Blog: 23rd June 2023 - Helen McGrath, Head of Public Affairs

Today marks 7 years since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. If you want to get an assessment as to the implications of this, you will come across competing, juxtaposed positions from politicians and commentators from both sides of the divide. Indeed, if you watched the latest edition of ‘Question Time’, the one piece of clarity which did shine through was just how polarised the position was.  

Alastair Campbell referred to Brexit as one of the country's "biggest acts of self-harm” whilst John Redwood pointed to the ability to build good relationships again with countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, and Canada in consequence. The cost-of-living crisis, inflation, exports, trade deficit, the Irish border, immigration- it was all in the mix. Then there was the constant theme of accountability.  

For local government lawyers the impact has been wide-ranging. Depending on your field, you might be grappling with sweeping changes introduced at relative speed. Back in 2017, Dr Laurence Ferry from Durham University submitted written evidence to the Communities and Local Government Committee: Brexit and Local Government Inquiry in which he pointed out that 70% of legislation affecting local government had antecedents in Brussels. Incidentally he also stated that “Brexit may mean that migration constraints hinder recruiting EU workers for areas like social care…..”, and that “there is likely to be a hollowing out at the local government level of rules protecting the environment and social conditions, and more emphasis on the economic imperative”. You can make your own assessments on that.   

The government confirms it has already revoked or reformed over 1000 EU laws since exit. Most of us probably breathed a sigh of relief when the sunset clause went from The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, but we can expect around 600 laws to be revoked through the schedule to the Bill and a further 500 under the Financial Services and Markets Bill and the Procurement Bill.  

On the subject of Procurement, the Cabinet Office has launched a consultation on the secondary legislation required to implement the new public procurement bill. The two-part survey covers policy areas, transparency provisions and transitional arrangements and is highly technical. The consultation closes on 28th July and the Government has committed to providing a minimum of 6 months’ advance notice of go-live of the new regime and expect it to come into force in October 2024.  

Best wishes  

Helen McGrath  

Head of Public Affairs 

Helen@llg.org.uk