HMRC jobs fantastic news for the island
YR wythnos diwethaf daeth y tymor Seneddol i ben am yr haf. Felly byddaf nawr yn manteisio ar y cyfle i ymweld â busnesau lleol, mynd i ddigwyddiadau a mwynhau ein ynys hyfryd.
Last week saw the start of the Parliamentary summer recess. I am taking the opportunity to visit local businesses, attend events and enjoy our beautiful island.
Last Friday I held my first face to face surgery in Rhosneigr. After months of holding telephone surgeries it was fantastic to be able to meet in person again. It is very important to me to hear from people in their communities and Rhosneigr was the first of many locally-based surgeries I will be holding on a regular basis. My next will be in Menai Bridge during September. If you have a space that I could use for a community surgery please do get in touch.
My focus this week is the fantastic news for the island that over 200 new good quality careers will soon be created in Holyhead following HMRC’s announcement that it has completed its purchase of the Roadking site on Parc Cybi in Holyhead for our new Inland Border Facility.
The Facility will be the site at which post-Brexit customs checks are made on freight transiting through the port. This is currently happening at a temporary facility on Parc Cybi, but following the end of Staged Customs Controls on 1 January 2022 a bigger site like that to be built at the former Roadking site will be needed to support trade through our port.
I first became involved with finding a site for this new facility last summer when HMRC was in talks with Isle of Anglesey County Council about a potential location in Mona. The proposed Mona site, adjacent to the airstrip, was rejected when local residents raised concerns about the impact of traffic volumes on nearby villages.
Alternative sites that were considered included Warrington, Parc Bryn Cegin outside Bangor and various other sites on Anglesey. From the point I became involved, it became my mission to make sure that both HMRC and the Treasury understood that it was critical for the facility to be based on Anglesey.
I made it clear that it was vitally important for people on Anglesey to host the facility. A site on the mainland – even one in Bangor – would not meet the needs of the island. I cited the shortage of local careers and need for levelling up, as well as the proximity to the port.
Nearly a year on I am delighted
that HMRC has now confirmed Parc Cybi as its chosen site. The
Welsh Government’s sanitary and phytosanitary checking facility is planned for Plot 9 which means that the two sites will be closely located. The owners of Roadking already had their site for sale on the open market and wanted to withdraw from Holyhead.
I know that the loss of Roadking locally is unfortunate. It had established itself as a local favourite for good home cooked food in hearty portions and I, along with so many others, have eaten there and know members of the team who worked there. Some of the staff have already been recruited into new roles which are needed for the interim period whilst the plot is developed.
There have also been concerns raised about where freight drivers will park up as an alternative to Roadking. HMRC is supporting discussions with both Welsh Government and Anglesey Council about what steps can be taken to ensure that lorries displaced from Roadking following the sale do not cause anti-social behaviour problems in public spaces.
Until a more permanent solution
is agreed, interim HGV parking with sanitation facilities will be available on the existing Welsh Government facility at Parc Cybi (Plot 9). Ferry operators, hauliers and the emergency services have been informed and signage is being adjusted.
It is my sincere hope that the sale of Roadking will offer an opportunity for someone local to take up its mantle and establish a similar facility nearby. If the past 18 months have shown me nothing else, then it is just how adaptable and creative the people of Anglesey are. I have no doubt that this sudden gap in the market will be the making of a new local entrepreneur.
Over the coming months the HMRC site will go through a transitional phase in three stages:
1. Over the next few weeks the site will be cleared and surveying will take place ready for the development of the facility.
2. From around the start of September the Transit Lite Facility will be relocated to the site. This is currently being operated from the Welsh Government facility on Plot 9.
3. At the same time HMRC will start developing part of the site to introduce Interim Operating
Capacity or IOC. This will allow for full documentary and physical examination of goods to start from January 2022 when the Staged Customs Control period ends. This IOC will be a temporary operation for compliance and will be augmented by additional buildings later in 2022 when the full site development is complete.
For the period between now and January 2022 there will be a reduced initial workforce on site.
Some of the former Roadking staff have already been recruited into these roles.
Once the site becomes operation in January 2022 it will run as a 24/7 operation with three shifts.
This is expected to provide more than 200 permanent careers across a range of disciplines including administrative, security, operations, traffic management and inspection staff.
Recruitment for permanent posts will begin in the Autumn but I have already put members of HMRC in contact with the local job centre, Môn CF and Menter Môn to discuss the potential opportunities that will be available.
I want to ensure that local jobseekers can be prioritised and
offered training in the skills they need so that these jobs go to local people.
If you are based on Anglesey and interested in working at the site I urge you to contact Holyhead Job Centre on 0800 169 0190 and let them know.
Each month I send out a free monthly e-newsletter. Register to receive it at www.virginiacrosbie. co.uk/newsletter.
If you need my help you can contact me in any of the following ways:
• visit 19 Stanley Street, Holyhead
• phone 01407 644 645
• email virginia.crosbie.mp@ parliament.uk
• visit my website www.virginiacrosbie.co.uk.
Bob mis byddaf yn anfon e-gylchlythyr am ddim. Gallwch gofrestru i’w gael yma
www.virginiacrosbie.co.uk/ newsletter.
Os bydd angen fy help arnoch chi, gallwch chi gysylltu â mi drwy’r dulliau canlynol:
• ymweld â 19 Stryd Stanley,
• ffonio 01407 644 645
• e-bostio virginia.crosbie. mp@parliament.uk
• edrych ar fy ngwefan www.