While Ministers and Parliament focus on Brexit, local services (e.g. adult social care, children's services and the NHS), are looking increasingly like unintended victims. These services need constant care and attention through legislative updates and serious policy research and discussion at a national level. But they aren't getting any of this.

In our everyday work supporting local public services, we have observed plenty of examples of central government actions and decisions being delayed. This is largely due to minsters and MPs focusing on Brexit and thousands of civil servants being taken away from their normal jobs of supporting public services to work on Brexit planning. I know for a fact that civil servants in Whitehall are as frustrated by this as local front line staff. During the Brexit referendum no one was talking about the inevitable negative impact the long Brexit process would have on all the good things government usually spends it time doing - things which are essential to smooth running of public services.