Title

LEGAL

Council first to use new legal powers to demand Brexit clarity

The leader of Plymouth City Council is hoping to force the Government to reveal the impact Brexit will have using new legal powers.

The leader of Plymouth City Council is hoping to force the Government to reveal the impact Brexit will have using new legal powers.

Tudor Evans plans to invoke the Sustainable Communities Act to force the Government to share any information it holds about what Brexit will mean for Plymouth, even if it is considered confidential.

The council is thought to be the first in the country to use the Act in this way.

Cllr Evans said: 'We've seen various dossiers released in the last few weeks.

'They have been at best woolly and do not address what Brexit means for individual communities.

'Although we are the first council to use the act in this way, I don't expect us to be the last.

'I will be speaking to colleagues all around the country in the next few days to help put pressure on the Government for answers.

'This doesn't have to be all doom and gloom.

'If there are advantages to Brexit then tell us so we can exploit them, but we must also know where there are disadvantages so that we can temper them.'

LEGAL

Why devolution needs locality

By Julia Smith | 22 October 2026

Julia Smith says Blaby DC sees every day the value of working closely with local people, and the test of devolution will be whether communities across Leices...

LEGAL

Local government: Taking the lead

By Dr Catherine Howe | 22 October 2026

As the sector awaits the arrival of a devolution White Paper expected to contain a blueprint for shifting power from the centre, this week The MJ is launchin...

LEGAL

Local state, national ambition

By Helen Bailey | 22 October 2026

In the latest in a series of articles looking at a reimagined role for local government in a rewired state, Helen Bailey says councils can drive devolution, ...

LEGAL

Choosing the future, not the familiar

By Jo Miller | 22 October 2026

Jo Miller says whatever shape local government in New Zealand takes in the future, the challenge remains the same – creating organisations capable of deliver...

Popular articles by Laura Sharman

-->