Stormont deputy First Minister presses Government over Windsor Framework

Stormont’s deputy First Minister has called on the Government to act over the Windsor Framework’s “bureaucracy for bureaucracy sake”.

Emma Little-Pengelly said some companies will not supply to Northern Ireland because they do not understand the rules put in place following the UK’s exit from the European Union.

The Windsor Framework, which was agreed in 2023, requires checks and customs paperwork on goods moving from Great Britain into Northern Ireland.

Under the arrangements, which were designed to ensure no hardening of the Irish land border post-Brexit, Northern Ireland continues to follow many EU trade and customs rules.

The Assembly also debated a private members motion on Monday brought by three DUP MLAs on moving beyond the Windsor Framework.

Speaking during questions for the Executive Office, Ms Little-Pengelly said there is currently “very little regulatory divergence”, but despite that she said there is “unnecessary checking at the behest of the deal”.

“Some companies don’t supply Northern Ireland because they don’t understand the system, some companies try to ask for various company numbers or looking for processes that are not needed,” she told MLAs.

“I get it all the time when people contact me, and it takes a bit of time, and you can navigate and you can get it resolved however, there are still requirements, there are certain certificates that are required by certain people.”

Ms Little-Pengelly outlined a situation facing a man she called Roy from Mid-Ulster who was trying to bring a tractor from Scotland to Northern Ireland.

“He was requiring four certificates. He couldn’t give the haulage company a specific date as to when he was to get that, and therefore he missed that window and those tractors were stuck in Scotland for four to six weeks despite being paid in full, despite the fact that Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom,” she said.

“That is not acceptable. It is bureaucracy for bureaucracy sake. We need to tackle that.

“The biggest frustration that people have about governments, should it be here, across the United Kingdom or across the globe, is the fact that it’s so difficult to get things sorted because of this unnecessary, disproportionate, non-risk based nonsense that people are putting in place.

“They need to get rid of it. It doesn’t serve any purpose. Get it sorted.”