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

Listen before you fail

By Mark Fletcher-Brown | 02 November 2026

Mark Fletcher-Brown offers his six-point guide to helping leaders avert disasters by ensuring they hear the things they don’t want to.

LEGAL

Changing places, not just boundaries: what's missing from the LGR announcement

By Adele Gritten | 02 November 2026

As the dust starts to settle following last week’s government announcement on reorganisation, Adele Gritten says better services, stronger places and sustain...

LEGAL

Ask young people first: what a new town taught me about planning for the next generation

By Saeed Atcha | 02 November 2026

Saeed Atcha looks at what happened when Ebbsfleet Development Corporation asked more than 300 young people what kind of place they wanted, and what councils ...

LEGAL

LGR cannot stagger on as a zombie policy

By Jonathan Carr-West | 30 October 2026

Jonathan Carr-West says there’s clearly a sense in the sector that the window to get reorganisation back on track is rapidly closing, and it’s not clear this...

Popular articles by Laura Sharman

-->