Council getting ready to tackle Brexit risks
BRIDGEND County Borough Council is documenting the risks it thinks the county could face after Brexit.
The UK is due to leave the European Union on March 29.
Porthcawl Marina, civil unrest and problems with supplies are among some of the risks being looked into by senior managers at the local authority.
Interim chief executive Mark Shephard said: “We have been doing a lot of work preparing a risk register.
“It covers a range of risks from procurement issues to community cohesion.
“It’s all speculation at the moment until we know it’s a no-deal, a deal or a delay.
“It’s the lack of clarity that makes it really difficult to plan.
“The Welsh Local Government Association has done a lot of work and we are taking heed of that.
“From our point of view we have established a forum with representatives from all directorates and are engaging our partners on some of the main issues.
“We are also offering support to staff that might be EU members making them aware of the process for the settlement scheme run by the Home Office.
“We think we have up to 100 members of staff from the EU, it’s difficult to know due to the way data is collected.
“They are predominantly in the care, catering and cleaning services.”
Civil unrest is a potential risk while Porthcawl Marina is also defined as a risk with the council looking at what the implications with the marina would be following Brexit.
Council leader Huw David said other risks involved delays to ingredi- ents or components crossing international borders.
He said: “The reality for most items we have is that some part of that process will involve the EU. A lot of what we rely on is produced elsewhere.”