EU Exit (Brexit) Information
The UK and Scottish Governments have produced advice and guidance to help individual citizens and businesses prepare for the process of leaving the EU.
Various links to external information websites are available:
- Scottish Government's website page: EU Exit - What you need to know (opens new window)
- UK Government's website page: Brexit (opens new window)
- Applying for Settled Status Information about applying for Settled Status (opens new window)
West Lothian Council's preparations
Leaving the EU will have implications for West Lothian Council, its partners and West Lothian as a whole. The council undertook a horizon scanning exercise and identified a number of potential risks from exiting the EU that could impact on council service delivery and operations. To prepare for this, the council established an EU Exit Working Group tasked with:
- establishing information on likely impacts on service delivery resulting from different EU exit outcomes;
- identifying any actions required to mitigate potential negative impacts;
- working with partners to understand any shared risks and any joint response appropriate to manage any potential negative impacts and maximise any positive impacts;
- taking the lead for West Lothian in negotiations with the European Union via COSLA / Solace (Chief Executives) / SLAED (Economic Development Officers) etc. to help ensure that West Lothian's voice is heard; and
- researching the activities and approaches of other local authorities and relevant bodies across the UK and to identify any best practice approaches being developed elsewhere.
Since mid-August 2019, the EU Exit Working Group has met on a twice weekly basis and continues to review risks, the controls in place and share information. EU Exit update reports have been discussed at the council's Council Executive committee and its Governance and Risk Committee.
There is a high level strategic commitment to preparing the council for leaving the EU without a deal and the council's Executive Management Team meets on a weekly basis to review information.
The council has also participated with partners in multi-agency planning at a regional and Scottish wide level, through COSLA, and the East of Scotland and Lothian and Borders Resilience Partnerships, and has taken part in multi-agency seminars, workshops, training and teleconferences to assist in preparedness.
The council's contingency plan has been developed and is available to view and download:
The council's EU Exit Working Group and Executive Management Team will continue to meet on a twice weekly basis in the period after the UK leaves the EU.
Where there is only minimal impact being detected through the monitoring arrangements, and impacts can be dealt with by normal service resources, this structure will remain in place as a proportionate way of ensuring that all services remain informed and that there is strategic oversight in place.
