Tower Hamlets Brexit Plan

A “Tower Hamlets Brexit Plan” is important to me because as a borough we need to commit to ensure that a Brexit Plan for Tower Hamlets works for all regardless of background, protection for the financial services industry workers in London, the need for partnerships with businesses and local government for our companies and communities to thrive, and solidarity with all people regardless of origin.

That a Brexit deal which jeopardises the economic strength and growth of London will jeopardise the U.K. economy, household incomes and public spending. At this time of cuts, EU funding or its replacement, is vital support to economic regeneration, helping new and current businesses to create thousands of jobs and supporting broadband, new roads and bridges and other local infrastructure projects

Tower Hamlets Council must do all it can to protect the local economy, local regeneration projects, its residents, workers, businesses and all those in receipt of EU funding or benefitting from services funded by EU funds during this time of uncertainty.

The way forward is to prepare for the future and we can do this by the following actions.
• Set up a Tower Hamlets Brexit Working Group with relevant partners and stakeholders’ to assess the consequences of Brexit in Tower Hamlets and to develop a plan so that it can protect the local economy, local regeneration and infrastructure projects, its residents, workers, businesses and all those in receipt of EU funding or benefiting from services funded by EU funds during this time of uncertainty.
• Call on Mayor John Biggs and all Tower Hamlets Councillors to proactively campaign to ensure the EU funds expected by Tower Hamlets and local recipients of EU funds to be honoured until the end of the decade, 2020.
• The Tower Hamlets Senior Management Team to provide a dedicated help and information line to residents and businesses with comprehensive and up to date information on the progress of Brexit and its effects on the Borough.
• The Tower Hamlets Senior Management Team to seek out and respond to all direct and indirect opportunities for Tower Hamlets Council to communicate and represent Tower Hamlets interests' in the Brexit process.

TOWER HAMLETS BREXIT CONTEXT

The EU Referendum on 23rd June 2016 resulted in Britain voting to leave the European Union.

Tower Hamlets overwhelmingly voted to remain in the European Union: with a turnout of 64.59% (108,235 residents), 67.46% (73,011) voted Remain and 32.54% (35,224) voted Leave. The Parliamentary debate on 7th December which agreed that The Government to publish its Brexit before triggering Article 50 by 31st March 2017

TOWER HAMLETS BREXIT IMPACT

That, following the Autumn Statement the Office of Budget Responsibility estimated that Brexit will cost the UK economy £58.7 billion over the next five years.

That London contributes 30% of the UK's tax revenues. Workers and businesses in Tower Hamlets make up the third highest contributor to UK tax revenues (£12 billion).

Restrictions on free movement of labour and access to the European market could accelerate the move of financial firms to other European centres like Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam from Tower Hamlets economic centre, Canary Wharf; impacting on growth, jobs, development and enterprise. The loss of business rates in particular due to companies moving out of the borough could be devastating for the Council's budget.

Such examples include the European Medicines Agency employs 890 staff and are the largest EU body in Britain approving medicines for all member countries is at risk of relocating impacting on jobs and investment.

Substantial funding to improve our local economy, development, infrastructure, employment and training currently comes from the European Union, through Tower Hamlets Council, Local Enterprise Partnerships and grant funding bodies such as Lottery Fund. Further funding to improve our local economy is a result of match funding these grants but continued support is needed to reverse the trend of social deprivation as Tower Hamlets has the highest rates of child poverty in the country.

About half the funding (£2.6bn) sits in two funds:
• European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for research and innovation, business enterprise and creating a low carbon economy.
• The European Social Fund (ESF) is for investment in skills, social inclusion and promoting employment opportunities. Leader funds are supporting rural connectivity and small businesses.

EU funding supports the valuable work of Tower Hamlets community groups to deliver development projects. Such examples include the support to access financial growth for East London SMEs, mobile commerce innovation, green printing processes, Women’s Business Innovation Network and a homelessness project.

The Government's commitment to guarantee EU grants that have been in place by the 2016 Autumn statement if they are value for money.

The Chair of the Local Government Association, Lord Porter, has called for the government to confirm “certainty around the future of all of the £5.3bn in EU regeneration funding promised to them by 2020”,
Lord Porter warned that such uncertainty “risks damaging local regeneration plans and stalling flagship infrastructure projects, employment and skills schemes and local growth.”