Cornwall Council has received the same amount of funding from the Government to prepare for Brexit as the Council of the Isles of Scilly.

The Government awarded all local authorities funding to help pay for extra costs to prepare for Brexit.

However the funding formula meant that all unitary authorities received the same amount of cash – £104,000.

This meant that the Council of the Isles of Scilly, despite being one of the smallest local authorities in the UK, also got that amount – the same amount as Cornwall Council.

The quirk was revealed by Cornwall Council’s Brexit lead officer Paul Masters in an update on the council’s preparations given to the customer and support services overview and scrutiny committee this week.

Mr Masters said that he had been involved closely with the Local Resilience Forum which covers Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

This group is liaising directly with the Government to help raise any issues around Brexit from the local councils in the area.

Councils have been asked to report weekly to the Government on any updates which have occurred around Brexit.

Mr Masters said the secretary of state “was very clear” that local authorities should prepare for a no-deal Brexit on October 31.

He said: “While it is the Government’s intention that we do have a deal we have to prepare for no deal.”

Mr Masters, who is also strategic director for neighbourhoods, said he had been holding weekly meetings with department directors at County Hall to discuss any issues relating to Brexit.

He said that as well as the £104,000 there had been some additional funding made available for recruiting staff needed to work on Brexit related issues.

The council has been working hard with food exporters to ensure they are prepared for Brexit.

Mr Masters added that the Government had indicated that the Operation Yellowhammer documents had the assumptions that the council should be working under and said it was set to be updated in the next few weeks.

The council officer said the Government had indicated there should not be any food shortages as a result of Brexit.

However he said people on low incomes could be impacted and councils had been asked to look at how they might use their hardship funds to help those in need.