Cornwall Council will keep Brussels office post-Brexit

Cornwall Council has its main office at County Hall in Truro

Cornwall Council has said it will keep its Brussels office open post-Brexit.

Council leader Julian German said it was important to "reach out to our friends and partners in Europe".

However, earlier this year the Conservative group at Cornwall Council called for the Brussels office to be scrapped.

The office contract was last tendered in 2019 and was valued at £80,000 per year.

Cornwall Council shares the cost of the site with the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership and Combined Universities in Cornwall, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

'Help to make trade'

On its website, the office said it "represents the interests of Cornwall in Brussels" and helped "local stakeholders make the most out of engagement in Europe and the new relationship between the UK and the EU".

Members of the council's Conservative group, led by Linda Taylor, have called for it to be scrapped after the Brexit transition period on 1 January.

Councillor Taylor has previously said: "This is simply outrageous, particularly at this time, could someone tell this Lib Dem/Indie administration we have left the EU?"

However, when asked about the future of the Brussels office at a recent council meeting, Councillor German confirmed it would remain open.

He said: "I think it is really important that we are continuing to reach out to our friends and partners in Europe, that we continue to have access for our businesses and that they have that intelligence, and that we can help to make trade and relationships as smooth as possible post-Brexit."