Off the Record With political editor PAUL FRANCIS

Fairly predictably, the government’s announcement that it had a special fund for councils to prepare for Brexit has gone down like a bowl of tepid soup.

It’s not that extra money isn’t welcome. It is just a little galling for Kent County Council - the Gateway to Europe - to be told that it won’t get any more than any other county council.

Quite how Somerset County Council has the same pressures as Kent so far as Brexit is concerned is anyone’s guess.

And to rub salt in KCC’S wounds, the neighbouring Medway council - a unitary - will get £210,000 - some £35,000 more than County Hall.

On the other hand, the government recently signed off on a £29m fund for Kent to prepare for B-day so it will probably keep a diplomatic silence.

And there has been a sleight of hand over the government’s apparent generosity. Councils will get half the money this year and half next year.

n And the question for some of our councils might be just how they will use the money. The grant allocations are going to every council - regardless of the extent to which they are - or are not - preparing for Brexit.

Take Medway council, which has no specific detailed contingency plans to speak of.

Or Canterbury - where the authority says it is keeping a watching eye on the issue rather than going in for detailed analysis and contingency plans.

We suspect that those councils who have downplayed the impact of Brexit will nonetheless find a way to spend the money rather than hand it back saying they don’t need it.

n Which brings us to the taskforce set up by Dover council to address the particular Brexit challenges it faces and how to deal with them.

It hasn’t actually been in overdrive so far as meetings are concerned. It held one inaugural meeting in June last year and held another in October - although what was discussed or agreed is not known as no minutes or notes are on the council’s website.

It has not met since - although a meeting on an as yet unidentified date this month is apparently being scheduled.

n Follow updates from Paul on Twitter @Paulonpolitics.