Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the Prime Minister's proposed EU exit deal, when his Department last met with representatives of Northern Irish industry to discuss the effect on that industry of the imposition of a North-South and an East-West border.
Answered by James Duddridge
The department has engaged extensively with representatives of businesses, industry groups and trade unions from Northern Ireland. This includes through the Government’s Alternative Arrangements Business Advisory Group. Ministers are continuing to engage with representatives from all sectors of the Northern Ireland economy.
The Government's revised deal provides a new and unique solution for Northern Ireland – they will continue to be part of the UK Customs Union, but with access to EU markets without a hard border. The Government has made clear commitments to ensure unfettered access for Northern Ireland businesses to the whole UK internal market.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase uptake of the flu vaccine by social care staff.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Flu vaccination is recommended for all frontline social care workers. This should be provided by their employer as part of the organisation’s policy for the prevention of the transmission of flu to help protect both staff and those that they care for. To help increase uptake rates for social care workers, NHS England and NHS Improvement have a scheme to complement employers responsibilities so that vaccination is also available for social care and hospice staff from their general practitioner or community pharmacy.
For this coming winter, Public Heath England have developed brand new resources to encourage social care worker vaccination. These resources are available at the following link:
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the August 2019 British Nuclear Medicine Society's open letter to the Prime Minister on radioisotope delivery, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the costs of radioisotope delivery of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department is doing everything appropriate to prepare for leaving the European Union. We want to reassure patients that our plans should ensure the uninterrupted supply of medicines and medical products, including medical radioisotopes, once we have left the EU.
The Department’s plans include implementing a multi-layered approach to mitigate potential disruption to supply, which consists of stockpiling where possible, securing freight capacity, changing or clarifying regulatory requirements, procuring additional warehousing, working closely with industry to improve trader readiness and putting in place the National Supply Disruption Response to manage potential shortages. Further details can be found at the following link:
The supply of medical radioisotopes is being handled by dedicated officials, in collaboration with Devolved Administrations, the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories, as these products have particularly short shelf lives and therefore cannot be stockpiled, as well as having complex transport requirements given the radioactivity involved.
The Department, together with other Government Departments and representatives from industry (suppliers and couriers), has also successfully completed an operational testing exercise to help to ensure the uninterrupted flow of medical radioisotopes if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. This has allowed us to test the resilience of the supply chain arrangements for medical radioisotopes.
Prices of medicines often vary due to a wide variety of factors under normal conditions and there is no evidence that the cost of medicines to the NHS are outside of expected ranges. We will continue to monitor this. The UK Government is working closely with the Devolved Administrations, the NHS and suppliers of medical radioisotopes to monitor the costs of radiopharmaceuticals to the NHS in 2019-20.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the joint letter of 1 August 2019 from the British Nuclear Medicine Society and the Royal College of Radiologists to the Prime Minister entitled continued supply of medical radioisotopes in the event of a no-deal Brexit, if the NHS will allocate additional funding to NHS trusts to cover increased costs incurred for the supply of medical isotopes in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department is doing everything appropriate to prepare for leaving the European Union. We want to reassure patients that our plans should ensure the uninterrupted supply of medicines and medical products, including medical radioisotopes, once we have left the EU.
The Department’s plans include implementing a multi-layered approach to mitigate potential disruption to supply, which consists of stockpiling where possible, securing freight capacity, changing or clarifying regulatory requirements, procuring additional warehousing, working closely with industry to improve trader readiness and putting in place the National Supply Disruption Response to manage potential shortages. Further details can be found at the following link:
The supply of medical radioisotopes is being handled by dedicated officials, in collaboration with Devolved Administrations, the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories, as these products have particularly short shelf lives and therefore cannot be stockpiled, as well as having complex transport requirements given the radioactivity involved.
The Department, together with other Government Departments and representatives from industry (suppliers and couriers), has also successfully completed an operational testing exercise to help to ensure the uninterrupted flow of medical radioisotopes if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. This has allowed us to test the resilience of the supply chain arrangements for medical radioisotopes.
Prices of medicines often vary due to a wide variety of factors under normal conditions and there is no evidence that the cost of medicines to the NHS are outside of expected ranges. We will continue to monitor this. The UK Government is working closely with the Devolved Administrations, the NHS and suppliers of medical radioisotopes to monitor the costs of radiopharmaceuticals to the NHS in 2019-20.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the joint letter of 1 August 2019 from the British Nuclear Medicine Society and the Royal College of Radiologists to the Prime Minister entitled continued supply of medical radioisotopes in the event of a no-deal Brexit, if his Department will respond to the concerns raised in that letter about the timely delivery of medical radioisotopes to the North of England, the South West of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department is doing everything appropriate to prepare for leaving the European Union. We want to reassure patients that our plans should ensure the uninterrupted supply of medicines and medical products, including medical radioisotopes, once we have left the EU.
