Independent Review of the Windsor Framework: Report

That the Committee should be allowed ten working days instead (in practice two weeks), to make this decision.
• There should be additional expert staffing available to advise the Committee.
• There should be more coordination between Whitehall and Belfast in advising the Committee, and Northern Ireland Civil Servants especially should be empowered, as far as possible, to provide appropriate and good advice to the Committee, even in areas of reserved competence.
• There should be additional capacity and support from the UK Government for the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the Committee itself, to allow for:
○ access to timely and relevant information;
○ the Committee to make better use of the expertise of the Executive’s office in Brussels;
○ the Committee to engage with Northern Ireland stakeholders in an expanded capacity.

That the UK Government continues to work with all Northern Ireland parties, ensuring that it is transparent about the functioning of the Brake (and related mechanisms). It should also go further to acknowledge the impacts EU legislation is having on Northern Ireland, and where it has acted to address these concerns.

That further NICS staff be seconded or added to the Northern Ireland Executive Office in Brussels, especially to deal with new EU regulations.

That the UK Government should look to broaden its inclusion of stakeholders into the meetings of the various fora.

That businesses in Northern Ireland and Great Britain be constantly engaged about both progress and timelines for any future UK-EU SPS agreement.

The Duty Reimbursement Scheme be revisited by the UK Government, to assess if any changes may be made to expedite reimbursement.

That the UK Government works to make Windsor Framework related guidance all accessible in a single “all-in-one service”, and that more work is done to signpost businesses towards this support. This should be tailored especially for the benefit of small to medium sized businesses.

That both the UK Government and Northern Ireland Executive continue to emphasise and publicise the commercial benefits of dual-market access.

That the UK Government looks at all possibilities to reduce frictions for logistics and haulage businesses, especially any solution that might reduce checks such as a “trusted haulier” scheme. The Government should continue to monitor the effectiveness of its new customs arrangements against the experiences of logistics businesses.

That the UK Government continues to do everything in its ability to guarantee a reliable source of veterinary medicines within Northern Ireland.
• Noting the importance of the supply of human medicines, the UK Government should continue to work closely with stakeholders and industry to ensure that divergent UK and EU regimes do not impact on availability of medicines.

That the UK Government continues to support both the IMP and IntertradeUK to the fullest possible extent, to assist them in their stated purposes.

That the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive have due regard to Article 2 of the Windsor Framework when drafting legislation, and monitors all relevant EU legislation in this respect.