Are you an in or an out?

In the past months the media interest has been non-stop and in the next few weeks I’m certain that it will become even more obvious.

However, despite the blanket coverage, polls show that nearly 30% of voters are still undecided. Much of this indecision is explained by the simple fact that so much of what will happen on the 24 June is largely unknown, and consequently politicians have been unable to make a definitive number-based argument either way.

The Vote Leave side argues that we will make savings which can be reinvested in the domestic economy and that we will be able to negotiate improved terms of trade with EU members. They argue that we will take back control over policy areas which are currently debated and decided in Brussels.

Vote Remain highlight the risks of leaving, pointing to forecasts which highlight likely adverse economic impacts, a reduction in cross border cooperation and concerns over our security.

There is information coming out of both sides on how their respective cases will impact on the costs faced by our industry. Both sides it seems are now offering cheaper and more secure fuel. Businesses worry about securing international contracts, recruiting adequately trained staff, and one of the big unanswered questions for me is how manufacturers will see a future in the UK when we are not in the EU. Will it be an advantage or not as we move forward?

An area of particular interest for me is around who and how we set ‘standards’. Who should decide the qualifications that an individual needs to do a job legally? In our sector, significant amounts of training is undertaken to fulfil mandatory legal obligations, both from Westminster but also from Europe. Indeed politicians demand so much from us through legislation that many employers simply do not have any resources left to invest in discretionary training aimed specifically at their business.  Numbers show that we are the second lowest spending sector on this form of training in the whole economy.

Who decides where best to spend training budgets is a key issue for me. Whatever happens moving forward, I hope that we can have a set of politicians who reflect on the amount of legislation that comes our way and understands that, while training is a key way by which to improve productivity, the best way to support our sector is to give us freedom to decide where best to spend our own training budgets.

David Coombes, Founder and Managing Director of Logistics Job Shop