programme is on track to connect residents with around 300 jobs, over 100 apprenticeships and nearly 130 Kickstart placements. Our business team knows the local employment landscape inside out, including areas of potential or real staff shortage. Our communications team knows how to identify and reach a target audience.
Our response to the HGV driver shortage is an example of a national problem with a local solution. With a national shortage of HGV drivers estimated at 70,000 drivers and rising, we created a crystal-clear jobs pathway for people with no lorry-driving experience to become employed HGV drivers – within a matter of months.
We've lined up the businesses with HGV vacancies, we've lined up the training providers, and we've lined up local people who need a good job. But our real value comes from simplifying the process. Rather than bouncing candidates from pillar to post, our small team of advisers give personalised support, navigating residents through potentially unfamiliar bureaucratic requirements of training and applying for a job in a new sector.
And we've spoken to candidates about what they need and tweaked the scheme accordingly, finding jobs for those that need them to fit around their training.
Make no mistake, it’s not a cheap solution. We've fronted the cost of training the first 20 HGV drivers, because the figures involved – around £2,500 per person – are beyond the reach of most people. This has allowed us to prime the pump and gain useful intelligence about the process.
And in any case, the longer-term benefits to the public purse more than repay those sums – and eventually they will start relieving the pressures of supply chain issues, too.
Within eight weeks of launching, ten candidates have started the training, with most already working with their chosen employer while training. Within a few months, that’ll be ten more HGVs in Waltham Forest and beyond, easing supply chain pressures or driving our bin lorries. Another 30 candidates are shortlisted for interview this week.
We won’t be able to fund all 200 people who have applied to the scheme so far, but there’s a neat solution – we’ve just become a referral partner for the Department for Education's (DfE) HGV Skills Bootcamps, which recently received £34m from the Government to attract 11,000 drivers. We supply pre-vetted candidates who can start training immediately, saving the Bootcamp providers a job, and saving our soon-to-be HGV drivers the form-filling bureaucracy. Win-win.
Local authorities can easily replicate this scheme – thanks to DfE funding, they just need to supply pre-vetted, committed candidates and interested employers, and the HGV training bill will be covered. If every local authority in the UK sent just 33 eager recruits to the DfE's HGV Bootcamp, we'd hit their 11,000 target in no time. My team have been talking to quite a few London councils about how the scheme can be replicated, and our door’s always open to speak to us more.
We’re also looking at this approach in other sectors with critical shortages, so far including construction, and the creative industries. Local authorities can make a real impact to bridge the skills gap and get residents into industries that will create long and worthwhile careers.
Martin Esom is chief executive of Waltham Forest LBC
@wfcouncil