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Councillor Bentley (by reason of being Chair of the Local Government Association’s Brexit Taskforce, a member of the government’s Brexit Local Government Delivery Board, a board member of the South-East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) and Deputy Leader of Essex County Council) declared non-pecuniary interests in the following item pursuant to the provisions of Meetings General Procedure Rule 7 (5).
Councillor Davies (by reason of being responsible for a project receiving EU funding and seeking to receive support from future ‘shared prosperity funds’) declared a non-pecuniary interest in the following item pursuant to the provisions of Meetings General Procedure Rule 7 (5).
The report was presented by Dan Gascoyne, Chief Operating Officer, as an update on a report which had come to the Governance and Audit Committee in March 2019, with additional content added to detail further work carried out by the Council over the course of 2019-20. A number of risks and uncertainties had persisted, and assurance was given that the Council continued to plan for mitigating actions to address these, should action be necessary in the future. Uncertainty regarding Brexit continued to be the primary source of concern regarding resilience matters.
The Council continued to work and plan for business continuity with its partner authorities and agencies, in particular those within the Essex Resilience Forum. The need for clear communications with residents, businesses and other parties likely to be affected by Brexit was stressed. Information regarding Brexit-related issues and risks would need to be communicated or signposted as necessary to those affected, using information provided by the Borough and County Councils and from central government and national organisations.
Training of staff continued and focused on the issues involved, resources affected and required, and the advice which was provided to residents and businesses, including signposting to advice regarding applications for settled status from non-UK EU nationals currently residing or working within Colchester Borough. The Chief Operating Officer informed the Panel that the Council had launched a new service which made it possible for applications for settled status to be carried out and submitted, with necessary scanned documents, at the Community Hub sited at Colchester Library on Trinity Square. Prior to this, it had been found that the closest location for this service had been listed by the Government as being in Canterbury.
Data relating to applications for settled status had been received from the Office for National Statistics, showing that the percentage of the Borough’s electorate who were non-UK EU citizens was 3.8%, higher than the County-wide figure of 2.6% The proportion of those non-UK EU citizens who had applied for settled status was currently 60%, which was slightly lower than the average of 62% for Essex. It was expected that the new application service at the Community Hub would assist many within the remaining 40% to lodge applications, especially those who were vulnerable or without the ability to apply from home. The Home Office had provided support for this work, and the Borough Council had worked with colleagues at Essex County Council to encourage applications, especially from those working in areas such as social care.
The Council’s permanent Resilience Officer was on long-term leave, so a substitute had been recruited on a fixed contract, ensuring that planning for Brexit could continue unabated, that resilience capability was maintained and that the constant flow of communications with partners and with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government was not interrupted. This post was paid for from funds provided by central government to assist local authorities in preparing for Brexit.
The Panel praised the comprehensive nature of the report. Councillor Bentley indicated that he would share copies with colleagues from the Local Government Association as an exemplar of best practice.
A member of the Panel noted that citizens of EU nations had until December 2020 to register for settled status, requested clarification as to whether the Government had provided promised materials on promoting this and, if it had not, requested that officers sought more information on what was available.
The importance of providing comprehensive advice regarding the application scheme was highlighted. Officers were asked whether, for business continuity purposes, efforts had been made to promote the scheme to those employees of the Council and its contractors who were eligible to apply for settled status, and to encourage applications. The Chief Operating Officer informed the Panel that the number of non-UK EU nationals employed by the Council was small. Information had however been shared on the intranet and provided to the Council’s contractors.
Regarding Government pledges to replace or emulate EU Structural Funds which are due to cease in 2020, a Panel member sought information as to whether risks had been added to risk registers or considered relating to any partner organisations which currently received EU Structural Funds and the possibility that these may not be matched in the future by central government. The Panel were assured that the Council was involved in no schemes in the Borough that were soon to commence and that would be affected by the funding changes, and that the Government had pledged to consult over use of a future ‘shared prosperity fund’.
Current levels of European Social Funding were discussed, with £80 million being provided in the 2014-2020 period for the South-East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) area, mostly as part of matched-funding arrangements. This has covered mental health support, training and skills provision, back to work initiatives and a primary concern is to learn how any ‘shared prosperity fund’ will operate to replace this funding. A member of the Panel noted that the EU had provided £8.4 billion to UK local government, including £5.6 billion to local government in England. The importance of finding replacement funding was stressed.
Officers were asked whether the Council were working, or in contact, with Essex University, as an institution which had been the recipient of EU Funding. The Chief Operating Officer explained that current work with the University had not included joint working on responses to funding changes, but that he was happy to explore the potential for this.
The Essex Resilience Forum risk registers were raised, which contained much information, and which highlighted that any disruption to funding would be almost certain to hit vulnerable people. The Panel asked as to how it could be ensured that the right organisations make the right decisions at the right time, especially where functions are shared. The Chief Operating Officer highlighted the webpages which would give access to information on this and gave a brief description of the makeup, expertise and work of the Essex Resilience Forum. Senior officers from each partner organisation were involved in business continuity and scenario planning.
The first-call officer procedure was described, being one of the Council’s emergency procedures. This procedure helped ensure swift responses to emergency situations.
Richard Block, Assistant Director (Environment), informed the Panel that the Council worked closely with Colchester Borough Homes to ensure that all, and especially vulnerable, tenants were protected. This work included ensuring fuel supplies and the continued resilience of services carrying out necessary repairs.
Members of the Panel discussed perceptions of the severity of risks relating to Brexit as detailed in the report, and the risk management processes and requirements for local authorities. The need to maintain a proactive approach was highlighted as a key element of ensuring support is provided to residents when needed. Should the Council instead be reactive, it was argued that this would lead to greater risk of services becoming overwhelmed. The Panel again praised the degree of planning work carried out by the Council, and the report which had been provided.