Wiltshire will not be left on a cliff edge when the UK leaves the EU, with or without a deal, says Wiltshire Council.

As of this week the government is still in negotiations with the EU over any future relationships once the UK leaves the single market.

It appears that the EU Summit on Tuesday, December 10 will be critical, despite the intentions that a deal would be agreed by October.

In terms of businesses, leader of the council Philip Whitehead said today (Tuesday): “Businesses should be making sure they make their own preparation and that will depend entirely on the nature of the business.”

Cllr Whitehead was commenting on a report presented to today’s council cabinet meeting, branding it ‘reassuring’. The report said the current government guidelines do not include the council’s role in relation to EU funding or more general advice for business.

The report points out that both of these areas are handled by central government and the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (SWLEP), but accepts the local authority still has a role to play.

EU funding for regeneration projects is secure until the end of the EU 2020 budget period, and will be matched by the treasury.This should allow those projects to continue until mid-2023, according to the report.

Independent Cllr Graham Wright, who represents Durrington and Larkhill and chairs the overview and scrutiny management committee, said time had been too short to allow him to complete in-depth scrutiny of the report, adding this was not a reflection on the council.

“It (the report) seemed to create more questions than it might have answered,” Cllr Wright said. “These sit clearly with the UK government and you’re in the hands of what they decide to do and they need to sharpen their act up.”

Ian Thorn, leader of Wiltshire’s Liberal Democrats, welcomed the document and outlined issues still weighing on his mind.

He said: “In terms of the challenges the council might face, do we have the bandwidth, do we have the availability of staff to support any of those challenges, especially given the realities of Covid?”

Moving to the county’s farming communities, Cllr Thorn asked how the council might support them, especially considering the changes fed down from the government and the introduction on Monday of the Agriculture Act 2020.

Interim corporate director Andy Brown said that there were greater risks to the council’s bandwidth than leaving the EU, including a snowy winter, adding that there was still a lot of uncertainty as talks were still ongoing.

Councillors were told that in terms of farming, the council are working with a rural economy sub-group through the SWLEP.

In its Readiness Review document, the council outlines various measures put in place to lessen potential risks of leaving the EU.

These include internal operations such as the hiring and sponsoring of EU citizens under a skilled work visa.

The council has received £315,000 in funding across 2018/19 and 2019/20 to prepare the authority for Brexit and the possibility of a No Deal. Further funding, it was noted, has not been made available for ending the transition period.

The Local Resilience Forum, which includes the council and other multi-agency partners, has developed plans around traffic management and fuel distribution.

Planning to leave the EU began in 2018, but this year was mothballed until October 19 when it began again under the new name of D20.

Under D20 national exercises covering issues including the flu, Covid, panic buying and the arrival of Hong Kong citizens are planned from December.