The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) has warned that uncertainty over Brexit negotiations is making it difficult for councils to plan ahead for leaving the European Union.
The association, which represents the interests of local authorities in Wales, has raised concerns over the ‘confused’ messages received from the UK government.
It follows reports council’s were struggling to prepare Brexit impact studies due to a lack of clarity on the UK’s future direction.
The UK is due to leave the European Union on Friday, March 29, and it is currently uncertain what the future relationship between the two will look like.
A spokesman from the WLGA said: “Whilst Welsh councils have taken the initiative to undertake their own analyses of and planning for possible Brexit scenarios, the national messages from central government are confused and qualified.
“The bottom line is that there is a “making this up as we go along” quality to the deliberations at Westminster.
“The recent stress on preparing for no deal is a case in point.
“The WLGA view is that any responsible government would seek to avoid this disastrous outcome at all costs.
“Because of this uncertainty, it is very difficult for our councils to commit resources until there is a clearer idea of what is needed.”
Cllr David Poole, Leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council, said: “The impact of Brexit remains uncertain, particularly for an area which has received European funding for key initiatives over a number of years.
“While I welcome the Wales Audit Office advice on ‘Managing the impact of Brexit on EU Structural Funds’ it is important that the UK Government gives clarity to local authorities as soon as possible.
“Without this clarity and detailed knowledge of what Brexit entails it is not possible for any council to prepare a realistic and detailed plan. Caerphilly County Borough Council will continue to work with the WLGA and Welsh Government to mitigate the impact on our residents.”
Whist I think that the negotiations for leaving the EU are confused and uncertainties exist I don’t see how this greatly affects any local authority. The negotiations are between a lawfully elected government and a supra-national appointed committee. The EU side has no intention of meaningful negotiation but has two objectives, they are to try and make the UK continue to contribute huge amounts of money and to try and frighten the poplace of several countries that would also like to leave the EU. The aim of the EU side was, is and will continue to be about the ‘European project’ and not about democracy.
If I were anything to do with the local authority I would base any necessary preparation on what was voted for, a clean break from the EU, customs union and single market. This seems to me to be the likely outcome and minute scrutiny of high level negotiation is not going to help the council
Surely the council should make their assessment based on the funds /cuts in funding that they know will apply for certain, and like you I do not see how Brexit will affect them to any great degree in forward planning.
It’s just another ploy by the council to use any excuse to justify the cuts that we all know are coming and to lay the blame elsewhere.
Good point John, I had not thought of that angle.