CEREDIGION has a new addition to its corporate risk register – Brexit – and its potential impact of £57million on the county.

The newly-added risk to the register complied by Ceredigion County Council to monitor and deal with impacts on the authority has been scored as the second highest for the coming year.

The “astronomical” risk of Brexit scores 20, second only to the risk of coastal erosion and flood incidents with a score of 25.

At an audit committee on Thursday (September 13), head of policy and performance Alun Williams told members that Brexit could cause a “loss of £57million” to the county.

The corporate risk register report states: “There are a raft of potential impacts on the economy generally; on support for farming (Pillar 1 funding) and rural development (Pillar 2 funding); impact for land management and contribution to climate change, biodiversity, air quality and water quality; on fisheries; for the labour availability due to exit of migrant labour; funding for research and development; for food innovation, technology and business support (Food Centre Wales, Horeb); for defence projects that may be centralised; for the export of goods; for the supply of food from Europe; and the impact on well-being due to changes in jobs, income, staff to run certain health and social care services; and the sustainability of rural communities.”

Actions to mitigate the risk include lobbying Welsh Government and greater regional working with the authority’s neighbours Powys, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire.

The Brexit risk will be updated regularly as more is known, added Mr Williams and he will be attending a conference on safety matters, as many safety regulations are linked to the EU, in the near future.

Committee vice-chairman Rowland Rees-Evans added: “The risk could be astronomical, I’m sure the world will not stop when we come out of Europe but what’s happening could impact on us.

“We can prepare - but prepare for what?”