Freight levels drop out of Guernsey after end of LVCR
Freight being sent out of Guernsey has fallen after the scrapping of Low Value Consignment Relief, according to the deputy harbour master, Tony Pattimore.
In April, the UK ended the agreement with the Channel Islands. The Low Value Consignment Relief had allowed smaller items to be sent to the UK tax free.
Tony Pattimore said,
“We could see the loss of six trailers a day going out. We’re not being as badly hit as Jersey; they have probably lost about three times that amount.”
Tony Pattimore estimated that the loss of freight could be as high as 10%.
In addition, Mr Pattimore said,
“The trailer has to come in with cargo on it and that will still happen, but instead of going out with cargo the trailer will be sent out empty. An empty trailer doesn’t earn revenue and this is where you have the knock-on effect. We’re going to have this dip while everything re-adjusts and one of the things about the Channel Islands is that they seem to be pretty resilient.”
The full impact of the end of Low Value Consignment Relief on Guernsey’s unemployment levels cannot yet be accurately estimated according to the chief officer of Social Security.
A number of mail order companies have announced redundancies over the past few weeks.
Malcolm Nutley said that the department had already been contacted by some of those losing their job and he expected more to come forward in the coming months. He added that measures were being put in place to deal with the expected rise.
Unemployment figures for Guernsey at the end of March, which would not include any of those made redundant due to the end of LVCR, were down by 16 on the February figures.
There were 416 people out of work at the end of last month, representing 1.3% of the working population, a rise of 115 compared with the same month in 2011.
In Alderney there were 21 people registered as unemployed.
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