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Subject: |
Brexit Resilience & Planning – Extract from the proceedings of the Policy & Resources Committee meeting held on 3 December 2020 |
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Date of Meeting: |
17 December 2020 |
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Report of: |
Executive Lead Officer for Strategy, Governance & Law |
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Contact Officer: |
Name: |
Lisa Johnson |
Tel: |
01273 291228 |
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E-mail: |
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Wards Affected: |
All |
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For general release
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Action Required of Council: The report has been referred from the Policy & Resources Committee for information. |
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Recommendation: That the report is noted. |
Brighton & Hove City Council
Policy & Resources Committee
4.00pm3 December 2020
Virtual
MINUTES
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Present: Councillor Mac Cafferty (Chair) Druitt (Joint Deputy Chair), Gibson (Joint Deputy Chair), Platts (Opposition Spokesperson), Bell (Group Spokesperson), Allcock, Clare, Miller, Yates and Williams. |
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Also present: Dr A Sasidharan |
PART ONE
MINUTE EXTRACT
PART ONE
106 Brexit Resilience & Planning
106.1 The Committee considered the report of the Executive Lead Strategy Governance & Law which provided an overview of Brighton & Hove City Council’s preparations for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU and related issues as overseen by the Brexit Working Group. The report was introduced by the Brexit Coordination Officer.
106.2 Councillor Clare thanked the Communications Team for their work and the video and postcard that had been produced and which had been shared with other external groups. As the Government were still in negotiations there was still a huge amount of uncertainty on what would happen with Brexit.
106.3 Dr Sasidharan said that there was nervousness expressed by community members on the rise of hate crime and they were looking for reassurance and asked how many BAME groups had been contacted about community tensions. The Brexit Coordination Officer said that the Communities Team had been engaging with groups on how Brexit may impact on BAME communities.
106.4 Councillor Miller referred to recommendation 2.2 and was concerned that broad power would be given to the Chief Executive and presumed that any decision would be made with the Leader of the Council to ensure there was a democratic oversight. He noted that longer-term opportunities for businesses were only briefly mentioned in the report and thought that it would be useful to provide information on how businesses could benefit after Brexit. The Executive Lead Strategy Governance & Law said that recommendation 2.2 came from the Cross Party Brexit Working Group who were concerned that there were so many unknown issues such as problems with the supply of medicines, food etc and if the current scheme of delegation to officers were used it could become fragmented and it would be better to have one person who could make decisions quickly in response to events. If the decision involved significant financial expenditure the Chief Executive would of course discuss the matter with Group Leaders.
106.5 RESOLVED: That the Committee -
(1) Noted the contents of this report and appendix, which provide an overview of the preparations made by the Council across its areas for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU;
(2) Authorised the Chief Executive to take any steps necessary or incidental to protecting the interests of the Council and the city in response to emerging issues connected with Brexit.