Agendas, reports and minutes

Note of Meeting of the Chief Officers Group held in Room 0.01, An Lòchran, 10 Inverness Campus, Inverness on Friday 8 March 2019 at 3.00 pm.

Present:

Representing the Highland Council (HC):
Mr D Yule
Mr S Black
Ms S Campbell
Ms A Clark

Representing Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE):
Mr D Oxley
Mr J Gibbs

Representing the Highland Third Sector Interface (HTSI):
Ms M Wylie

Representing NHS Highland (NHSH):
Mr I Stewart

Representing Police Scotland (PS):
Ch Supt G Macdonald

Representing Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS):
Mr R Middlemiss

Representing the Scottish Government (SG):
Dr D Mackinnon

Representing Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH):
Mr B Leyshon (Substitute)

Representing Skills Development Scotland (SDS):
Ms S Sheridan (Substitute)

In attendance:

Ms C McDiarmid, Head of Policy and Reform, Highland Council
Miss M Murray, Committee Administrator, Highland Council

Mr D Oxley in the Chair

Business

1.    Apologies for Absence

Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Ms D Manson, Mr I Murray, Prof H van Woerden, Ms C Steer, Mr G Hogg, Ms S Campbell, Mr D MacBeath, Ms E Johnston and Mr P Mascarenhas.
    
2.    Note of previous Meeting

The Note of Meeting of the Chief Officers Group held on 23 January 2019 was APPROVED.
    
3.    Impacts on Highland of the vote to leave the European Union

At the Chief Officers Group on 23 January 2019 it had been agreed that an additional meeting take place to discuss the impacts on Highland of the vote to leave the European Union.

To aid discussion, there had been circulated reports submitted to the HIE Board (confidential) and the Highland Council on 12 February and 7 March 2019 respectively.

In addition, verbal updates were provided by partners during which detailed information was provided on preparations for exiting the EU, particularly from a resilience planning perspective, and the potential implications, risks and challenges in the short and longer term.

Following discussion, the Group:

i.    AGREED that the impacts on Highland of the vote to leave the European Union should be a standing item on the COG and Board agendas for the foreseeable future;
ii.    NOTED the Prepare for Brexit website (https://www.prepareforbrexit.scot), which included a self-assessment tool for businesses and which partners were encouraged to promote;
iii.    AGREED that partnership action would be required in respect of the Shared Prosperity Fund, once details of the fund became clearer, and the UK Government’s white paper on “The UK’s future skills-based immigration system”; and
iv.    NOTED that a training session for staff on EU citizens’ rights post-Brexit was scheduled to take place at Eden Court, Inverness on 27 March 2019, details of which would be circulated to partners.

The meeting ended at 4.05 pm.