The amount of money Kent County Council may have to spend on preparing for a no-deal Brexit is likely to fall well short of what government has offered so far, a report due to be considered by councillors today warns.

The report sets out in detail some of the steps the authority is taking to mitigate the impact of the UK crashing out of the EU and its preparations for staff who may not be able to get to where they normally work.

KCC was allocated £195,000 under a government scheme to meet the costs of planning for Brexit, spread over two years.

It has also qualified for a share of additional money been given to authorities who have ports in their area.

However, council officials have warned KCC would face significant costs as a result of a no-deal Brexit and "early indications are that required KCC spend will be significantly in excess of the [government] allocation".

The report also says "given the challenges and decisions that may be faced", it may be necessary for the authority to issue a statutory notice warning that it is breaching its lawful obligations.

The report identifies possible new issues KCC could face in the event of a no-deal Brexit, focusing particularly on staff.

It says traffic congestion or gridlock in the event of a no-deal could impact on care of the vulnerable and elderly in their own homes, saying it may be necessary for residential care homes to help out: "To enable critical frontline care functions to continue home care providers will be expected to adopt a flexible approach with their contractual boundaries.

"This may include cross-cover and sharing of staff as necessary.

"To enable critical frontline care functions to continue home care providers will be expected to adopt a flexible approach with their contractual boundaries... this may include cross-cover and sharing of staff" - the KCC report

"Care homes could be asked to support providing domiciliary care in people’s own homes.”

The report also flags up the potential risk to school appeals panels, whose busiest period is in the weeks after the planned Brexit departure date.

"The availability of clerks and panel members may prevent the conduct of lawful appeal panels within relevant timescales with an impact on the admission process for September," it said.

And it says council meetings themselves could be cancelled if councillors and officers are unable to get to County Hall.

The authority is improving its IT systems to allow as many as 8,000 employees to access the KCC network remotely.

The report will be discussed by the cross-party Policy and Resources Cabinet committee.