Ealing Council Report Warns of Possible Civil Unrest and Food Shortages
Money allocated to foodbanks in the event of a no deal Brexit
October 18, 2019
The realities of Brexit were thrown into sharp relief at an Ealing Council meeting this week, as the cabinet announced how they plan to spend the £315,000 central government has granted for preparations.
Risks of a no-deal Brexit identified in the report included food shortages at hospitals and schools, food price increases, growing civil unrest, and a likely increase in hate crimes.
There is money set aside to tackle the issues, but council leader Julian Bell described the one-off grant as an “inadequate” amount of money.
The grant from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government is for contingency planning for exiting the EU.
Mr Bell said: “Whatever happens, we need to be prepared, and we certainly need to be prepared for a no-deal.”
Central government currently has until October 31 to finalise a deal with the EU, or risk crashing out with a no-deal.
Given this deadline, Mr Bell said: “We thought it was timely to bring this report, and to lay out for everyone the things that we have planned and looked at.”
“We are mindful of risk to food supplies and the risk of food price increases, and the impact that might have on the most vulnerable, so we’ve allocated funding for food banks.”
£20,000 has been earmarked for supplying food banks with extra food.
The council is already meeting with Ealing Food Bank to consider delivery issues.
Mr Bell said: “We have a system in place with them whereby if there’s more demand from food banks then we can allocate more funding from the contingency.”
£100,000 was set aside for boosting regulatory services, which would primarily be spent on two extra staff and increased training for existing staff.
The money would also go on providing help and advice for businesses, who may be facing the increased complexity of new customs checks and tariffs from the EU.
Mr Bell said food safety and standards officers particularly faced a big increase in workload.
An additional £50,000 will be spent on social services, and the report notes Brexit could have a big impact on a care system already fragile, with some providers failing in recent years, due to financial pressures.
The report notes that winter weather illness could compound the pressure, resulting in a rise in fatalities.
Again, part of this money would be spent on hiring two support officers for a short period to help identify issues.
The report reads: “Should the flu vaccine and other medicines not be available this could lead to higher demand on NHS services, which in turn could result in hospitals looking to discharge social care to support commissioned service providers and care homes.”
A Brexit Preparedness Group will also be funded to the tune of £25k, £15k will be spent on printing and poster campaigns, with a contingency of £105,000 kept back.
Mr Bell said drop-in sessions both before October 31 and after, with both council and the police, were being organised.
Risks are divided into different periods in the report.
The first one to 30 days, it notes, bring with them risks of disruption to food and fuel supplies leading to possible increases in prices.
There are also risks to service delivery where the council is responsible for providing food such as in schools and more widely to vulnerable residents.
The report also notes a threat of “community tensions leading to civil unrest, rise in hate crime and increase in extremism”.
At one to six months threats include rising provider costs that could lead to “failure of a care provider, difficulties for providers to retain and recruit staff and a gradual decline in quality of services”.
The main suggested solution to this, according to the council report, includes to “keep up to date with and continue to follow advice and guidance from the Department for Health and Social Care and the Department for Education.”
Communication will also be maintained with local providers and any concerns escalated to the Department.
Another risk relates to many sectors being reliant on EU staff, including in health, care, hospitality and the environment sector.
The solution suggested would be to promote the EU settlement scheme to all staff and the public.
The report reads: “If enforcement bodies do not ensure compliance with regulations, the UK will become a priority destination for substandard, unsafe or counterfeit goods.”
This would be combated with more employees for regulatory services.
Economic risks also include loss of planning income, increase in costs for construction, and increased supplier costs reflecting wage and import cost rises.
The council report notes according to the 2011 census 12 per cent of the borough’s population is from the EU and the majority coming from either Poland or Ireland.
The report reads: “In total we believe around 55,000 EU nationals call Ealing home.”
“Further to this businesses in the borough have commercial relationships with many areas of the EU.
“Thus, the potential implications of Brexit, particularly a no deal Brexit, for the borough are therefore significant both socially and economically.”
Ged Cann - Local Democracy Reporter