(a)

the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: UK and EU reach agreement on fishing opportunities for 2022; 

the UK and EU had reached agreement on catch limits for 2022, providing approximately 140,000 tonnes (70 fish stocks) of fishing opportunities for the UK fleet;

a £75m boost to modernise the UK fishing industry and level up coastal communities; £65m related to an infrastructure scheme which would be available for projects such as modernising ports and harbours; up to £10m would also be used to encourage new entrants into the sector;

there were eight new projects that would support the UK’s fishing industry to be more productive and sustainable which had been awarded a share of the £1.4m; the funding was the first part of the £24m (earmarked from the £100m UK Seafood Fund) specifically for science and innovation projects;

CEFAS, in partnership with local fish producer organisations, attracted a small grant for addressing specific challenges facing the Celtic Sea demersal trawl mixed fisheries; South Devon and Channel Shell Fishermen Ltd had also received a share of £270,000 for a 24 month project aimed at improving Shellfish Data Collection;

(b)

the Department for Transport (Green shipping boost as Maritime Minister announced plans to explore shore power); there was a call for evidence which the Government had launched that aimed to accelerate maritime decarbonisation by switching to emissions-cutting shore power at UK ports;

marine decarbonisation was one of the five key themes which the Council intended to explore in its carbon net zero strategy for the Plymouth and South Devon Freeport;

(c)

Prime Minister’s Office: the Government had announced a Brexit Freedoms Bill, as well as a new law which focussed on competition law exemption for the UK, replacing the retained EU rules which  would expire on 31 May 2022; a technical consultation on the wording of the legislation was now open until 16 March 2022;

(d)

customs: on 1 January 2022, new customs rules took effect which included full customs declarations and controls which were introduced on EU imports into the UK;

in January 2022, the Government had also published a call for evidence to feedback on the customs system to help shape long-term customs policy; Councils were encouraged to promote and share details of this consultation with businesses in its area (the call for evidence closed on 2 May 2022);

(e)

in terms of upcoming key dates, there would be further requirements introduced from 1 July 2022 onwards, including Export Health Certificates and Safety and Security declarations on EU imports.

(f)

sought clarification as to the statistics relating to the EU settlement scheme; in the most recent quarterly report there had been 11,850 concluded applications for Plymouth of which 7,310 were granted settled status and 4,040 pre settled status, which left a shortfall of 500 people;

response: these figures did not include those people that were not granted status; however full information would be provided in an email and circulated to all Committee members outside of this forum;

(g)

on whether the Council would be providing a submission relating to the call for evidence for the Department of Transport’s ‘green shipping boost as Maritime Minister announced plans to explore shore power’;

response:  a response would be provided to this query and circulated to Committee members, outside of this forum.