WILTSHIRE Council has discussed a report on the implications of Brexit on how it runs it services.

At a full council meeting last night the council discussed the implications of either a 'no deal' outcome or The Cheques proposal, when Britain leaves the EU on March 29.

Across the council, the report said, there have been preparations in hand to mitigate and maximise the opportunities associated with Brexit for both of the scenarios.

This has included working with the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to consider appropriate business support, identifying the need for an industrial strategy post-Brexit, and working with the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) on contingency planning exercises and community reassurance.

The report also mentions the possibility of a requirement for increased food testing if there is a loss of access to EU-wide alerts on contamination and for additional animal health certificates.

There was also the issue around holding onto EU workers for the health and social care sector, including checking for existing non-UK EU citizens in the social care workforce and to publicise the early application process to help them stay in the UK.

In summary the report said: "Whilst no specific public meetings focused solely on Brexit have been held to date by Wiltshire Council, the potential impact is already being considered through a range of committees as well as mainstream business planning processes."