BASI's full statement for the Financial Times

On 15February 2022, BASI provided a statement to the Financial Times following a request from an Editorial Assistant.

The article that was published using this statement has been formatted in a way that may lead readers to believe that BASI made comments about the GB teams’ performance at the winter Olympics, which was not the case. BASI is extremely proud of what Team GB achieved at the games and the statement presented to the Financial Times was pre-agreed with representatives from GB Snowsports.

To clarify, here’s the full statement that we approved for use by the Financial times regarding the impact of Brexit on our profession:

“British ski instructors have already been financially stretched due to the pandemic; this is the third consecutive winter under which they have suffered greatly reduced revenue”, Tom Cloke the Interim CEO of the British Association of Snowsport Instructors (BASI) said. But the community is facing a greater issue related to the UK exit from the EU.

“As the UK is now a third country, local employers in the EU have to follow certain rules before they can hire a British citizen. In many cases they now have to apply for a work permit and it is not certain that they will get one.”

Another hurdle local employers and prospective instructors are facing is the complexity between federal and regional legislation in the different EU countries. “Some cantons or federal provinces have individual rules that are not fully synchronised with the national legislation. This forces Professional Associations like ourselves and other National Governing Bodies into complex and time consuming talks with national and local authorities in each and every EU member state as we try to advise our members effectively”, Cloke added, describing the situation as “fragmented”.

It also has consequences for British citizens who established themselves as EU residents under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement.  They can work only in the country where they are registered, but not in other EU countries as they could before and just “follow the snow and adapt to weather conditions for their clients, from valley to valley, which they need to because in many cases the resorts or work locations spread across national borders”.

The BASI officials realised the consequences of Brexit for their community when one detail of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement became apparent. “The deal left out qualification recognition; rather than retaining the key principles and criteria that were written into EU law, the deal now allows Member States to use their discretion to recognise or not the licences of our snowsport instructors,”, explained Cloke. “Whilst the great majority intend to continue to do so, we still have to work with each Member State one by one and re-establish new agreements”. According to him, this has set British snowsports back decades to a time when there was no legal basis for mutual recognition of qualifications with EU countries and little agreement on what objective standards were actually needed by an aspirant instructor.

The British citizens who are most affected are those who started their qualification as a ski instructor in recent years intending to reach the highest level but didn’t achieve their goal before the end of the transition period.  To obtain the highest BASI diploma, people have to invest a significant amount time and money in training and exams. The top level is rated at Level 10 on  the Scottish Credit Qualification Framework (SCQF), which is the same rating as a University Honours Degree. These instructors now face additional hurdles should they wish to use their qualification in certain EU countries.   

Brexit and the current agreement has a serious impact on any sports activity that relies on its workforce and talent being able to operate in the EU; as a result BASI has joined forces with a number of other sports Governing Bodies & Associations to form the “UK Alpine Sports Group” and is working with various UK government departments to raise the issues which need to be addressed. There are concerns that, without intervention of the government, the alpine sports sector will suffer from the loss of opportunities for athletes, coaches, instructors and other outdoor professionals because the sector is so reliant on mobility. The current agreement has already caused a 40% reduction in the amount of time developing winter sports athletes can spend training and competing in the EU, which is already impacting British athletes’ ability to prepare for high level competition.

Left unchecked, there is a sector-wide concern that Brexit will not only impact British athletes’ ability to compete at these highest levels over the coming years, but also that with fewer British instructors and coaches able to work long term in the EU, we will struggle to develop and inspire the next generation of performers.

“We want to continue to work with the government, we want to work with ministers to fill the gaps and to minimise the negative consequences”, Cloke said. It is felt that the consequences of the Trade & Cooperation Agreement could also hit other areas of the British outdoor sector when Covid-19 pandemic subsides and travelling overseas returns to pre pandemic levels.

ENDS