AQW 9104/17-22

Mr John Blair
Alliance Party
South Antrim

Tabled Date: 20/10/2020
Answered On Date: 04/11/2020
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs what work his Department is doing to prevent long delays at border control posts disrupting food supply chains in Northern Ireland.

Answer:

Keeping food on our shelves has been recognised as a key issue by the Northern Ireland Executive. Accordingly, DAERA was assigned by the Executive on 1 May 2020 to lead on Food Supply Security.

I remain clear that the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol needs to be implemented in a way that minimises any frictions on the flow of agri-food trade and works for our businesses and consumers. I have reinforced this point to the UK Government, and I am seeking progress on a number of relevant policy issues which will be essential for the successful design and operation of our Points of Entry.

Following a review, Programme delivery has been assessed as RED, meaning the programme team will not be able to deliver the operational delivery arrangements in full by the end of the Transition Period. Therefore, the team, whilst continuing to work on the full implementation of all requirements, are now engaged in contingency planning to identify what can be achieved during this period.

The following details provide a brief update:

A business case for the work necessary to carry out the required Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) checks at Northern Irelands Points of Entry has been approved by the Department of Finance and Her Majesty’s Treasury. This includes building work, additional staff and IT functions. Funding has been secured for some £43 million, of which £37 million relates to capital expenditure. A further £6 million will also be required for recruiting, training and employing additional personnel and programme implementation costs.

One of the most significant aspects of the programme has been to identify suitable site locations for the Points of Entry facilities. There are key drivers for the site selection, for example, they must be within the Port and Custom boundary, they must fit the needs of the DAERA operating model in terms of size and to be successful, they have to align with the Port’s operating model. There has been detailed engagement with port authorities and airports to: (1) assess current site infrastructure; (2) identify any additional infrastructure that is required; and (3) agree in principle suitable site locations for development at each portal facility. After a period of intensive work, specific sites have been identified and the programme team is in negotiations with the ports through Land and Property Services and DSO Commercial to secure the relevant lease agreements.

Proposed facilities will, of course, need to have the relevant planning consents to proceed. Legal advice has been that DAERA should confirm the position with the local planning authorities, therefore applications have been submitted for each of the ports for proposed Certificate of Lawful Use or Development (CLUD) to the relevant Council authorities to confirm that the development falls within permitted development rights.

The programme team have completed the tender process for the design and build phase for the required inspection facilities, in line with the programme procurement strategy, which was agreed with the Department of Finance. The contract award letters for the design and build of proposed inspection facilities at Warrenpoint, Larne and Belfast Harbours issued to the successful contractors on 7 October 2020. Meetings with the successful contractors are now ongoing to agree the delivery timelines for the design and build programme of works.

Work is being finalised with initial ground survey work being undertaken for each of the Seaport sites (Belfast Harbour, Larne Port, Warrenpoint Port and Foyle Port) in order to inform the forthcoming detailed design process.

Over the coming months, to ensure businesses are kept up to date, a communication and engagement plan will be implemented in conjunction with the relevant government departments including Defra and HMRC. This will include a series of stakeholder engagement sessions to guide traders step by step through the journey from GB to Northern Ireland.