Guidance

HGV parking and driver welfare grant scheme: guidance and online application

Updated 10 October 2024

Applies to England

Scheme status

The HGV parking and driver welfare grant scheme is currently closed to new applications.

View details of successful applicants for previous funding rounds.

Purpose of the grant scheme

The HGV parking and driver welfare grant scheme provides match funding to support industry operators to improve heavy goods vehicle (HGV) facilities, including, but not limited to the following areas:

• HGV parking capacity, including increasing spaces, reconfiguring layout or developing an extension to an existing parking facilities site – applicants cannot use funding to purchase land or for planning permission fees
• driver welfare facilities, including toilets, shower facilities, rest areas, truck wash facilities – disabled toilets and accessibility facilities are also in scope for this funding
• security for drivers, including lighting systems, CCTV and monitoring equipment, and secure fencing
• decarbonisation, including electric HGV charging infrastructure, alternative fuel installation and solar energy

Who can apply for the grant

You can apply for funding if you operate HGV driver facilities at:

• independent truck stops
• motorway service areas
• trunk road service areas
• local authority truck stops

Sites must be located on, or near to, the strategic road network in England.

The proposal must apply to an existing HGV parking and driver welfare facility with a minimum of 2 years of trading history. You must be able to demonstrate a minimum of 2 years trading history as an HGV parking and welfare facility.

You must be:

• a registered company or partnership at Companies House
• VAT registered with a current VAT registered number

Or if you are not registered with Companies House (ordinary partnership, sole trader, LLP or other), you will need to provide at least 2 years of accounts.

Contact us at lorryparkinggrantfund@dft.gov.uk to discuss.

How much funding can you apply for?

You can apply for up to £315,000 per site.

The Department for Transport (DfT) will match fund up to 50% of the capital cost of an improvement project. This is a capped contribution from DfT at £315,000.

You will be required to:

• disclose the site’s most recently audited annual turnover in the scheme application form
• provide written quotes from contractors for your improvement project

Timescale of project

You must submit your application to DfT by 19 June 2024.

You will need to declare your project timeline in your application.

All works must be completed by 31 March 2025.

This is when the funding from central government will expire.

Scheme rules and restrictions

Capital investment only

Grants are to support operators of existing HGV lorry parking facilities to invest in capital improvement projects only, not to fund resource expenditure.

For example, grants can be used to fund construction and refurbishment works, security equipment and installation, architecture and design and fixtures and fittings.

Normal running costs, general business overheads and labour costs associated with regular workforce and security staff are excluded.

The improvement project must not seek retrospective funding.

Project monitoring

You will need to set out in your application how you will:

• monitor and report on the progress of your improvement project against predefined delivery milestones
• identify and manage delivery risks
• provide robust and timely updates to ensure the project is on track to meet deadlines
• accommodate any auditor visits

You will be required to claim grant funding by invoice upon completion of agreed milestones as set out in the grant funding agreement.

For larger businesses, payment will generally be made upon the completion of an improvement project. For smaller businesses, DfT will consider 2-stage grant payments, following completion of works at the mid-stage and final stage.

No additional public funding

Applications can include multiple improvements per site, for example, ranging from parking, CCTV and improving facilities.

Your application must comply with UK subsidy control legislation 2022, including a declaration that:

• no grant applications will be made by the applicant to DfT and any other public body for 3 years for the specific project proposed following the payment of a grant for this site and purpose
• no grant applications have been made by, or successfully awarded to, the applicant in relation to DfT or any other public body in the 3 years preceding the application for grant funding for this site, unless for a different purpose

You can apply for an improvement project on the same site, provided it is for a different purpose. For example, if previous funding has been received for welfare improvements on your site, you may be able to apply for funding for security or parking capacity improvements.

You may apply for up to £315,000 improvement project grant funding per site. If applying for multiple sites, you should consider the potential total grants to be awarded when considering the subsidy legislation and guidance notes.

Land ownership or purchase

To qualify for the funding you must declare that the parking improvement project for which funding is being applied for is on freehold land or on land where you hold leasehold tenure for not less than 8 years at the time of application.

Grants must not be used to purchase land on behalf of the applicant or a third party.

The scheme applies to all facilities that improve HGV driver welfare located in England only.

See also the sections of this guidance on the purpose of the grant funding and who can apply.

How to apply

The easiest way to apply is via the online application form.

The form gives you the option to save your progress, so you can share your draft with colleagues before submitting it.

If you cannot use the online form, you can download a Word version and email the completed form to lorryparkinggrantfund@dft.gov.uk.

The Word form is available on the GOV.UK page for this guidance.

Your application form must be signed by an authorised signatory, usually a company director of the company applying for grant funding.

For applications made by Limited Liability Partnerships, the declaration must be signed by a partner of the Limited Liability Partnership registered at Companies House.

