Nineteen local authorities facing impacts from a local air, land or sea port will receive a share of £3.14 million to help them prepare for Brexit, the Communities Secretary has confirmed.
Nineteen district and unitary councils across England will receive £136,362 to the end of April for each major port of entry into the UK in their area.
This will allow them to increase their resources to work through the immediate impacts from Brexit in their local areas such as ensuring their port’s resilience and potential impacts of greater traffic to surrounding communities.
The allocations have been based on a number of factors including the amount of EU goods each port area receives into the country and its wider importance to the UK’s global trade network.
The funding is part of the £56.5 million announced by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government last month to help councils adapt to the changes caused by Brexit, ensuring their local authority is prepared ahead of 29 March, whilst also protecting vital local services.
An additional £1.64 million has been added from departmental underspends to bring the total funding available to local authorities with a port of entry to £3.14 million.
The Communities Secretary, Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, said: "Local authorities have a critical role to play in making a success of Brexit.
"I am acutely aware a greater burden could be placed on the areas surrounding our ports. I have announced how we are allocating £3.14 million to those areas considered to be under the greatest pressure from Brexit.
"I will continue to take the situation under review, working closely with local leaders to ensure they are prepared to respond to Brexit."
The local authorities which will receive funding are:
Dover, Folkestone and Hythe, Thanet, East Riding of Yorkshire, Hull, North East Lincolnshire, Portsmouth, Southampton, Ashford, Gravesham, Dartford, Camden, Manchester City Council, North West Leicestershire, Uttlesford, Hillingdon, Crawley, Tendring and Suffolk Coastal.
Ports of entry within these local authorities are:
Port of Dover, Eurotunnel, Ramsgate, Goole, Hull, Grimsby, Immingham (DBP, DfDS and C. Ro), Portsmouth, Southampton General, Southampton Container, Ashford, Ebbsfleet, St Pancras, Manchester Airport, East Midlands Airport, Stansted Airport, Heathrow Airport, Gatwick Airport, Harwich, Felixstowe.