Telford & Wrekin gets £300,000 in Brexit cash

The authority will use the one-off £315,000 government grant to administer and support services such as applications for import and export licences.

It is believed Shropshire Council has been allocated a similar amount. The money is to help civic centres and town halls cope with extra demand on services if the UK departs from the European Union.

Decision

A new Telford & Wrekin cabinet report stated: "The council has been allocated a total of £0.315m for Brexit preparation from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government.

"Use of this funding will need to be approved in accordance with the council’s financial regulations and a delegation to the council’s chief operating officer or chief executive after consultation with the cabinet member for finance, commercial services and the borough economy is therefore be sought in this report to ensure that decisions can be taken promptly.

"However, currently few specific potential calls on this funding have been identified and it will be retained centrally until additional costs are evident."

Telford & Wrekin revealed the sum in it's latest finance report which also stated that despite continuing overspending pressures in the key areas of children’s safeguarding and adult social care, it expects to end the year within its overall budget.

The council stated that it has set aside £2.2 million for contingencies from its total net revenue budget of £121m. It also stated that £650,000 will go towards the cost of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation which is underway.

It further stated that while there was some better shorter term news from the government’s spending announcements which will apply to next year only and that "very considerable uncertainty remains" beyond next year.

Austerity

Telford's finance boss Councillor Lee Carter said: “We continue with our careful approach which we expect to see us finish the year again in budget, while having the lowest council tax in the region.

“However in the longer term we do not expect any let up in the pressure on our finances as demand for key services continues to grow, particularly as our population here ages, placing greater demands on our services such as adult social care.

“We have very little information from government on how its planned changes to the national funding system for councils will affect us from April 2021, but based on the information we do have, we do not currently see an end to austerity for councils like ours any time soon and more very difficult decisions therefore inevitably lie ahead.”

The cabinet will be asked to approve the Brexit funding and the budget update when members meet on October 10 at 4pm at the council's Addenbrooke House headquarters.