Doncaster Council will receive slice of Government money to prepare for Brexit

Doncaster Council is set to receive a sum of money to make sure it’s ready for Brexit.
Doncaster Council is set to receive a pot of government money to prepare for BrexitDoncaster Council is set to receive a pot of government money to prepare for Brexit
Doncaster Council is set to receive a pot of government money to prepare for Brexit

The local authority will be given £210,000 to be paid across two financial years during 2019/2020 and 2020/2021.

The sum acceptance was nodded through by members of Doncaster Council’s cabinet on Tuesday.

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Council bosses, along with organisations like Doncaster Chamber of Commerce, have been planning for different Brexit scenarios for the past 12 months to ‘identify and manage the risks, threat and opportunities’ arising from exiting the European Union.

The money comes from a national pot of £56 million which is being given out to councils across the country.

The Government has allowed councils to spend the money at their discretion.

Council bosses are planning to invest £196,000 to provide ‘dedicated support to businesses to both mitigate any negative impacts of Brexit and take advantages of opportunities’ alongside Doncaster Chamber of Commerce.

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Plans also include the creation of a ‘Council Brexit Contingency Fund’ with an initial £45,000 to cover ‘any eventuality that arises’.

The report also adds the council will have to use funding reserves to meet any costs associated with Brexit.

Councillors have been warned that any resulting impacts on the council from leaving the EU will have to be found from reserves and not mainstream budgets.

Doncaster Chamber of Commerce's ‘risk register’ poses around ‘20 absolutely essential questions’ relating to ‘business continuity’ to government.

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They’ve said only ‘a third’ of these questions have been ‘satisfactorily answered’ by government leaving businesses with ‘far more unknowns than knowns’.

Christian Foster, head of service, strategy and performance, said: “We’re taking all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of EU Exit on community cohesion, particularly those within communities that might feel especially vulnerable because of actual or perceived implications of EU Exit.

“In ensuring we have timely and robust business continuity arrangements in place, it was important that we discussed our preparations for this fund at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the 27th February 2019, who are wholly supportive of the preparation.”