For applications made by local authorities, the declaration must be signed by the Director of Finance.

You must submit your application by 19 June 2024.

How we will assess your application

The assessment criteria have been designed to prioritise capital improvement projects that can be delivered by March 2025 and bring about early benefits for HGV drivers.

We will prioritise improvement projects in areas of high demand for HGV parking.

It would be beneficial for applicants to show they have considered their carbon footprint in proposed improvements in their executive summary.

Your proposals must improve HGV driver welfare in one or more of the following 4 areas.

1. HGV parking capacity, including spaces and layout

You should consider improvements that increase the number of HGV parking spaces or the overall accommodation of the facility.

You may wish to include in your proposal:

• parking area expansion and configuration
• dedicated areas for noisy vehicles and trailers with mains electricity supply and noise abatement

2. Welfare facilities for drivers

You should consider affordability for drivers and driver welfare provision when they take their essential breaks. You may consider, for example:

• the provision of driver lounges
• facilities that provide for gender and disability
• wifi, self-service laundry, recharging point, amenity refrigerators and gym facilities
• other facilities for drivers, including toilets, shower facilities, rest areas

Disabled toilets or accessibility facilities are also in scope for this funding.

3. Driver and site security

Security of drivers, heavy goods vehicles and cargo is a high priority for this scheme. You should consider measures to improve driver and site security. This may include enhanced lighting systems, CCTV and monitoring equipment, and secure fencing.

4. Decarbonisation

You may wish to consider including electric HGV charging infrastructure, alternative fuel installation options and solar energy in your improvement project application.

This is not an exhaustive list, but indicative of what DfT is looking for in applications.

Completing the application form

As part of your application form you will need to explain how:

• your project will meet our strategic objectives for the funding
• you will manage the project to make sure it meets the scheme deadlines

This section gives some advice about completing those sections of the application form.

Meeting strategic objectives

The grant scheme is designed to support HGV industry operators to improve HGV driver welfare in any or all of the following areas:

• HGV parking capacity – including increasing spaces, reconfiguring layout or developing an extension to existing parking sites - applicants cannot use funding to purchase land or for planning permission fees
• driver welfare facilities – including toilets, shower facilities, rest areas, truck wash facilities
• security for drivers – including lighting systems, CCTV and monitoring equipment and secure fencing
• decarbonisation – including electric HGV charging infrastructure, alternative fuel installation and solar energy

You must explain in your application how your scheme will help meet these objectives.

You can find out more about what you could do by reading:

• research carried out by Transport Focus into lorry drivers’ experience of roadside facilities
• the priorities identified by drivers as important in the:
  • National Survey of Lorry Parking – Part 1
  • National Survey of Lorry Parking – Part 2

Project management

To satisfy payment requirements, grants must demonstrate a measurable, verifiable improvement to the security and/or welfare of HGV drivers and/or increase or improve the capacity of HGV parking areas subject to the improvement project.

You must set out key project milestones in your application form.

These will be agreed with DfT and recorded in the grant agreement.

You must describe how you will monitor and report on the progress of the improvement project against the delivery milestones.

Risk management

You need to identify and manage delivery risks and provide robust and timely updates to ensure the project is on track to meet deadlines.

Applicants will be required to claim grant funding by invoice upon completion of agreed milestone events as set out in the grant agreement. For larger businesses, this will generally be upon the completion of an improvement project, often with just one payment. For smaller businesses, DfT will consider 2-stage grant payments following completion of works at the mid-stage and final stage.

To be eligible, applicants must demonstrate that the improvement project for which funding is being applied for can be completed by 31 March 2025, which is when the funding stream will expire.

Constraints and dependencies

You need to describe any constraints and dependencies that might affect the project. These should be indicated according to the project timeline, for example, planning permission requirements, dependencies on building contractors and any constraints that might foreseeably impact project delivery.

Outcome of funding bids

DfT will acknowledge receipt of proposals by email. Following closure of the application window on 19 June 2024, DfT will assess applications against criteria.

If your bid is successful, DfT will draw up a grant funding agreement, which you will need to sign and return. The agreement will be in its final form when it is issued to you. Amendments to the wording are not allowed. Until this happens, no grant funding agreement will come into effect. DfT may require you to provide further information to finalise terms.

Each grant funding agreement will specify the financial value of the grant payable by DfT upon successful completion of the improvement project works.

The terms of the grant funding agreement will be standard, varying only by the duration of the improvement project, grant amount and type of expenditure on which the grant will be paid. DfT may agree to staged payment of grant for smaller operators, as indicated above under the payment section of this guidance.

If you are unsuccessful, we will summarise the reasons.

Response times will be clearly advised in correspondence. DfT may require site meetings to verify particulars and to discuss the proposed improvement project in more detail.

If the project goes ahead, site visits might be made by DfT’s auditors to check on progress.

