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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0" xml:lang="en-US" > <title type="text">Brexit Facts</title> <subtitle type="text">Setting out the facts relating to the Brexit</subtitle> <updated>2019-09-27T16:25:49Z</updated> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://brexitfacts.blog.gov.uk" /> <id>https://brexitfacts.blog.gov.uk/feed/</id> <link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="https://brexitfacts.blog.gov.uk/feed/" /> <entry> <author> <name>Number 10 Communications</name> </author> <title type="html"><![CDATA[Government help for businesses preparing for Brexit]]></title> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://brexitfacts.blog.gov.uk/2019/09/27/government-help-for-businesses-preparing-for-brexit/" /> <id>https://brexitfacts.blog.gov.uk/?p=224</id> <updated>2019-09-27T16:25:49Z</updated> <published>2019-09-27T16:25:49Z</published> <category scheme="https://brexitfacts.blog.gov.uk" term="Press rebuttal" /> <summary type="html"><![CDATA[We will leave the EU on 31 October. Thousands of businesses of all sizes across the UK have been making preparations, and the government has been working closely with them to ensure that they’re ready. Funding for businesses: We recently …]]></summary> <content type="html" xml:base="https://brexitfacts.blog.gov.uk/2019/09/27/government-help-for-businesses-preparing-for-brexit/"><![CDATA[We will leave the EU on 31 October. Thousands of businesses of all sizes across the UK have been making preparations, and the government has been working closely with them to ensure that they’re ready. Funding for businesses: <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400">We recently announced £108 million of funding to promote and support businesses as they prepare for Brexit and this includes a national programme of business readiness. </li> <li style="font-weight: 400">There’s also an additional £10 million ‘Brexit Readiness Fund’ available to business groups and trade associations to help them to help businesses prepare. </li> <li style="font-weight: 400">We are directly supporting small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), making a further £1.3 billion available to lenders in guarantee schemes - via the government-owned British Business Bank. This will help to facilitate lending to viable SMEs, almost 90,000 of whom are already accessing more than £6.6 billion of finance, supported by the British Business Bank.</li> <li style="font-weight: 400">This is in tandem with the formation of a new Business Finance Council, made up of senior representatives from the UK’s leading banks and alternative lenders, and co-chaired by the Business Secretary and the Economic Secretary to the Treasury. The council will identify and address any barriers faced by small and mid-sized businesses in securing the finance and investment they need.</li> </ul> Information for businesses: <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400">We launched a high-impact <a href="https://www.gov.uk/brexit">public information campaign</a> setting out what businesses and the public need to know, and do, to prepare. </li> <li style="font-weight: 400">The campaign includes substantial advertising accompanied with targeted road shows and events, directing businesses to GOV.UK to get the information that they need to prepare. There are now ‘how to’ videos and step-by-step guides - so whether you are a small business owner, haulier or EU citizen residing in the UK - the actions you need to take to prepare will be clear and simple.</li> <li style="font-weight: 400"> Free <a href="https://registration.livegroup.co.uk/brexitbusinessreadinessevents/">nationwide government events</a>, leading up to 31 October, have been launched, offering local businesses tailored advice and support, as well as access to advisers from a range of government departments. </li> <li style="font-weight: 400">The Brexit Business Readiness Events will combine keynote addresses from senior government officials, advice stands and in-depth information sessions. Businesses will be able to access advice on issues such as: <ul> <li style="list-style-type: none"> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400">the importing and exporting of goods</li> <li style="font-weight: 400">exporting services</li> <li style="font-weight: 400">employing EU citizens</li> <li style="font-weight: 400">businesses that transfer data</li> <li style="font-weight: 400">the extra support available in the local area.</li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> Simplifying: <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400">For those businesses that trade with the EU, the government has removed a key administrative burden, by auto-enrolling nearly 90,000 VAT-registered businesses with an essential Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) trading number.