Chamber and committees

We heard last week that, although people can think that supply chain shortages are due to drivers, there can be breaks in other points in the supply chain—it can be in any area, such as digital or logistics—that cause shortages.

You said that 90 per cent of your members are SMEs. I think that you have 68 companies that are members. Are quite a lot of them small? It is not all big players.

That is helpful—thank you. I will bring in Fiona Hyslop.

We move to Jamie Halcro Johnston.

Colin Smith mentioned labour shortages. Is there a difficulty with recruiting people into the sector? You said that you have to rely more on the Scottish workforce now. Is the issue that there is too much competition in the wider employment market?

I am afraid that we will have to make some progress. I understand that it has been a disjointed morning, but I ask for the final questions and answers to be succinct. That would be helpful.

Thank you very much for that response.

As I said earlier, if witnesses have additional evidence that they would like to present to us, I would be happy to receive it in writing. I thank all the panellists very much for their time this morning, their patience with our technical issues, their contributions and their expertise.

Thank you. I call Fiona Hyslop, to be followed by Colin Smyth.

Good morning and welcome to the 12th meeting in 2021 of the Economy and Fair Work Committee. Our first item of business is a decision on taking items 4 and 5 in private. Are members content to do that?

Members indicated agreement.

Our main item of business is the third evidence session of our inquiry into Scotland’s supply chain. The inquiry looks at the short and medium-term structural challenges that are facing Scotland’s supply chain and how the challenges and shifts in supply chains are impacting on Scotland’s economy. We want to consider how to build future resilience and whether there are opportunities to develop domestic supply chains. Our inquiry is structured around three themes: people, places and product. This session is our first on places; it will look at logistics.

I thank our witness panel for attending. I welcome Richard Ballantyne, chief executive, British Ports Association; Kiran Jude Fernandes, professor of operations management, Durham University business school; Bryan Hepburn, operations manager, DFDS Group; Maggie Simpson, director general, Rail Freight Group; and Robert Windsor, policy and compliance manager and executive director, British International Freight Association.

As we have five witnesses, I ask members and witnesses to keep questions and answers as concise as possible. Witnesses will be able to provide supplementary evidence after the meeting, so I ask them to focus in their answers on key points that are relevant to the committee. I also note that Ms Simpson will have to leave at 10.30, and we will allow time for that to happen.

I will ask the first question, which I will direct to Bryan Hepburn. I will be interested in Robert Windsor’s views as well, so I will go to him first.

The committee understands the supply chain pressures that we are all facing through Covid, and the impact that Brexit has also had. There are well-known pressures, such as the shortage of heavy goods vehicle drivers and the changes to customs procedures, which have been challenging for businesses to introduce. In addition, at the moment, there are press reports about threats that France will introduce additional measures because of the dispute over fishing, and threats from fishermen that they will block the port of Calais. Those add to the existing pressures.

Mr Windsor, will you talk about the current situation that is being faced by British freight? What is your response to their concerns about the potential conflict that is ahead with France in particular?