Will the award of grant be made public?

For successful bids, DfT is required to publish the following details:

• name of grant recipient
• total amount of grant monies awarded
• date of the grant
• a brief outline of the project

What happens if an application is unsuccessful?

If an application is unsuccessful, DfT will write setting out the reasons why the application has not resulted in an offer of grant. It may be possible to reapply in any future application windows.

Payment

Grants will be paid in arrears (that is, once works have been completed). Grants will be payable upon submission of an invoice by the grant recipient, subject to satisfactory documentary evidence of completed works.

DfT reserves the right to verify works or installed equipment, and this may be by way of site inspection.

All invoices should be submitted within the time period as set out in the grant agreement. Failure to submit claims or provide satisfactory proof of works within this time limit may result in a claim being rejected by DfT.

Grants will normally be paid within 20 working days of receipt of invoice for payment and full supporting documentation.

DfT may agree to staged payment of grants for smaller operators. Staged payment will be based on mid-stage and final-stage milestones agreed between parties and set out in the grant funding agreement.

Monitoring

Improvements made under the Match Funding Grant Scheme (MFGS) through the claims submitted must be demonstrated to be to the same standard as agreed in the grant funding agreement.

Where improvements made are lower than the forecasts provided by the grant recipient at the time of the grant funding agreement (and approved by DfT), adjustments may be made to the amount or timing of the grant at the determination of DfT.

This will ensure the effective financial control of the scheme and maximise the amount of benefit that can be achieved through the scheme. The decision on whether clawback is required will be made following the regular formal grant funding agreement reviews, as defined in the grant agreement.

Under the terms of the grant funding agreement, DfT may at any time review grant payments to ensure conformance with the grant funding agreement. Where improvement projects are found not to be in conformance with specifications in the grant funding agreement, DfT may, at its discretion, require the applicant to refund up to 100% of the grant payment or take further legal action to recover grant monies.

Any such reductions will be made for the grant year in question, and for all future years of the grant agreement. Grant recipients will be given the opportunity to describe any external factors beyond their control that may have affected completion of the improvement project and the department will consider whether these should be taken into account.

Reporting fraudulent activity

DfT has a ‘zero-tolerance’ culture regarding acts of fraud, bribery or corruption. Any such acts will be investigated fully and where appropriate, civil and/or legal action will be taken.

If you suspect that any form of fraud, bribery, theft or corruption is occurring as part of the HGV parking and driver welfare grant scheme, you must report it.

To report an instance, call the DfT fraud hotline on 07827 843953 or email counter-fraudbribery@dft.gov.uk.

All reports will be managed in complete confidence.

If fraud or error is found, you must promptly notify and repay the department any money incorrectly paid. This also applies if overpayment occurs as a result of an administrative error. Repayment will be in line with DfT’s overpayment policy.

Policy background

The government recognises the important contribution that hauliers make to the nation’s economy and the need to ensure drivers have access to appropriate services and facilities. Driver welfare is a key element in making driving an attractive career choice and improving lorry parking facilities is an important part of this.

HGV drivers are required to take mandatory breaks and rest periods. Better driver welfare and parking availability improves the quality of drivers’ rest and recovery contributing to better road safety.

The government announced plans to invest in HGV parking and associated facilities in the December 2021 Spending Review to improve roadside facilities as part of continued government action with industry to boost driver welfare and tackle the effects of the driver shortage in the UK. The funding will go towards supporting operators to make improvements, such as improving site security, and different facilities, including independent cafes and food stops at independent truck stops, and increasing spaces for lorry drivers.

This guidance outlines the criteria and process for applying for grant funding under the HGV Parking and Driver Welfare MFGS. There is no automatic entitlement to grant funding.

Any offer of grant funding is subject to applicants satisfying requirements set out in the guidance, scheme application form and legal agreement and will remain entirely at the discretion of DfT.

Legislation and codes of conduct

Applicants under this MFGS are subject to the following legislation and code of conduct.

Bribery Act 2010 including provisions on offences under Section 1 of bribing a person to act improperly and offences under Section 2 relating to a person being bribed.

Subsidy Control Act 2022 governing awards by public bodies in a way that minimises any negative impacts to competition and investment, as well as promoting the effective and efficient use of public money.

In relation to the proposed improvement project, the applicant will observe the Health & Safety at Work Act, the Environment Act, the Town and Country Planning Act, the Building Regulations system in England and all laws regulating the development and construction of capital infrastructure in England.

Code of conduct for recipients of government general grants.

Help with your application

If you have any questions about the scheme or how to complete your application, you can contact us at lorryparkinggrantfund@dft.gov.uk.

By post:

HGV Parking and Welfare Policy

Road Freight Strategy

Department for Transport

3rd Floor Zone 1-4 Great Minster House

33 Horseferry Road

London SW1P 4DR