</li> <li style="font-weight: 400">We created <a href="https://www.gov.uk/prepare-import-to-uk-after-brexit">Transitional Simplified Procedures</a> (TSP) for businesses importing from the EU. </li> <li style="font-weight: 400">We are phasing in Entry Summary Declarations for imports from the EU.</li> </ul> For businesses requiring more information, the Get Ready for Brexit campaign website can be found <a href="https://www.gov.uk/brexit">here</a> and details of the nationwide government events can be found <a href="https://registration.livegroup.co.uk/brexitbusinessreadinessevents/">here</a>. ]]></content> </entry> <entry> <author> <name>Number 10 Communications</name> </author> <title type="html"><![CDATA[Brexit: Medical supplies]]></title> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://brexitfacts.blog.gov.uk/2019/09/18/brexit-medical-supplies/" /> <id>https://brexitfacts.blog.gov.uk/?p=210</id> <updated>2019-09-18T16:23:53Z</updated> <published>2019-09-18T16:23:53Z</published> <category scheme="https://brexitfacts.blog.gov.uk" term="Press rebuttal" /> <summary type="html"><![CDATA[There has been lots of coverage recently regarding the supply of medicines and medical products after Brexit. Patients can be fully reassured that the Government is making all necessary preparations to ensure an uninterrupted supply following Brexit, whatever the circumstances. …]]></summary> <content type="html" xml:base="https://brexitfacts.blog.gov.uk/2019/09/18/brexit-medical-supplies/"><![CDATA[There has been lots of coverage recently regarding the supply of medicines and medical products after Brexit. Patients can be fully reassured that the Government is making all necessary preparations to ensure an uninterrupted supply following Brexit, whatever the circumstances. Here are the facts: <ul> <li>We continue to work closely with the NHS and pharmaceutical suppliers through a wide-ranging approach as part of these preparations, including:</li> <li>an express freight service, which we are currently in the process of procuring, to bring medicines and medical products into the UK within 24 to 72 hours if required;</li> <li>instructing suppliers to stockpile at least six weeks’ worth of stock of medicines and medical products, over and above the usual buffer stocks;</li> <li>securing additional freight capacity for bringing medicines and medical products into the country, and additional warehousing capacity for storing medicines and medical products;</li> <li>working closely with the pharmaceutical industry to improve their readiness for new border arrangements when we leave the EU; and</li> <li>putting in place the National Supply Disruption Response to ensure appropriate management of any shortages, should these occur for any reason.</li> </ul> All of these measures will help to ensure the uninterrupted supply of medicines and medical products following Brexit. Patients should continue to order their repeat prescriptions and keep taking their medicines as normal. We urge patients to not ask for more medicines than they normally need, this is unnecessary. Occasionally, the NHS does experience temporary disruption to supply of some medicines for reasons that are totally unrelated to Brexit. The NHS has tried-and-tested ways of making sure you get your medicines and medical products, even under difficult circumstances. You can find out more information on what the Department of Health and Social Care and the NHS is doing to prepare for Brexit <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/medicines-information/getting-your-medicines-if-theres-no-deal-eu-exit/">here</a>.   ]]></content> </entry> <entry> <author> <name>Number 10 Communications</name> </author> <title type="html"><![CDATA[Yellowhammer Factsheet]]></title> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://brexitfacts.blog.gov.uk/2019/09/12/yellowhammer-factsheet/" /> <id>https://brexitfacts.blog.gov.uk/?p=205</id> <updated>2019-09-18T08:53:24Z</updated> <published>2019-09-12T18:51:09Z</published> <category scheme="https://brexitfacts.blog.gov.uk" term="Press rebuttal" /> <summary type="html"><![CDATA[The Government has published its response to the humble address motion passed by the House of Commons on 9 September. The below fact sheet contains key points regarding the publication of the Operation Yellowhammer: HMG Reasonable Worst Case Planning Assumptions …]]></summary> <content type="html" xml:base="https://brexitfacts.blog.gov.uk/2019/09/12/yellowhammer-factsheet/"><![CDATA[The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-response-to-humble-address-motion">Government has published its response to the humble address motion passed by the House of Commons on 9 September.