Visit to training centre in Bathgate provides insight into skills required by HGV drivers
Kirsteen Sullivan MP stepped into a heavy goods vehicle simulator during a visit to the Road Haulage Association's (RHA) training centre in Bathgate.
The Labour MP for Bathgate and Linlithgow was keen to learn more about the work being done to support the industry in Scotland and heard directly from those working to future-proof the sector.
As part of the visit, she entered the RHA's state-of-the-art HGV simulator, giving her first-hand insight into the high standards drivers are trained to meet. The simulator experience highlighted the skills and focus required to operate safely and efficiently on Scotland's roads.
Kirsteen also joined RHA Training Director Brian Kenny and Martin Reid for a wide-ranging and productive discussion on the key challenges and opportunities facing the sector, including:
Tackling the Skills Shortage – Exploring ways to address the growing demand for qualified drivers through enhanced training and recruitment efforts.
Attracting New Talent into Logistics – Discussing how to promote the industry to younger people and career changers, with a focus on the long-term sustainability of the workforce.
Removing Barriers to Entry – Emphasising the importance of improved rest and washing facilities, particularly to support and encourage more women into the profession.
The Urgent Need for Safe and Secure Parking – Highlighting the critical need for investment in safe, well-maintained parking infrastructure to protect driver welfare and safety.
RHA Training Director Brian Kenny said: 'Our hub here in Bathgate plays an important part in Scotland's haulage industry.
'It is a real success story and has grown positively over the past 10 years, equipping drivers with the skills they need to help keep the wheels of the economy turning, locally and nationally.
'It was great to meet Kirsteen, to show her the valuable work that takes place in the region, as well as talk through with her some of the issues faced by Scotland's haulage industry.'
Kirsteen Sullivan MP added: 'It was a pleasure to visit the RHA training centre in Bathgate and see first-hand the excellent work being done to support Scotland's haulage sector.
"The discussions I had with the team highlighted both the progress made and the challenges that remain. I am committed to advocating for the necessary investments and policy changes to ensure the industry continues to thrive.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Labour's first year: How has the North East and Cumbria fared?
A year ago Labour won all but two of north-east England and Cumbria's 32 constituencies in a landslide election that swept Sir Keir Starmer into Downing after a bumpy 12 months is Labour's rose still proud, or a little wilted?Time to see whether July 2025 marks a happy or unhappy anniversary. Giving us more power Happy anniversary: One of Labour's strongest areas. Within days of taking office, Sir Keir Starmer invited the country's elected regional mayors into 10 Downing Street, including the North East's Kim McGuinness and the one Conservative mayor, Tees Valley's Lord PM was keen to enlist them in his plan for economic growth and so far Labour has largely been good to its word, with regular meetings between ministers and has offered more powers and more freedom, while more money is also on the way. The test will be if it is sustained, but even Ben Houchen says he cannot find fault in the approach to anniversary: A lack of devolution has seen Cumbria miss out on any available pots of money. But that could change next year when the county is due to get an elected mayor, which will unlock its own devolution deal. Getting us moving Happy anniversary: The biggest boost to that devolution process was the release of almost £2.8bn for the mayors to spend on local projects (£1bn for Tees Valley, £1.8bn for the rest of the North East).And that means Kim McGuinness can now promise a long-awaited extension of the Tyne & Wear Metro to Washington. Other investments planned include trams in Teesside and work on Middlesbrough only problem for Labour is that travellers won't see the results of some of this investment until well after the next election. Unhappy anniversary: Labour has been less keen on big road projects. A scheme to dual a 13-mile section of the A1 in Northumberland was scrapped in Rachel Reeves' first Budget, even though the previous government had spent £68.4m preparing the over "budget" alternatives have started, but it is not the first time a plan for the A1 has failed to come