The Department’s plans include implementing a multi-layered approach to mitigate potential disruption to supply, which consists of stockpiling where possible, securing freight capacity, changing or clarifying regulatory requirements, procuring additional warehousing, working closely with industry to improve trader readiness and putting in place the National Supply Disruption Response to manage potential shortages. Further details can be found at the following link:
The supply of medical radioisotopes is being handled by dedicated officials, in collaboration with Devolved Administrations, the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories, as these products have particularly short shelf lives and therefore cannot be stockpiled, as well as having complex transport requirements given the radioactivity involved.
The Department, together with other Government Departments and representatives from industry (suppliers and couriers), has also successfully completed an operational testing exercise to help to ensure the uninterrupted flow of medical radioisotopes if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. This has allowed us to test the resilience of the supply chain arrangements for medical radioisotopes.
Prices of medicines often vary due to a wide variety of factors under normal conditions and there is no evidence that the cost of medicines to the NHS are outside of expected ranges. We will continue to monitor this. The UK Government is working closely with the Devolved Administrations, the NHS and suppliers of medical radioisotopes to monitor the costs of radiopharmaceuticals to the NHS in 2019-20.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the matters raised in the joint letter of 1 August 2019 from the British Nuclear Medicine Society and the Royal College of Radiologists to the Prime Minister entitled continued supply of medical radioisotopes in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Department is doing everything appropriate to prepare for leaving the European Union. We want to reassure patients that our plans should ensure the uninterrupted supply of medicines and medical products, including medical radioisotopes, once we have left the EU.
The Department’s plans include implementing a multi-layered approach to mitigate potential disruption to supply, which consists of stockpiling where possible, securing freight capacity, changing or clarifying regulatory requirements, procuring additional warehousing, working closely with industry to improve trader readiness and putting in place the National Supply Disruption Response to manage potential shortages. Further details can be found at the following link:
The supply of medical radioisotopes is being handled by dedicated officials, in collaboration with Devolved Administrations, the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories, as these products have particularly short shelf lives and therefore cannot be stockpiled, as well as having complex transport requirements given the radioactivity involved.
The Department, together with other Government Departments and representatives from industry (suppliers and couriers), has also successfully completed an operational testing exercise to help to ensure the uninterrupted flow of medical radioisotopes if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. This has allowed us to test the resilience of the supply chain arrangements for medical radioisotopes.
Prices of medicines often vary due to a wide variety of factors under normal conditions and there is no evidence that the cost of medicines to the NHS are outside of expected ranges. We will continue to monitor this. The UK Government is working closely with the Devolved Administrations, the NHS and suppliers of medical radioisotopes to monitor the costs of radiopharmaceuticals to the NHS in 2019-20.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 7 October 2019 to Question 292791 and the article published in the Times on 10 August 2019 entitled Bailout fund to prop up businesses after Brexit, what assessment his Department has made of which businesses are at high risk of collapse in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal; and what funding has been allocated to supporting those businesses.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
HM Treasury continue to monitor and work closely with businesses across the country to help ensure they are fully prepared for when the UK leaves the EU.
The government has already made £6.3 billion available to prepare for EU Exit. From this we have created £108m of funding for Brexit Business Preparedness – which is being allocated across government to ensure businesses are suitably prepared for EU exit.
In the event of no deal, the government would act quickly to outline our approach and take early action to support the economy, businesses and households. This would be followed by a Budget in the weeks thereafter.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much of the the £15 million Brexit readiness fund has been disbursed to businesses; and in which sectors those businesses were.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Business Readiness Fund was set up to help to prepare businesses for leaving the EU on 31 October. £10.4M has been approved across 133 successful bids, with just under £8M already paid to Business Representative Organisations. Applications have spanned a wide range of sectors (including manufacturing, retail and life sciences) and are from across the UK, including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) quantity and (b) value of business equipment will require an ATA Carnet for the (i) financial, (ii) musical, (iii) entertainment, (iv) professional services, (v) manufacturing and (vi) sporting sectors after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In the event of the UK exiting the EU without a deal, the UK will become a single customs territory and use of an ATA Carnet will be an option for moving goods, such as exhibition stands and musical instruments, temporarily between the UK-EU.
However, ATA Carnets are just one option when moving goods temporarily between customs territories. Their use is a commercial decision and should be considered alongside temporary admission / Returned Goods Relief procedures.
For this reason it is not possible to give an accurate answer to this question.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of Northern Ireland remaining in the Single Electricity Market on the UK's membership of the European Court of Justice.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Maintaining security of electricity supply in Northern Ireland is a priority for this Government. We have undertaken significant work, and prepared legislation, in order to ensure that technical, operational and legal arrangements are in place to seek to maintain the Single Electricity Market whatever the circumstances. We recognise the need to have in place a common set of rules across the Single Electricity Market that govern the arrangement. The exact nature of these is still to be agreed as part of the negotiations.
Once the UK leaves the EU it will no longer participate in or contribute to the EU institutions including the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Only Member States of the EU can nominate candidates to be appointed as judges in the CJEU.