North Yorkshire could stockpile fuel and monitor medicine in no-deal Brexit

North Yorkshire County Council's Brexit Arrangements document, obtained via a Freedom Of Information request, reveals the county's 24-point action plan to reduce the risks that could arise in the event of Britain leaving the European Union without a deal.

The document includes the possibility of stockpiling fuel for the county's vehicles, with the authority to ensure their contracted maintenance company Ringway maintain required stocks "and ideally more".

It's just one of the points included in the plan, with all noted for action by October 31 - the date Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pinpointed that Britain will leave the EU with or without a deal.

The county will also and monitor the availability of medicines in the event of no-deal, as well as carrying out mapping of staff skill-sets across the county to ensure that services such as adult social care aren't impacted.

Also included is that the county council will monitor "the potential knock on effect" of an increase in wages following Brexit and the potential outflux of EU citizens.

It has been reported previously that Brexit could potentially see wages in some sectors rise if a skills-shortage arises due to EU nationals leaving Britain.

A Government spokesperson said:

“We need to get ready for Brexit on October 31 and local government has a vital role to play in that.

“£77 million has already been allocated to local areas and we have stepped up our preparedness significantly in recent weeks.

“We are speaking regularly to councils and local partners, including through a delivery board and a network of nine regional lead chief executives and every council will designate a Brexit Lead Officer to work with central government to intensify their local preparations.”

Earlier this year, then-minister for housing, communities and local government James Brokenshire announced a £40m Government funding pool for local authorities to be used for Brexit planning.

From that, North Yorkshire was set to receive £175k over 2018/19 and 2019/20.

Lachlan Leeming, Local Democracy Reporter