to campaigners are also still waiting to find out the fate of the £1.4bn plan to upgrade the remaining single carriageway sections of the A66 between Scotch Corner and Penrith. It has been officially paused with a decision apparently imminent. Making us healthier Happy anniversary: The latest waiting list figures had some encouraging news. Since Labour came to power the numbers on the list in the North East and Yorkshire regional NHS area have fallen by more than 19, anniversary: There is a long way to go if Labour is to meet its election target of 92% of patients waiting no more than 18 weeks. It is a target that has not been reached since 2015 and none of our hospital trusts managed to reach it in the latest is performing the best with 79.5% waiting no more than 18 weeks, but North Cumbria performs below the national average with only 56.5% treated within that time. Labour has pledged to meet the target by March 2029. Making us wealthier Happy anniversary: In terms of tackling poverty, a 6.7% increase in the National Living Wage paid to over-21s stands to benefit a significant number of people in a region which has the lowest pay in the UK. Thousands of children will also benefit from a decision to broaden the entitlement to free school meals to all families claiming Universal Credit, though that will not kick in until next year. Breakfast clubs in some of the area's schools will come sooner and new nurseries will help parents with anniversary: There is still a great deal of uncertainty about the government's plans to reform Personal Independence Payments and reduce the entitlement for some. Nothing now looks likely to change until after a review concludes next year but, as the region with the highest take up of the disability benefit, any change could have a significant impact. The U-turn on winter fuel payments for older people will mean more now qualify, but of course thousands lost out in the first winter of this government.A decision on whether to scrap the two-child cap on some benefits has yet to come. It is something campaigners in the North East say could make the biggest difference to child poverty, but with the government now searching for money to replace the savings sacrificed with the winter fuel and welfare change rethinks, it may have made the change less likely. Boosting our businesses Happy anniversary: There was a welcome in the North East business community for the government's recently-published 10-year industrial strategy. It offers the potential of support and investment in sectors where the region is strong, from manufacturing and green energy to the creative will be moves to help businesses like Nissan and the chemical industry with high energy bills, though not till 2027. A promise to invest in nuclear power will be of interest in Cumbria and was a big boost for Hitachi in County Durham, with new work to build trains delivering on the prime minister's pre-election pledge to secure its future. Unhappy anniversary: Some businesses have faced extra costs because of Labour's decision to raise their National Insurance Cumbria there has been concern that tourism and hospitality did not feature in the industrial the recent decision by a major investor to pull out of plans to develop a film studio in Sunderland was a reminder that no amount of strategy can cover every the protests over changes to inheritance tax, it is probably best not to ask our farmers whether they have enjoyed Labour's first year! Electoral prospects Happy anniversary: Just before July's General Election, Labour's Kim McGuinness became the first North East Mayor and her presence in the region offered a chance for a politician from the party to deliver in lockstep with the government and champion the least Labour scraping home in the North Tyneside mayoral election this May shows it can still win here. And they do not have to call another general election until 2029. Unhappy anniversary: The continuing rise of Reform UK since the party polled well in the region last July poses a big political threat. Its sweeping victory in this year's Durham County Council election shows just how serious the challenge even if the Conservatives are still struggling, the Liberal Democrats and Greens have also been looking to pick off the party's voters. Next year's local elections offer fresh challenges and, on current polling, Labour's longstanding command of the councils in Newcastle, Sunderland, South Tyneside and Gateshead could well be over. Follow BBC North East on X and Facebook and BBC Cumbria on X and Facebook and both on Nextdoor and Instagram.
Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Telegraph
The winners and losers of Labour's first year in power
It is one year since Labour's 'loveless landslide' and already millions of individuals, and the economy, are suffering. Last summer, Rachel Reeves ominously declared the Tories had left Britain with a £22bn 'black hole' in the public finances. It was a sobering shift in tone from the Chancellor who had spent the months prior promising no tax rises for 'working people'. And it left her walking a careful tightrope of raising money without breaking the party's central pledge: to leave alone income tax, VAT and National Insurance paid by workers. In doing so, she clumsily launched tax raids on pensioners, home buyers, business owners and farmers instead. Here, Telegraph Money speaks to the winners and losers after a year of Labour. Losers Pensioners Ten months on from Ms Reeves's maiden Budget, Peter Ferguson has still not forgiven her for ripping up his carefully-laid financial planning. The Chancellor used the Budget to bring pensions into the scope of inheritance tax, upending millions of calibrated retirement plans. Mr Ferguson, 68, from Edinburgh, had hoped to pass on most of his £800,000 pot to his children. He believes the changes amount to 'state theft'. 'The Tories told people to make far greater provision for themselves because the state can no longer be relied on to provide for everyone, and I agree with that,' he says. 'But now there is no incentive to save to provide for your family – I would be better off going to restaurants, drinking nice wine and going on holidays.' He adds: 'If I have paid tax throughout my life, as I have to by law, then inheritance tax and stealing from pension funds is just reprehensible. I am determined not to let this government have a penny more than I have already.' He intends to take the tax-free lump sum of £200,000 and spend the rest on 'assets that will hopefully accrue value', like paintings. Farmers Farms were previously exempt from inheritance tax under agricultural property relief. However, changes brought in by the Government mean that, from April 2026, the relief will only apply to the first £1m of combined agricultural and business property. After that, the relief drops to 50pc. David Barton's Gloucestershire farm will now attract an inheritance tax bill of £800,000 when it is passed on to his son, Ben, 34. The 57-year-old says: 'I am disappointed because we engaged with Labour politicians before the election. All the noises were very promising, and things were okay until the Budget. That was a massive blow to the industry. It has completely knocked the stuffing out of us.' At a union meeting last year, Mr Barton raised his concerns directly with Steve Reed, the Environment Secretary. 'My question to him was, 'Can you tell me when I am going to die? Because I don't know when I am going to die, and if I get it wrong, the business is gone.' 'There are many better ways that you could raise this revenue from the farming industry than the way you are doing it. You can't help but wonder if this is just genuinely trying to raise revenue, or is there something a little bit vindictive about this?' Labour also slashed sustainable farming incentives – grants for farmers who adopted sustainable practices to protect the environment. 'It's really destabilised everything,' he adds. 'There's been a massive drive towards environmental improvement, and I think as farmers we have done a tremendous job. But the funding that supports that is absolutely required. It's an all-time low for morale within the farming community.' Property buyers Labour's young voter base had hoped the party might offer them help on to the property ladder. But instead, the Chancellor ignored them, neglecting to extend a stamp duty discount which sent the tax rate soaring. It means first-time buyer, Emily Fishburn, 29, now faces paying an extra £1,000 on her new home in Nuneaton. She says: 'We put an offer in before the threshold changed, which is so frustrating, because now we have that as an additional cost we weren't anticipating. 'I thought it was going to get better for first-time buyers under Labour, but it's got a lot harder. 'We've been saving for a house for five years – we'd rather spend that money on extra things for the house, like a sofa, things for the kitchen. We'll have to make do with sitting on the floor for a while.' Landlords Britain's property investors have been attacked by politicians of all stripes ever since the Tories began whittling away their tax breaks. Unsurprisingly, landlords' fortunes have not improved much under Labour. It is pressing ahead with plans to force landlords to meet energy efficiency standards by the end of the decade. Many are expected to spend tens of thousands insulating properties, or sell up and exit the market. And landlords have been left despairing over the Renters' Rights Bill. The legislation will end 'no fault' evictions, give tenants longer notice periods and restrict rent increases. The Bill will not apply in Scotland, where rent controls and eviction restrictions have already been put in place by the Scottish National Party. Derek Tyson, 54, is a buy-to-let landlord with dozens of properties across Lothian, Fife and Angus – a portfolio built up gradually over 30 years. He says: 'Labour is a total mess. Landlords have been kicked in the guts for years, and they've done nothing to ease the burden.' The Government is also ramping up its 'Making Tax Digital' project, requiring around 900,000 landlords and freelancers earning over £20,000 to report their taxes quarterly, rather than every year, from April 2026. Mr Tyson sees it as yet another regulatory hoop for landlords like him to jump through. 