Island feeling the Brexit pinch at the border

Tuesday 25 July 2023

Guernsey has seen a huge increase in customs declarations and immigration applications since Brexit took effect, and the idea of GST will create more work demanding additional resources on top of that, the Head of Law Enforcement has warned.

Bailiwick Law Enforcement’s annual report for 2022 lays out how “statistically the evidence of the difference between the pre- and post-Brexit operating environment can be seen, with associated workloads, increased responsibilities and areas that need investment in terms of resources, digital upgrades and support, training, and development”.

Chief Officer Ruari Hardy echoed that to Express, saying the post-Brexit regulatory and trading environment “has generated an awful lot more work, and we have to comply because we're part of the Common Travel Area, and we have to comply with the customs restrictions that the United Kingdom has put in place. 

“Brexit really has, to a small jurisdiction, brought a disproportionate amount of additional pressure.”

Work to retrain staff has occurred, as well as building enhanced supervision and resilience into the Customs and Excise department as the Bailiwick faces more scrutiny than ever for complying with legal obligations.

Last year those officers had to deal with 2,390 more customs declarations than in 2019. 

Even considering that, Mr Hardy said the full impact of Brexit on these public services is yet to be known, especially for goods. 

The Immigration and Nationality Team Has also experienced a vast increase in the number of cases it deals with, with more people than ever applying for work permits from outside the EU with 594 applications in 2021 and 1,190 last year. In 2017 there were just 141 of these. 

“We're seeing an exponential rise in people from other jurisdictions, non-EU jurisdictions,” Mr Hardy said. “And that does generate in its own right a lot of work as well for the immigration staff, because documentation and proof of training, proof of qualifications and things like that all have to be provided to enable these permits to be to be issued.

“Whether they're going to increase further, I couldn't comment. They have increased significantly, whether we're at sort of a plateau now, we'll just have to wait and see. But it has put a lot of pressure on staff who've gone above and beyond to address the volume of work that's come through."

Pictured: A breakdown of different immigration applications since 2017. 

The increase in immigration applications saw the States pocket nearly £868,314 last year. In 2019 half a million pounds less was collected in this way. But Mr Hardy said this cost recovery is only partly offsetting the increases in administration costs.

“Yes, more revenue is coming in, but you still need experienced immigration officers staff to deal with the work. So you can't just go and bring in some part time additional clerical staff,” he said. 

“There's an awful lot of work that goes behind each application. So it certainly isn't something that's really running at a profit, it's covering the costs that have to be put out to allow the process to take place.”

He added that businesses bringing staff in from abroad are often the ones meeting these costs.

Mr Hardy also said the prospect of the States introducing a goods and services tax would also demand extra resources 

“That would be a significant additional goods collection tax that would would require some considerable planning and preparation if it was to come in, particularly for the Border Agency. 

Bailiwick Law Enforcement’s annual report added: “Brexit has been the primary drive behind change and Guernsey has, as a small jurisdiction, had to respond quickly and effectively to some of the requirements, both to enable the movement of goods within the United Kingdom, but also Europe and further afield. There are a number of areas of risks and compliance that we must ensure are addressed to ensure that these movements of goods are able to take place effectively and in a way that supports business."