THE chairman of Wellington Business Association (WBA) has criticised the cost of a report into the impact of Brexit on businesses in Taunton Deane.

Keith Wheatley said the £3,300 cost of the report, commissioned by Taunton Deane Borough Council, was a waste of money.

The consultant’s report, titled Research to Understand the Implications of Brexit on the Taunton Deane Economy – reported on in the WWN – was based on interviews with 25 larger businesses and business representative bodies.

It sought business views on issues such as the availability of migrant labour, potential tariff costs and barriers to trade.

Mr Wheatley said: “A bigger waste of public money would be hard to imagine. The conclusions of the report are pure speculation.

“This report could have been written by almost any adult that reads a serious newspaper or a very average A-level economics student.

“We have a number of members who could have written this for free in an afternoon.”

Cllr Mark Edwards, executive member for business development, asset management and communications, said: “The engagement and understanding of existing businesses is invaluable. Critics may feel it’s speculative and to an extent they are right as we are entering a new world.

“Without having a voice of business to inform Government of the thoughts, concerns and impacts from our own business community we will not be able to signal these in detail.

“The immediate impact I have seen is an increase in costs of between 10 per cent and 15 per cent – this isn’t speculative, it is a fact and the impact on pricing and inflation is immediate.”