'It's just going to put up costs. If I can't recoup it in rents, I'll get out of the market. You can't keep getting more money from landlords without affecting tenants,' he says. 'You can't keep taking money from people – it doesn't grow the economy. But this is what Labour does.' Mr Tyson believes the Government should focus on building more homes, rather than punishing landlords. 'If there's less stock, rents go up. It's GCSE economics. I don't understand why Rachel Reeves and these guys don't get it.' Second home owners Since April 1, local authorities have been able to use additional powers to charge double council tax on second homes. While it was a Tory policy, Labour rubbed salt in the wound by increasing the stamp duty surcharge for second home buyers from 3pc to 5pc. Peter Drown, 75, has been renting a flat near St Paul's in London for the past six months. He lives in Truro, Cornwall, with his wife, but spends every other week working in the office in the City as an accountant. As a result, he has been hit with a £4,246.90 council tax bill. In total, his bill for both properties is now £8,750 – now, he says he will give up his flat. 'I've been working in the City since 1969, and I've paid a lot of tax,' says Mr Drown. 'This is not a real second home, it is not a holiday home.' He adds: 'If you lived in somewhere like Birmingham, where the council is bust, you could almost understand it. But the City of London has plenty of money. Why are they messing around with the likes of me?' Business owners One of Labour's most unpopular policies has been its increase to National Insurance contributions paid by businesses. The rate they pay on an employee's salary rose from 13.8pc to 15pc, and the salary threshold at which point National Insurance kicks in also fell from £9,100 to £5,000 (though this was accompanied by a rise in the 'employment allowance', which helps the smallest employers offset the rising costs). Hugh Vinney, 37, chief executive of online private school Minerva Virtual Academy, is bitterly disappointed. He became a first-time Labour voter last year, feeling disillusioned with a Conservative government that he says hadn't offered much to business owners like him. 'In the business world, there was a lot of hope, particularly on the small business side, because they were talking about 'growth, growth, growth,' so I was excited for Labour's agenda,' he says. 'Pre-election, they were talking to and consulting small businesses, but by the time of the Budget, they had completely forgotten about us.' The National Insurance raid, as well as the increased minimum wage, has forced Mr Vinney to 'pull up the drawbridge in terms of hiring'. He adds: 'It means you have to be much more careful about wage increases, which is not what you want to be doing in a growing business. National Insurance and minimum wage changes are preventing us from being able to reward people for hard work.' Britain, Mr Vinney says, is 'a country where it is not a good place to be an entrepreneur', and that anyone wanting to start a business should do so elsewhere. 'Small businesses are an engine for growth. But we have been abandoned.' Private school parents Television presenter, Ana Boulter, 47, has two children at independent schools. She has been left feeling betrayed by Labour's decision to impose 20pc VAT on school fees. Ms Boulter's daughter is autistic, and, like many parents, she worries local state schools do not have the resources or expertise to deal with her child's needs. She is now considering home schooling after her children's fees rose by 21pc in a year. She also takes issue with the perception that parents choose to send their children to private schools simply to make them get ahead in life. She says: 'The people who are really buying advantage are those who can afford to buy houses next to outstanding state schools. What parents in the independent sector are doing is buying an education that suits their children's needs which they believe the state can't provide. 'The way ministers have spoken about private education, do they not think about how this affects the children? They are actively pushing a group of people out and saying, 'You don't matter, you don't count, you are not important, you are insignificant'. You are a political smear on our outlook.' Winners Few would describe themselves as 'winners' from Ms Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer's tenure so far, but some groups have undeniably been given extra support. Net zero supporters Ed Miliband and his Department for Energy Security and Net Zero was a surprising winner of Ms Reeves's first spending review. The Warm Homes Discount, which some speculated would be cut, was expanded. And the budget for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, which doles out £7,500 grants to households who want to install a heat pump, was also raised by £1.8bn. It comes too late for Tim Adams, 67, who has already made use of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI), a now-defunct scheme which paid early adopters for generating renewable energy over a seven-year period. Mr Adams believes Labour's decision to continue funding grants specifically for heat pumps, rather than generalised payback schemes, is a shift in the right direction. He says: 'The RHI was in some ways more generous, but now the £7,500 comes directly off the cost, and that will be preferable to those who can't pay the money up front. 