Recently correspondence has been received from the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government concerning Local Authorities Preparedness for the upcoming UK exit from the EU.
Councils were asked to consider seven questions concerning their district and any contingency arrangements which may be needed.
This paper was considered at a recent Leadership Team. In general terms Senior Officers were of the opinion that this Council was in a good position and that there were no serious concerns locally.
The responses to the questions posed by the DHCLG are outlined below.
1. Members will want to be assured that the council has undertaken an assessment of the proportion of EU nationals in its workforce.
Answer: We have a very small number of EU nationals in our establishment and support will be provided to them should the need arise.
2. Members will want to be assured that the council has undertaken an assessment to consider the potential impact on your regulatory services.
Answer: Our main concern would be around food hygiene inspection in the chilled food chain should the ports and airports be overwhelmed due to them having to inspect food from the EU which is presently not subject to inspection. In the event that this happens it may be that the Government will require inspection to take place at the final destination (which could be in our district). In that event our current establishment of Environmental Health Officers will be re-tasked to undertake this work.
3. Members will want to be assured that the council has considered whether it will face either direct or indirect impacts on the provision of essential services if there are delays at the border.
Answer: It is considered that any direct impact on services in this district will be minimal.
4. Members will want assurances that their council and any strategic delivery partners that they have impact assessed their supply chain and that appropriate mitigation plans are in place in order to assure the council of their preparedness for any identified risk to the delivery of statutory services.
Answer: As previously stated the direct impact on this Council is considered to be minimal, however, assurances have been obtained from our key suppliers and contractors (e.g. BIFFA, Places for People etc) that they have adequate contingency plans in place.
5. Members will want to ensure that their council have undertaken necessary assessments and that business continuity plans in place for all ICT and data handling that impacts the council.
Answer: The main concern here is for those organisations that have systems hosted in the EU. All our data storage and backups are held within the UK.
6. As leaders of place, the local authority will want to ensure that all local partners and local partnerships are effectively planning and considering mitigations for EU Exit.
Answer: The principal partnership forum for these matters is the Essex Resilience Forum. Arrangements have been put in place to ensure excellent communication between partners during the transition period. We will be participating in a daily tele conference in the period leading up to 29th March and the following weeks.
7. Members will want to be assured that their council has prepared and tested communications channels with its ward councillors, statutory partners and all its community leaders/groups.
Answer: We already have established and proven communication channels with Members, statutory partners and community leaders/groups. These have worked well in the past and there is no indication that this will not continue. Our Public Relations section are fully briefed and are members of the Essex Resilience Forum Communications Group.
(Further information: Jim Nolan ext 4083)