The Chief Executive of Ards and North Down Council has blocked a DUP proposal to end any checks in the borough made by council officers relating to the Brexit Protocol.
At a full meeting of Ards and North Down Council this week, the DUP forwarded a replacement motion that was passed, asking for full details on Protocol checks in the borough, and ceasing actions relating to a service level agreement that gave funds to the council to make checks.
The council came under scrutiny recently after the BBC’s Stephen Nolan Show examined the case of a Newtownards shop owner who had noodles removed by council officers performing Protocol related checks.
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At the council meeting this week the DUP admitted the Chief Executive stated its original motion to adopt a policy of non-implementation of council checks relating to the Protocol was “inadmissible.”
The new motion, by DUP Alderman Stephen McIlveen, states the council “reviews its policies in relation to the Northern Ireland Protocol, provides a list to members of measures currently undertaken in the implementation of that Protocol, and highlights which of these measures taken by the council are obligatory and which are discretionary.”
It adds: “In the meantime, (the council will) cease actions which relate to the now expired service level agreement with Causeway Coast and Glens Council and revert to actions undertaken pre-service level agreement. The council requests that officers action these matters with due urgency in order that members may take any necessary actions without undue delay.”
The motion was passed with 21 votes from the DUP, the UUP, the TUV and three independent Unionists. The Alliance Party, the Green Party and one independent voted against the motion, with 12 votes.
Alderman McIlveen told the chamber the original DUP motion was forwarded to “bring some clarity to a swirl of adverse and in part ill-informed publicity.” He added: “Unfortunately, given that this is an overwhelmingly unionist council, it does not allow us to state our opposition to the Protocol, in the terms I had hoped, but it will I hope afford clarity to those who seek to comment on the workings of the council in relation to that Protocol.”
He said: “I have highlighted an attitude I feel is developing, where we are effectively being asked to retrospectively rubber-stamp officer actions rather than it giving us our place. That is why I want to find out exactly what it is that we are doing or not doing in relation to the Protocol.”
In August, a council document referred to a memorandum of understanding issued between Northern Ireland’s 11 local authorities, stating that council were continuing checks they had performed before the Brexit legislation was passed. It states: “Local councils already enforce the related legislation in premises such as cold stores, warehouses, distribution centres and local shops such as butchers, which may be cutting and selling meat. Therefore the MOU does not require any responsibilities or burdens on council, but simply formalises what was done in practice.”
Alliance Councillor Hannah Irwin said: “It is important to remind members why we have the Protocol in the first place, as it often gets lost in these discussions. It is the necessary outworking of Brexit, pushed by the Conservative Party, pushed by the DUP, and their insistence on leaving the Single Market and Customs Market alongside dismissing any alternatives presented to them.”
She added: “The Protocol is an international treaty, negotiated between the UK Government and the EU, and there are duties on the UK Government, the Northern Ireland Executive departments and local authorities to implement it. This doesn’t even touch on the fact the provisions within the Protocol exist to protect our businesses, residents and visitors to the borough.
“It would be frankly careless and irresponsible to even consider not implementing the Protocol. A review into measures implementing the Protocol within the council is frankly a waste of time and resources, when these measures are in place to protect the council, our local businesses and our citizens.”
She said: “The irony is in apparently anti-Protocol members actively seconding items relating to the service level agreement and implementation of the Protocol, and then action only being taken months later, after it was raised on a popular radio show. This arguably pokes a firm hole in the authenticity of any argument put out tonight.
“I look forward to a time when the Protocol is no longer used as a political tool against our citizens. I would like to thank the Chief Executive and the Directors for their work, and I would like to say we should be careful in potentially putting any officers in difficult positions regarding their obligations.”
The UK Government’s Office for Product Safety and Standards developed a additional package for local councils in Northern Ireland to coordinate market surveillance post Brexit, amounting to just under £50,000 per council. The money from the national regulator covered front line officers, training, funding to enable testing for products manufactured or imported by Northern Ireland business, and provision for screen testing equipment.
It was confirmed by Ards and North Down Borough Council in January the money would be used to continue to employ an officer in the borough to step up surveillance of goods coming into Northern Ireland. The funding for this agreement expired in May this year, but the council continues to carry out the terms of the agreement.
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