Decision details

The Brexit Project Board has assessed immediate actions required following the council's Brexit No Deal Scenario Assessment. In doing so it has taken account of that document, official government advice (including its EU Exit Preparedness Check List), regional input via SW Councils and the professional views of the Officers involved. This allocation will support the council's Brexit preparedness by providing additional resourcing for the service areas outlined above.

To approve the allocation of up to £115k of available resources to Brexit preparedness projects, with delegation for detailed expenditure within this envelope delegated to the Director: Policy, Strategy and Partnerships.
This allocation consists of:
1. Expenditure from non-ringfenced national funds of £105k in 2018/19 and up to £10k from the council's allocated reserves for:
- Community cohesion - outreach and engagement project: up to £30k
- Communications (including SME engagement/advice, community cohesion campaign, enhanced internal communications): up to £40k
-Project Support - cross skilled capacity to assist project reporting, internal/external reporting and command/control structures, Civil Protection Unit resilience: up to £45k

Options were considered by the Brexit Project Board, having previously been influenced by engagement with Statutory and Policy Board, Overview and Scrutiny Management Board and the Bristol Brexit Response Group. Some proposals such as responding to homelessness, supply chain/sterling fluctuation and internal professional services capacity, were not identified as immediate priorities for the first tranche of funding but have been noted as potential priorities for future allocations.