Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what preparations her Department for policing operations in relation to traffic management in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
Ministers and officials have been working closely with the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC) alongside the Department for Transport and Highways England to determine the role of the police in supporting the delivery of traffic management plans in the event of a No Deal. Highways England are responsible for the strategic road network.
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 letter to UK citizens residing in the EU from NHS Business Services Authority dated 23 September 2019, what estimate he has made of the time it will take for his Department to settle payments for the treatment specified in that letter; and if he will publish that letter.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The United Kingdom Government has announced it will fund the healthcare of existing UK-insured individuals living or working in the European Union, on the same basis as now, for a further six months after exit day if we leave without a deal. The mechanisms and the time taken to make these payments will depend on the Member State.
The UK is, in the first instance, seeking to use established processes and continue making payments at country-to-country level as we do now. If Member States do not agree to this, the UK Government will offer to pay healthcare providers in the EU directly. The timing of the payment will depend on when providers or individuals provide the necessary information to NHS Business Services Authority. Payments will be made within five days after a request for reimbursement has been validated.
A copy of the letter sent to UK pensioners and benefit holders living in the EU from NHS Business Services Authority is 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, what steps he is taking to ensure that UK citizens living in the EU receive healthcare in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government’s priority is to maintain reciprocal healthcare arrangements with Member States (MS) when we leave the European Union. That is why the United Kingdom Government has proposed consistently to all MS that existing reciprocal healthcare arrangements (under Regulation 883) continue until 31 December 2020 in a ‘no deal’ scenario.
I laid a Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS1832) on 26 September 2019, which sets out the current status of arrangements with Member States and outlines in detail the support which the UK Government will provide should the UK leave the EU without a deal.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effect on food supplies of the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and what plans her Department has to maintain food supplies in that event.
Answered by George Eustice
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
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 National Audit Office's report, Exiting the EU: supplying the health and social care sectors, published on 27 September 2019, (a) for how long and (b) at what cost his Department is procuring a dedicated courier service for urgent medicines and supplies secured from manufacturers in the EU.
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 once we have left the EU.
The Express Freight Service is intended to provide access to an end-to-end solution able to deliver small consignments on a 24-hour basis with additional provision to move larger pallet quantities on a two-to-four-day basis. The initial contract length will be for one year, extendable by a further one year, with sufficient flexibility to end the contract earlier if required. The total estimated value of services provided to the Department over the one year period of the contract is £4 million. Users of the freight solution would be required to pay for any capacity they use.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the (a) cost to the public purse of and (b) length of time required for Government-secured freight capacity in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The framework will be in place for four years, and has a maximum value of £300 million over that timeframe, of which up to £150 million will be available to secure freight capacity for EU Exit preparedness.
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 his Department has made of the (a) availability and (b) adequacy of stockpiles of (i) medicines, (ii) medical equipment and (iii) medical devices held by suppliers to prepare for 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 once we have left the EU.
The Department, as part of our EU exit preparations, is 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:
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the proportion of HGV operations that that will be prepared for new border processes on 31 October 2019 in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
We have now worked extensively with hauliers’ associations like the RHA and FTA, meaning we are now substantially better prepared than we would have been in March.
The Government published its assessment of the flow of freight across the border in a Reasonable Worst Case scenario as part of its response to the Humble Address motion of 9 September. This set out the assumptions drawn up under the last government.
Over recent months, the Government has taken significant steps to improve levels of trader and haulier readiness to improve overall flow across the short Strait crossings. This includes a £100m public information campaign and additional funding for businesses and trade associations to draw upon to enable preparations.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the improvements to port infrastructure on the UK side of channel since June 2019 on potential goods disruption after the UK leaves the EU; and what comparative assessment he has made of the effect of those improvements and the improvements made on the French side of the English Channel.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
It was announced on 26 September that sixteen ports across England will receive a share of a multimillion-pound funding pot to help their preparations for Brexit on 31 October and beyond. The successful bidders of the £10 million Port Infrastructure Resilience and Connectivity (PIRC) competition offers ports up to £1 million each to deliver important infrastructure upgrades to help keep traffic and trade flowing smoothly across the border.
The fund is part of a wider £30 million government package to support ports across England to operate efficiently post-Brexit of which DfT is providing up to £5 million to four Local Resilience Forums (LRF) outside Kent with the highest volumes of accompanied road freight traffic with EU ports. A further £15 million will go towards the development of longer-term projects to boost road and rail links to ports.
It is for the relevant LRFs to consider how this impacts on port infrastructure and local traffic management plans. DfT will continue to support this work.
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 progress he has made on reaching an agreement with EU countries on a replacement for the S1 scheme.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The United Kingdom Government has proposed to all Member States that we should maintain existing reciprocal healthcare arrangements, including the S1 scheme, until 31 December 2020 if the UK leaves the European Union without a deal. These arrangements would safeguard healthcare for the hundreds of thousands of UK-insured persons who live in Europe.
I laid a Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS1832) on 26 September 2019, setting out the Department’s progress on no-deal reciprocal healthcare arrangements, and updated information has been published on GOV.UK and NHS.UK on the situation for each Member State, including what arrangements have been put in place. These pages will be kept updated as further assurances from Member States are received.