Draft Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union

On Monday 19 March 2018, the United Kingdom and European Union published a draft withdrawal agreement, which set out the arrangements for a transition period of 21 months following the UK’s departure from the EU. For the full text see here. 

The draft agreement covers a wide range of areas, consequently the LGA have produced a briefing focusing on issues pertinent to local government including: 

• The Transition Period
• Workforce
• Procurement
• Trade
• Funding
• The European Investment Bank

For more details please read the full briefing here.

Government agrees to consultative rights for local government post Brexit

In conjunction with the local government associations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the LGA has been in discussion with the UK Government about how local government might retain its formal advisory role in the EU law and policy-making process. The current arrangements are maintained through the EU Committee of the Regions. The LGA ambition is to replicate this advisory role post-exit, without creating new bureaucracies. 

A statement to the House of Lords on 19 March offered local government assurances that Government will seek to 'replicate consultative rights that local government currently has at European level following UK's exit from the EU'. The LGA will continue to work with the Government to come to a consensus on the details of this process.

LGA Brexit: Call for information

Concluding a series of major interventions on Brexit, on 2 March 2018 the Prime Minister outlined her vision for a final deal with the EU27 in her Mansion House speech. She said that the UK wanted the freedom to negotiate trade deals, control of its own laws and as frictionless a border as possible, but would not be a member of a customs union or the single market.

Consequently, we are continuing to monitor the effects of Brexit on local government on your behalf, and using this knowledge to strengthen your voice during the negotiations. We have also renewed our call for information in order to influence the second phase of the negotiations – we want to hear about what’s important to you. We use the information you provide to shape both our and Whitehall’s agenda.

Questions to councils include:

• Economy: what are the risks and opportunities of Brexit on your local economy and what impacts do you expect in the future?
• Workforce: what risks and opportunities does Brexit represent for your local workforce and the skills of your residents?
• Funding: what are your priorities for local growth funding, particularly for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund domestic successor regime, and which other sources of funding are particularly important to your local economy?
• EU legislation: what are your priorities for local government when reviewing EU legislation?

We want to hear your opinions in order to create a pro-active, forward looking vision of local government post-Brexit.

There is no time limit on responding and you can submit your information directly on the website.

Any questions? Email brexit@local.gov.uk or see local.gov.uk/brexit for further information.