Minute Number

Reason

Interest

Councillor Drean

Minute 35 –

Brexit: Plymouth Relevant Issues Relating to the UK Leaving the EU

Member of his family was employed by the Port

Personal

Councillor Churchill

Minute 35

Brexit: Plymouth Relevant Issues Relating to the UK Leaving the EU

Employed by Devon and Cornwall Police

Personal

(a)

economic development -

?

mitigating actions had already been put in place to minimise the impact on businesses within the city which included -

?

establishing a local Port liaison group which brought together key stakeholders including Brittany Ferries and Associated British Ports;

?

holding a number of Brexit Business Round Table meetings to ensure that the Council was reflecting the concerns of businesses to central Government;

?

working collaboratively with Devon and Plymouth Chamber of Commerce to jointly launch the Plymouth Brexit Business Group;

(b)

the Council’s Fishing Industry Development Manager had also been undertaking work to support the city’s fishing industry;

(c)

the Council had been integral in the creation of the Brexit Resilience and Opportunities Group which was part of the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership;

(d)

areas of concern related to the impact on -

?

Plymouth’s international exports in goods to the European Union;

?

the likely reduction in the level of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and the retention of existing FDIs;

(e)

Port issues -

?

mitigating actions had been undertaken which included –

?

the identification of a suitable location and resource at the Port office (Millbay Ferry Terminal) to ensure that Export Health and Catch certificates could be issued;

?

the identification of a suitable site for the provision of a heavy goods waiting area (the Old Parade Ground at Seaton Barracks);

?

supporting hauliers to ensure that they were aware of the need for appropriate documentation; this included overhead digital signage on the major route into the city;

?

the continuing negotiations with Associated British Ports on the future provision of the Border Inspection Post (BIP) (without which the Port would be unable to handle animal and high risk foods);

(f)

the Council had submitted a funding bid (£150k) to the Food Standards Agency but had only received £25k; this had resulted in the Council being unable to recruit additional staff for the Port office; staff undertaking statutory roles such as food safety inspections had been diverted to carry out this work in the short term;

(g)

the Council had received confirmation from Brittany Ferries that as part of the Freight Capacity Framework, strategic goods and medicines would not be coming through Plymouth; these would be directed through the ports of Poole and Portsmouth;

(h)

a Border Inspection Post (BIP) could potentially cost £1m, although in principle the funding would come from the operator (Associated British Ports), the Council would assist in helping to prepare a case to access grant funding;

(i)

risks -

?

organisational risks included the following -

?

failure to manage stakeholder Brexit queries in advance of the leaving date of 31 October 2019;

?

disruption to service delivery through the lack of availability of products and resources;

?

financial impacts of preparation and response  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.