Agenda item

The Leader presented the Cabinet Report, which gave an update of the Brexit trade negotiations between the UK Government and European Union and the Council’s preparations for post 31 December arrangements. 

On 24 December, the UK Government and EU announced that they had agreed a future trade relationship that would mean businesses would be able to trade tariff free from 1 January 2021.  

For many businesses in Wales and Newport that trade with the EU this provides much needed certainty in what has been a very difficult 2020/21.  Businesses would still have to comply with the new custom rules and there could be disruption in the supply of certain goods and services in the short term.  The Leader encouraged businesses in Newport to visit the Welsh Government (Business Wales) websites and ensure that they understood and complied with the new regulations.

Newport is a city that has a long heritage of forging strong business and trade relationships with the world, enabling people from around the world to live and work in the City, it would be important to continue to promote Newport and provide opportunities for small to medium sized businesses to grow as we recovered from the Covid pandemic.

From 1 January 2021, there was also new rules that came into place.  One of the biggest changes was the end of free movement of UK and EU citizens (excluding Irish Citizens) and the introduction of a new points based immigration system.  With this in mind, Newport would always be an inclusive city and it was important for all residents (UK / Non UK Citizens) to know that everyone was welcome to live and work supporting the sustainable growth of the city and region.          

Newport had already seen a large number of people receive confirmation of their settled status, but there were many more that needed to apply before 30 June deadline.  The Council alongside its multi-agency partners had supported and encouraged EU residents to apply and would continue this up to and after the deadline.

The Leader gave progress on the update as at 31 December 2020 as outlined in the Report:

·      Working in collaboration with the Welsh Government, local authorities and multi-agency partners, the Council’s Brexit Task & Finish Group and the Gwent Local Resilience Forum were identifying and considering any key risks / issues in the short term as well as the medium to long term.

·      Any Brexit related issues that may emerge would be reported into the existing Covid Gold mechanisms.

·      The Council was contacting all key suppliers and providers of services and were assured that supplies would be available with as much supply chain risk reduced. 

·      The Council’s Communication team were issuing messages signposting businesses to the ‘Business Wales’ and Welsh Government websites.

·      The Council’s Community Cohesion team were working with Food Banks working group, EUSS Working Group to support EU citizens, residents and asylum seekers and to encourage ongoing take up of EU Settled Status.  The Food Banks worked tirelessly throughout 2020 supporting low income and vulnerable households.  Funding from the Council helped to support the Food Banks in the city. 

·      The Council was working with Gwent Police and other multi-agency groups to identify any issues of hate crime and discrimination directed at EU Citizens living and working in the City. 

The table in Appendix 1 of the report provided full details across the areas covered by the Task & Finish Group.

The Leader welcomed thoughts of Cabinet Members on the report.

Agreed:

Cabinet considered the contents of the report and noted the Council’s Brexit preparations.