Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Europe, Mark Isherwood AM, has this afternoon criticised the Welsh Government’s lack of action in preparing for Brexit.
Speaking in the Debate on the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee report: ‘How is the Welsh Government preparing for Brexit?’, committee member Mr Isherwood said “The Welsh Government response to our report’s recommendations claims that it ‘mobilised quickly following the result of the Referendum to build capability across Government to respond to the challenges and explore the opportunities presented by EU withdrawal’. However, we know from feedback received during Brexit-related Assembly Committee visits to Brussels, Dublin and elsewhere that it is us rather than Welsh Government which has led this engagement and this agenda.”
He added:
“In accepting our first recommendation in principle only, the Welsh Government states that “a no deal scenario … would be catastrophic for Wales”, but fails to commit to providing progress reports on its examination of various Brexit scenarios.
“In accepting our recommendation 2 in principle only, the Welsh Government states that it has worked closely with its “sector teams” … to better understand the picture across each of the sectors impacted by the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union”, and in accepting our recommendation 3, it states that it has been working closely with “a range of stakeholders, including businesses, farmers, trade unions, educational institutions, public services, the third sector, communities and the public … to build a detailed understanding of their priorities, concerns and vulnerabilities, while communicating the Welsh Government’s position on a range of Brexit issues and this activity will continue”.
“However, as our report states, Michael Trickey, Wales Public Services 2025 told us “I don’t think we’re actually very much more advanced in our understanding of the implications of Brexit than we were a year ago”. Both Mr Trickey and Dr Victoria Winckler, Director of the Bevan Foundation, recognised that “any scenario planning that had been undertaken so far seemed relatively limited”.
“Furthermore, Mr Trickey stated that although umbrella organisations were engaging with Brexit, the issue felt “very, very remote” at the level of individual delivery organisations.
“Accepting our recommendation 4 in principle only, the Welsh Government states that “Providing guidance to business and the third sector will need some further careful thought, given the diverse range of interests involved”.
“However the National Trust told us that “they would like to see specific farm business planning advice relating to the various trading scenarios after Brexit”. The Farmers’ Union of Wales called for the Welsh Government to “quantify the possible impacts of different post-Brexit scenarios”.
“And although the Welsh NHS Confederation of Health Boards and Trusts e-mailed Members yesterday stating that it has “been working with Welsh Government officials to consider and assess the scale of the impact for Welsh health and social care services post Brexit”, the Health and Social Care professionals we met at the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board in Caerleon stated “the lack of clarity and direction in relation to Brexit makes contingency planning difficult, and as a result conversations around scenario planning have yet to begin””.