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Brexit Latest

Updates on the role councils are playing in negotiating Britain's exit from the EU

Since our last update, the LGA has been working in Whitehall and Brussels to understand the Government’s preparations and to ensure local government plays an important part in the preparations to leave the EU. We have continued to emphasise a ‘Team UK’ approach to negotiations and have formally raised the offer from councils to add expertise to the Government’s Brexit Team. As our LGA boards start their meeting cycles again, they will all be discussing the implications of the EU exit on local government and will be keen to hear your views. You can feed in your views to help shape the LGA’s position via your political groups or our dedicated email address Brexit@local.gov.uk.  In this update, you can also find out more about the LGA’s analysis of the laws and which will be affected by exiting the EU, let us know what issues are on your horizons and read our latest media stories.

EU regulations and law

The legal framework on which many local government services are based depends on EU law.

Where local services are covered by EU regulations or decisions, there will be no legal framework on exit. Where services are covered by EU directives (that is, already enshrined in UK law), there is less immediate risk but Brexit provides the opportunity for political choices to be made to change laws which have been based on EU regulatory frameworks as they may have been “gold plated”, are simply outdated or no longer desired. 

The LGA has been reviewing which laws will be affected, covering topics such as:

• Environment, waste and energy, including environmental policy, air pollution, biodiversity and landfill.
• Workforce, including working time directives.
• Public procurement, including how local authorities buy goods, works and services and regulations of concessions.
• State aid, including how public money is awarded.
• Regulatory services, including consumer rights and food safety.
• Local authority finances including investments, and capital buffers.
• Public sector information including how councils treat personal and public data and licensing applications.
• Transport and highways, including how local authorities run and commission bus and ferry services.

DCLG sessions

All Government departments have been asked to set out an early analysis of their key risks over the summer. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) developed its analysis through a series of seminars. Thank you to those of you who attended the sessions – the feedback from Government has been particularly positive.

The sessions covered:

• Local government funding and local public services
• Devolution and local growth
• Housing and planning
• Community cohesion and immigration

One concern that the LGA raised in these sessions was that local government’s big issues cross numerous departments – including DEFRA, BEIS and DfE – and may not be articulated well by a departmental approach. Therefore, at the time of the submissions, the LGA also provided a high-level analysis to the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU). You can find out more on this new Government department, its ministers and civil servants leading the process on the .gov.uk website.

What's on the horizon?

Over the last few weeks we have been working to emphasise to Government and in the media the need to secure the £5.3bn committed for local regeneration schemes to 2020. The Government gave a strong commitment that only those projects which are signed by the time of the Autumn Statement would be secured but with a commitment to a process of considering projects after this date. Whilst this is a welcome first step, we’re working to secure the overall quantum of investment to 2020.

In addition to funding concerns, we are keen to hear from you about what issues you foresee affecting your council, please share the issues you are discovering in your horizon scanning with us via Brexit@local.gov.uk

Secondment opportunity

DCLG has asked us to share a secondment opportunity with our colleagues in councils as it is looking for someone with strong local government experience. The secondee will join the department for at least six months to lead its preparations for the UK's exit from the European Union, understanding the opportunities and risks and responding to them effectively. The Senior Strategy Advisor role is a Grade 7 with a salary band of £49,063-£58,258. The candidate will need to be able to start on 12 September and the deadline for applications is 31 August. For more information or to register an interest, please contact Lucy Yates (Lucy.Yates@communities.gsi.gov.uk / 0303 444 1629) 

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