How does Dorset need to prepare for Brexit?

That’s the question a Dorset County Council committee will tackle this week.

A report to the people and communities overview and scrutiny committee, which meets tomorrow, states that leaving the EU brings both ‘funding challenges and opportunities’.

The issue will also be discussed by the economic growth overview and scrutiny committee on Monday.

It could lead to a Brexit Advisory Group being set up, and both committees are being asked to consider this.

More than a year on from the referendum, discussions are continuing nationally about what Brexit will mean for the UK, and how it should be carried out. But it’s not only financial uncertainty which is causing concern.

The report to the committees reveals that health and social care – for which the county council is responsible – is already feeling the effects of Brexit.

It states: “The uncertainty concerning rights of non-UK citizens post-Brexit and the relative weakness of Sterling have added to the longstanding challenges to recruitment and retention of suitable staff.

Wage pressure on council suppliers leads to financial pressure on commissioned services and presents challenges to delivering the council’s statutory responsibilities within current budgets.”

While current EU laws will be converted into UK laws through the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, uncertainty remains around how they will be redrafted. 

The report states: “There are concerns that seemingly minor changes may result in more significant changes than anticipated.”

Councillors will be told that Brexit has the potential to affect financing, resource availability, regulation and employment, and that central government’s view is that the most pressing Brexit-concerns for local authorities are risks to businesses, concerns of employees who are non-UK citizens, wage pressure and availability of health and social care, and financial pressure on health and care.

It comes as analysis by consumer group Which? found that seven per cent of elderly people in need in Dorset will be left without beds by 2022, as reported in yesterday’s Dorset Echo. Dorset County Council has also had issues in staffing children’s social worker posts, although a recruitment campaign has reduced the number of vacant positions since the start of this year.

As well as considering the challenges, the report looks at areas where Brexit could mean more opportunity for the council to exert influence, and identifies national housing policy and the environment – including the implications of not being subject to EU Habitat, Birds and Bathing Water directives – as two of these areas. 

The report notes that some councils and businesses have waited for greater certainty about what type of Brexit will be agreed before committing resources to decide how best to deal with the challenges it will bring about.

The committee will be asked to consider the creation of a Brexit advisory group, and that, following discussions, the proposed scope and terms of reference of such a group be discussed.