'Solar panels and batteries stack up in a way that you should be able to do it on your own, and in the same way, electric car prices have come down to the point you'd have to question how much that still needs to be subsidised. ' People are so negative about heat pumps – a lot of it through misunderstanding. They don't understand what the potential is, and I think that's a huge problem for the Government. The messaging just isn't cutting through.' Public sector workers One of Labour's first acts in Government was to hand public sector workers a pay rise – to the tune of £6.9bn. The decision to capitulate to pay review bodies briefly quelled frequent strikes by teachers and doctors. However, unions have warned that further industrial action is likely unless the Government agrees to an above-inflation pay rise in 2026. Dr Erin Gourley, a psychiatric registrar, welcomed her 5.4pc pay award this year. The 33-year-old mother-of-two says: 'Wes Streeting [the Health Secretary] is saying lots of positive things, and that's a lot better than what we were getting under the last government.' However, she still feels worse off than before the election. 'I would say finances have progressively become more stretched over the year, and we are having to be a bit more cautious with our spending,' she says. 'One of the things that can make it worse is that I do a lot of out-of-hours work, a lot of evenings, nights and weekends, and my childcare needs are more than most jobs. Balancing that is particularly difficult.' The British Medical Association estimates resident doctor pay remains 21pc lower today in real terms than it was in 2008. Doctors in Dr Gourley's pay grade earn around £61,825 a year, according to the BMA. Dr Gourley, who lives in Coventry, believes Labour must reverse this decline. 'In terms of where I was in 2015 when I started working, I don't think the pay has increased commensurately with the skills I've taken on as I've become more senior,' she says. A 6pc pay rise was awarded to junior doctors, 3.6pc for other NHS staff, 3.25pc for members of the Armed Forces, and 4pc for teachers and prison officers. Senior civil servants will also receive a 3.25pc pay rise, while school staff such as teaching assistants, caterers and caretakers will receive 3.2pc. The Government was approached for comment.
Daily Record
5 hours ago
- Daily Record
Buy British buses to save 400 Scottish jobs at Alexander Dennis, says MP
EXCLUSIVE: Euan Stainbank said procurement rules needed reform to ensure UK manufacturers were given priority when it came to investing in public transport. Holyrood and Westminster must "buy British" if 400 Scottish jobs are to be saved at an historic bus manufacturer, an MP has said. Euan Stainbank said strict procurement rules should be reformed to ensure UK manufacturers are given priority when it comes to investing in the public transport of the future. The Labour MP for Falkirk is campaigning to save jobs in his constituency at two closure-threatened Alexander Dennis (ADL) factories. Bosses at the firm launched a consultation last month on plans to shutter the plants at Camelon and Larbert and centralise production in Scarborough. The move would end a century of bus building in the Falkirk district and comes just weeks after the oil refinery at nearby Grangemouth was shut down, with 400 jobs lost. Stainbank told the Record: "There's global momentum to decarbonise transport. The UK must lead — not fall behind. A greener bus network should mean jobs and prosperity. But only if we have the right strategy. "In 2020, Boris Johnson promised to deliver 4,000 zero-emission buses, built in Britain. By 2024, only about 2,270 had been delivered through the ZEBRA scheme, with nearly half made abroad — despite £312 million in taxpayer funding. "Scotland has seen worse. In the most recent ScotZEB2 scheme, over 80 per cent of buses were ordered from overseas. Just 44 of 252 orders went to Scottish producers. That's simply unacceptable — 400 skilled jobs in Falkirk are at stake. "We cannot justify using UK public money to support foreign competitors while British factories struggle. A global economy doesn't mean outsourcing opportunity. It means competing with confidence — and with a plan. "Manchester has shown what leadership looks like. Under Mayor Andy Burnham, the Bee Network brought buses back under public control and procured the fleet domestically, including from Falkirk." The Falkirk MP added: "Ministers have shown they're willing to intervene, from supporting British steel in Scunthorpe to committing £200 million to Grangemouth. Now they must act to safeguard UK bus manufacturing. "For the 400 workers at Alexander Dennis, this isn't an abstract policy debate — it's their future. These are the people who have helped build the UK's low-carbon transport network. "They deserve more than warm words. We have the skills. We have the capacity. We have the need. Now we need the political will to back British buses — for British passengers, with British workers." Shona Robison, the SNP Finance Secretary, welcomed the announcement last week that ADL had extended its consultation on potential job losses - allowing more time to find an alternative. She said: "The company has been clear there are a number of factors that impact on its decision about the future of its workforce in Scotland - the availability of orders both in the short and long term, changes to the regulatory landscape around procurement, and assistance in supporting a short-term company furlough scheme. "The Scottish Government is continuing to work tirelessly on this issue, and is maintaining close contact with the company, the unions and the UK Government to understand all options to support the workforce."
