Brexit and West Cheshire

Cheshire West and Chester Council established a cross-party policy commission (working group) to understand better and plan for the potential local implications for the Council regarding the UK's decision to leave the European Union (Brexit).

Working group members considered themes and issues over which the Council has some influence, either directly or indirectly. The Report of this Commission was presented to the Cabinet in March 2019 and the work of the Commission has concluded at this stage. More information on the Commission can be found on the Commission's webpage:

Background

At the September Cabinet Meeting of Cheshire West and Chester Council, a cross-party policy commission was established to support the Council to understand better and plan for the UK's decision to leave the European Union.

The aims of this group were to shape how the borough could plan for a Post-Brexit future, and develop practical recommendations for the Council to take forward. In the course of its work, the Policy Commission heard from external experts and local partner organisations to understand the potential implications of Brexit on the wider borough

Membership

The Councillors who sat on this Policy Commission were:

• Councillor Karen Shore (Chair)
• Councillor Andrew Dawson
• Councillor Carol Gahan
• Councillor Lynn Gibbon
• Councillor Sam Naylor
• Councillor Bob Rudd
• Councillor Mark Stocks

Topics of meetings

This group has met five times from September 2018 to March 2019, covering a broad range of issues, reviewing local evidence, and receiving presentations from external experts and partner organisations. This is the work programme that the Commission followed for the first three meetings:

Date

• 7 November 2018

Topics covered

• Local Government
• Local Context
• The Local Economy

External partners

• West Cheshire and North Wales Chamber of Commerce
• Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership

Date

• 19 November 2018

Topics covered

• State Aid
• Procurement
• EU Funding

External partners

• Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership

Date

• 18 December 2018

Topics covered

• Regulations and Trading Standards
• Public Sector Workforce
• Citizenship and Settled Status

External partners

• North West Employers

Public evidence session

The Commission recognised that the issues of Brexit would cut across local partners and extend beyond Cheshire West and Chester Council. With this in mind, the Commission issued a call for evidence, holding a public meeting to receive information from residents, local businesses, and other partner organisations.

Minutes of meetings

Recommendations Report

The final Recommendations Report of the Post-Brexit Policy Commission was approved by the Council's Cabinet Members on 20 March 2019.