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More funding to help port towns prepare for Brexit

[ August 26, 2019   //   ]

The Government has set up a £9 million fund to get places that have or are near to a major air, land or sea port ready for Brexit. Some £5 million will be go to local councils and £4 million to local resilience forums in England.

The funding can be used by to support the development of robust Brexit plans and for continued preparedness activities, including additional staffing costs.

The extra money follows a £20 million funding for councils announced in August to ramp up preparations for leaving the EU by appointing a designated Brexit lead, bringing the total funding allocated by the government to £77 million so far, according to the government.

Local government secretary Robert Jenrick MP said: “We have stepped up our preparedness significantly in recent weeks, including by asking every council to appoint a Brexit Lead Officer. Now we are releasing an additional £9 million of additional funding today to help local areas get ready for Brexit, whatever the circumstances.”

Local authorities in Kent will receive over £2.6 million as the county is home to a the Port of Dover and, Eurotunnel.

Kent County Council will receive £1 million, and £1.6 million will be shared between a further 13 local authorities in the county.

The allocations have been based on a number of factors including the expected impact on the local area, the amount of EU goods received by port areas into the country and the areas wider importance to the UK’s trade network.

 

UK Major Ports Group chief executive Tim Morrissaid that while the extra funding for often hard pressed local authorities in port areas was welcome, “we should be realistic about the degree of significant change that’s possible between now and the end of October. Support for local authorities in these areas also needs to be ongoing, to ensure we’re strategically developing the strength of the UK’s main global gateways for trade for the long term.”

He added that the extra funding did not address the main issue facing Brexit preparedness – trader readiness, although he welcomed the plan to automatically enrol traders with EORI numbers.

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