</a> The below fact sheet contains key points regarding the publication of the Operation Yellowhammer: HMG Reasonable Worst Case Planning Assumptions document. <h2>What is Yellowhammer? Why is it called Yellowhammer? </h2> Operation Yellowhammer is a cross government programme of work to ensure that Government is prepared to mitigate the potential reasonable worst case scenario impacts of Brexit if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. Operation Yellowhammer is coordinated by the Civil Contingencies Secretariat. The Civil Contingencies Secretariat are part of the team looking at Brexit preparedness, in addition to their regular work building the UK’s resilience by coordinating cross-government preparations and responses. The government regularly uses randomly selected names for programmes and operations. <h2>Is Yellowhammer a recent development?</h2> Operation Yellowhammer has been in existence for over a year. As the <a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Contingency-preparations-for-exiting-the-EU-with-no-deal.pdf">NAO </a>reported in March, the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS) began work on government’s contingency preparations for a no deal exit in June 2018. The <a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Contingency-preparations-for-exiting-the-EU-with-no-deal.pdf">NAO report</a> also made clear that in Operation Yellowhammer “Departments are working on the basis of a reasonable worst case scenario.” <h2>What are planning assumptions?</h2> It is standard practice for government to use “planning assumptions” when developing contingency plans. They are not a prediction of what is going to happen, but reflect a responsible Government preparing for reasonable worst-case scenarios. Reasonable worst case planning assumptions provide a common, stretching, scenario for stakeholders to plan against and for which, if plans are in place, a reasonable level of preparedness can be expected for most manifestations of the risk. This methodology is used by governments and organisations around the world as good risk management practice. In the UK reasonable worst case assumptions provide the basis for all national and local risk planning, as set out in the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/644968/UK_National_Risk_Register_2017.pdf">UK’s National Risk Register</a>. <h2>How are the planning assumptions developed?</h2> Officials in departments across government, with the support of specialists and industry, have developed the planning assumptions through rigorous analysis and challenge. Planning assumptions can change over time as new evidence emerges. <h2>Is Yellowhammer a base scenario or a reasonable worst case scenario?</h2> Yellowhammer has always been a reasonable worst case scenario and never a ‘base’ or ‘central’ scenario. This was confirmed in the <a href="https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Contingency-preparations-for-exiting-the-EU-with-no-deal.pdf">NAO report, published in March 2019, which said</a> that in Operation Yellowhammer “Departments are working on the basis of a reasonable worst case scenario.” <h2>What does ‘base scenario’ mean? How does this compare to ‘worst case’ scenario?</h2> Some iterations of the Yellowhammer assumptions have used the phrase ‘base scenario’ to describe some baseline parameters - such as the UK will leave on a particular date and be treated as a third country by the EU - upon which the reasonable worst case assumptions are then built. This has never meant that Yellowhammer is a base or central scenario and to suggest otherwise is wrong. <h2>But the Scottish Government say the Yellowhammer document they received was a “base scenario”</h2> Yellowhammer has always been working to a reasonable worst case scenario. The Scottish Government has received an explainer alongside the yellowhammer document which states: 'A planning assumption is: The reasonable worst case scenario you are anticipating, including the likely severity and duration. A reasonable worst case scenario is the worst plausible, not most likely, manifestation of the risk in question.' <h2>How likely is the Yellowhammer scenario?</h2> It is not a likely scenario or a prediction but an outline of what could feasibly happen in a reasonable worst case. The assumptions are deliberately stretching and challenging in order to facilitate effective contingency planning. <h2>Which version of the Yellowhammer assumptions have you published?</h2> We are currently updating the assumptions (as happens regularly) for Operation Yellowhammer but in light of the motion brought forward by the Rt Hon Dominic Grieve MP that was passed in the House of Commons on 9 September, the Government has published the most recent complete iteration of the Operation Yellowhammer document, which is largely based on assumptions drawn up under the last Government. We have redacted one section of the document on the basis of its commercial sensitivity. ]]></content> </entry> </feed>