Thread by @pmdfoster

The frustrations of the logistics industry are starting to boil over - principally because the government and Whitehall are NOT getting the dynamics of the marketplace.

Why, if govt is offering £50m quid in grants, everyone's not flocking to open a customs shop?! Well... /1

https://twitter.com/RHANews/status/1306610343167352835

The problem, industry says, is that the Treasury and @michaelgove really don't understand what is happening on the ground - they really do see this customs business as a wonderful opportunity and can't understand why industry isn't flinging itself at it. /2

@michaelgove You'll recall this much lampooned tweet from @cabinetofficeuk about it's commitment to investing in the red tape sector...so as I was saying, why is industry warning of such a shortage of capacity? Well, having talked to a bunch of operators.../3

https://twitter.com/cabinetofficeuk/status/1299649242114469889?s=20

@michaelgove @cabinetofficeuk Imagine you own and run Bloggs Freight Forwarders.

You've had a hell of year. You business contracted overnight with #COVID19. You had to furlough a bunch of people.

Just now, you're starting to get back on your feet. Making wage and loan payments etc. But Covid-II looms./4

@michaelgove @cabinetofficeuk You don't know how the 'second wave' is going to pan out and what it will mean for your business this winter.

Maybe the world will go back into some form of lockdown? Maybe not. But the point is your risk appetite is low.../5

@michaelgove @cabinetofficeuk So at this point WHY would Mr Bloggs risk his business, his house, his car etc in order to do the government's bidding and hire a huge number of new customs agents who a) won't be earning until Jan 1 b) can't be sure what work will be on.../6

@michaelgove @cabinetofficeuk Apparently @hmtreasury and government cannot fathom why industry can't sort this problem out of a lack of customs brokers...but you can see from above that the incentives of intermediary industry and government are NOT as aligned as you might assume /7

@michaelgove @cabinetofficeuk @hmtreasury Now take a look at what is actually on offer...not to be sniffed at, perhaps, but not (see above) enough to make you put your butt or your business on the line to save @BorisJohnson
blushes on Jan 1 /8

gov.uk/guidance/grant…

@michaelgove @cabinetofficeuk @hmtreasury @BorisJohnson The incentives need to massive increase in order to move the market - and I've been hearing this from industry for MONTHS - literally since early this year.

They have been belly-aching about it, to no avail - and all the time, as the market tightens, prices are rising/9

@michaelgove @cabinetofficeuk @hmtreasury @BorisJohnson And if you start phoning the list of accredited customs brokers on the @HMRCgovuk website (yes, I have) you start to encounter another problem....a lot of this new roll-on, roll-off work with the EU is new, it involves complex vet/SPS forms /10

gov.uk/guidance/list-…

@michaelgove @cabinetofficeuk @hmtreasury @BorisJohnson @HMRCgovuk So several conversations I had saw brokers (who previously were sending non-agri/plant goods on long shipping routes to reset of world) were very wary of getting into ro-ro work with perishables where all sorts of bad sh*t can happen, with inexperienced staff & clients /11

@michaelgove @cabinetofficeuk @hmtreasury @BorisJohnson @HMRCgovuk It's not that any of this stuff is impossible - as @RobHardyFR8 told the EU Exit select cmme last week - but over the last decades the skills and knowledge base have naturally atrophied on both sides of the Channel; and a lot of business is still in 'wait and see mode' /12

@michaelgove @cabinetofficeuk @hmtreasury @BorisJohnson @HMRCgovuk @RobHardyFR8 You'll have heard about the need for "50,000" new customs agents, but the issue is that if you work on one experienced agents 'mentoring' three inexperienced ones - you still need the experienced ones. And they can't be magicked up overnight. /13

@michaelgove @cabinetofficeuk @hmtreasury @BorisJohnson @HMRCgovuk @RobHardyFR8 Industry says the government could help making even clearer that forwarders aren't legally liable for mistakes - but of course that still leaves traders trying to ensure they provide correct data for the forms, which is harder than you might think. /14

@michaelgove @cabinetofficeuk @hmtreasury @BorisJohnson @HMRCgovuk @RobHardyFR8 As @AnnaJerzewska told me recently, it's not just about hauliers & customs brokers, but all the relevant government departments, port authorities and traders, all getting to grips with three new UK government IT systems, and up to 10 across the EU/15

EU.ft.com/content/486b19…

@michaelgove @cabinetofficeuk @hmtreasury @BorisJohnson @HMRCgovuk @RobHardyFR8 @AnnaJerzewska And as survey of @BIFA members this week showed, the industry is not confident is has capacity - 64% of member said they'd not have enough staff on Jan 1 - up from 50% in May (because of Covid impacts) - see here again /16

ft.com/content/486b19…

@michaelgove @cabinetofficeuk @hmtreasury @BorisJohnson @HMRCgovuk @RobHardyFR8 @AnnaJerzewska @BIFA One suggestion is that govt gets around state aid limits (200,000 euros over three years) by offering loans to companies to expand, which could be converted to grants after Jan 1...not sure of the legals on that. /17

@michaelgove @cabinetofficeuk @hmtreasury @BorisJohnson @HMRCgovuk @RobHardyFR8 @AnnaJerzewska @BIFA But either way - as you can see from that @RHARichardB statement - the industry is pretty fed up of useless meetings that seemed more designed to cover political arses than get meaningful results /18

@michaelgove @cabinetofficeuk @hmtreasury @BorisJohnson @HMRCgovuk @RobHardyFR8 @AnnaJerzewska @BIFA @RHARichardB If this is a total mess on Jan 1 (or Jan 5 more likely) then on current form (think A-Levels fiasco, PPE procurement etc) no doubt some mandarin or regulators will be lined up for the blame, and the chop while ministers complain they yanked the handle and nothing happened /19

@michaelgove @cabinetofficeuk @hmtreasury @BorisJohnson @HMRCgovuk @RobHardyFR8 @AnnaJerzewska @BIFA @RHARichardB But there will be a clear paper trail of industry warnings about what needed to be done to meet the challenges of ending decades of frictionless trade overnight - and the government will have to account for how it responded to those concerns. ENDS