Agenda item - Cabinet Members' Items - Report of the Environment & Public Space Portfolio Holder - A.8 - Future Port Health Arrangements at Tendring Ports

To update Cabinet on the Border Operating Model from 31st December 2020 and seek approval for a joint arrangement with Suffolk Coastal Port Health Authority in respect of the provision of imported food controls at Tendring ports.

RESOLVED that Cabinet –

a) notes the anticipated increase in demand for Tendring Port Health Authority following the end of the EU exit Transition Period based on current assumptions;

b) acknowledges the continuation of the joint arrangements with East Suffolk Council and Suffolk Coastal Port Health Authority and that a new legal agreement is necessary;

c) notes the reliance of Regulation 12(7) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 to enter into a direct joint arrangement with East Suffolk Council and Suffolk Coastal Port Health Authority for the shared aim of delivering Port Health Authority functions and the public interest in doing so;

d) authorises the exemption to the Council’s Procurement Procedure Rules to allow a direct agreement to be entered into;

e) agrees that until further reviewed by the Portfolio Holder for Environment & Public Space the Fees and Charges for the Port Health Authority functions should be set in line with those published by Suffolk Coastal Port Health Authority or those suggested by the Government in due course, whichever are the highest;

f) approves the delegation of the necessary Port Health Authority functions to Suffolk Coastal Port Health Authority, which will be recorded within the Council’s Scheme of Delegation and clearly set out within the legal agreement; and

g) authorises the Corporate Director (Operations & Delivery) to negotiate the final terms and conditions of the legal agreement, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Environment & Public Space and the Council’s Section 151 Officer and the Monitoring Officer.

The Cabinet gave consideration to a report of the Environment & Public Space Portfolio Holder (A.8) which both updated it on the Border Operating Model from 31^st December 2020 and also sought its approval for a joint arrangement with Suffolk Coastal Port Health Authority in respect of the provision of imported food controls at Tendring ports.

Members were aware that from 2300 hrs on 31^st December 2020 the European Union (EU) transition period would end and a new Border Operating Model would commence.

It was reported that currently, the imported food control related operations at Tendring ports was carried out by Suffolk Coastal Port Health Authority (SCPHA) on behalf of the Tendring Port Health Authority. This was a low scale service as the majority of incoming goods were from the EU and were not subjected to any checks or inspection regime.

Cabinet was informed that the new Border Operating Model would introduce a requirement for goods entering the UK from the EU to be subjected to monitoring, checking and sampling as was currently the case for goods from the rest of the world. The volume of goods from the EU requiring checks was unknown and currently based on estimates provided from central Government. Therefore, a substantially increased port health function, primarily at Harwich, was necessary. From July 2021 the UK Government currently estimated that up to 22,334 import consignments would contain products subject to port health controls whereas currently only around 23 met the criteria.

Members were made aware that, as to whether physical checks would need to undertaken for all imports or only carried out on a proportionate risk based approach was unknown at the current time as the necessary policy and guidance was still awaited from central Government.

The current arrangements with SCPHA were therefore required to be up-scaled accordingly.

Having duly considered the information contained in the Portfolio Holder’s update:-

It was moved by Councillor Talbot, seconded by Councillor McWilliams and:-