Following the announcement made by the Secretary of State for Communities Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP at the Local Government Association (LGA) Conference earlier this month regarding establishing a new BREXIT Ministerial Local Government Delivery Board – on Thursday 19 July the Delivery Board held its inaugural meeting.
The meeting, which was chaired by the Secretary of State for Communities, was productive and provided an opportunity for Government Ministers and local government sector representatives from the LGA, County Councils Network, District Councils Network and the Core and Key Cities Groups to share updates and views on latest developments.
The meeting heard from senior Home Office officials on the development of the EU Citizens Settlement Scheme, discussed the recently published Government White Paper and agreed to prepare a future work programme for the Board to provide oversight of EU Exit preparedness, including the future for EU funding and the opportunities to review EU law post EU Exit.
During a positive and constructive discussion council leaders placed on record their concerns relating to the timely replacement for EU funding, the potential to review EU laws post EU-Exit and stressed the need for joined-up engagement across Whitehall to ensure that the issues and opportunities facing communities up and down the country are properly captured and considered by Government.
Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said:
It is essential that local views are properly represented, captured and considered as Government develops policy and I thank colleagues for a very helpful meeting.
Cllr Kevin Bentley, Chairman of the LGA’s Brexit Task Force welcomed the meeting, saying:
This meeting was an excellent example of joined-up engagement across Whitehall considering the issues and opportunities facing communities up and down the country.
Over the summer, the Local Government Association and officials from MHCLG will work to develop a detailed work programme for the Board and prioritise those issues for discussion at the next meeting of the Board in early Autumn.
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