Issue - meetings

Councillor Everitt asked the Leader the following question:

“Is the leader confident that the council is fully prepared for a possible "no-deal Brexit" and that the impacts on the district of Operation Brock, in particular, can be managed within existing council resources and without detriment to the everyday lives of Thanet residents.”

The Leader responded with the following points:

·  Over the last 12 months the Council had been actively engaged with all the relevant partners through the Kent Resilience Forum at a strategic and tactical level in preparation for the UK leaving the EU.

·  The Council and other partners such as Kent Police, Dover District Council and the Port of Dover expressed concerns to the Department of Transport and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.  The potential impact on communities needed full recognition by the Government and allocation of resources needed to reflect the increased risks faced by the District.

·  Preparations included:

o  Duty rotas to ensure the Senior Management Team were engaged and informed regarding arrangements for a no deal Brexit.

o  Safety Advisory Group arrangements with the Department for Transport to assess the impact of the lorry park and management plans for the Manston site. 

o  Completion of a detailed community impact assessment .

o  All services have carried out business continuity impact assessment and developed a Brexit specific risk register. 

o  The Council’s communication leads engaged with the strategic media cell and were proactive in providing a tool kit for the local community. 

o  Engagement with local business, led by the Strategic Partnerships Manager. 

o  Appointed of a Brexit lead officer who was overseeing the range of activities required to ensure that the multiple work streams were well coordinated. 

o  Testing of the Council’s business continuity plans with specific reference to Brexit.

o  The Council has engaged in Operation Lundy a multi-agency test for the plans and ensured that our feedback is incorporated into further development of the plans.

·  Whilst the Council has, and would continue to do all  it can to mitigate and prepare for a worst case scenario, if a worst case scenario materialised then Council resources would be stretched.  We all need to pull together as a community to get through what will undoubtedly be uncharted and choppy waters.

Councillor Everitt followed up his question by asking if the Leader meet with the District’s Members of Parliament (MPs) in order to make them aware of the challenges that could face the District.

The Leader advised that he regularly met with the Districts MP’s and that they were aware of the challenges facing the District relating to Brexit.