Civil service COO details department staffing plans for next phase of Brexit
Alex Chisholm tells MPs Border Force needs 2,000 extra staff while Defra is funding training for 500 new Port Health Authority officials
Alex Chisholm appears before the Public Accounts Committee last year
09 Mar 2021
Border Force requires another 2,000 staff to deal with a spike in workload when full customs import controls on movements of goods from the European Union to Great Britain come into effect later this year, civil service chief operating officer Alex Chisholm has told MPs.
Chisholm, who is also perm sec at the Cabinet Office, said HM Revenue and Customs – which is also dealing with massive Brexit-related changes to its operations – was not anticipating a significant increase in staffing when the changes take full effect in August.
Date Time
UK Government and seafood industry make good progress on exports
Temporary issues felt in the seafood supply chain are steadily improving, UK Government Minister for Scotland David Duguid heard in a meeting he chaired today with senior figures in the industry.
“The UK Government has been striving night and day to help the industry and I am encouraged that solutions now in place are beginning to bear fruit,” he said after the latest meeting of the Scottish Seafood Export Working Group, attended online by the Scottish Seafood Association and Scottish Fishermen’s Federation.
The Minister also spoke with DFDS, the logistics experts who operate the Larkhall hub, through which much of Scotland’s seafood exports pass.
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: New financial support for the UK s fishing businesses that export to the EU foreignaffairs.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from foreignaffairs.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
MPs recognise critical vet shortages as end of transition looms
28 December 2020 |
MPs have raised the crucial role of overseas-trained vets working as UK Official Veterinarians
A cross-party group of MPs have highlighted serious concerns regarding the UK s veterinary capacity after the end of the Brexit transition period.
The new report, produced by the House of Commons EFRA Committee, outlines the essential role of veterinary surgeons throughout the food chain.
It notes the increased requirements for veterinary certification at the end of the Brexit transition period, on 31 December.
It summarises: “The example of the veterinarian sector highlights the important role that overseas-trained employees undertake in the food supply chain, in this case working in abattoirs that are unattractive to UK-trained vets.
ANALYSIS-Brexit deal or no deal, meat supply lines will choke on red tape Reuters 12/15/2020 Britain exports lamb to EU, imports include hams and bacon Bird flu, bovine TB already increasing vet workload Many UK vets are EU nationals and some are leaving
By Jonathan Saul, Nigel Hunt and Philip Blenkinsop
LONDON/BRUSSELS, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Shipments of meat, such as lamb, bacon and sausages, between Britain and the European Union will be disrupted next year even with a Brexit trade deal, as a shortage of veterinarians and a mountain of paperwork disrupt supply lines.
Under the temporary transition period in force since Britain s departure from the EU at the end of January, meat imports and exports flow freely between the major trading partners.