(Chancellor of the Duchy of
Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet
Office): While the Government believes that leaving
the EU with a deal is the best outcome, leaving without a deal
remains the legal default at the end of the extension period on
31 October 2019. As a responsible government, we have been
preparing to minimise any disruption in the event of a No Deal
scenario for over two years and are continuing with these
preparations. This statement is intended to provide the House
with an update on these preparations.
We have published approximately 750 pieces of communications on
No Deal since August 2018, including 106 technical notices
explaining to businesses and citizens what they need to do to
prepare. Our advice covers a wide range of information, from
maintaining funding for EU-funded programmes to driving in the EU
after Exit. To provide further advice, we have also contacted
businesses directly, for example c.145,000 businesses who trade
with the EU to help them get ready for No Deal customs
procedures.
Since an extension to Article 50 was agreed between the UK and
the EU, the Government has continued to prepare for No Deal. We
continue to lay statutory instruments to ensure a functioning
statute book by Exit Day. Since 12 April the Government has laid
SIs to address deficiencies in retained EU law in areas such as
the environment, aviation safety, emissions trading and Euratom.
The Government will continue to bring forward further statutory
instruments to ensure we are fully prepared for Exit.
We have signed a number of trade continuity agreements, including
with Switzerland, a key trading partner. In addition to these
signed agreements, the UK has also reached an agreement in
principle with South Korea on the terms of a continuity trade
agreement, through which businesses will be able to continue to
benefit from existing trade arrangements. Once that agreement is
signed, the UK will have signed agreements with countries that
account for 63% of the UK’s current trade with those countries
for which the UK is seeking continuity.
Guaranteeing the supply of critical ‘category 1’ goods, including
medicines, medical products, veterinary medicines and chemicals
remains an essential element of the Government’s No Deal
contingency planning. The Government is therefore undertaking
steps to secure freight capacity for suppliers of these goods in
a No Deal scenario.
The Department of Health and Social Care is starting the process
of setting up an express freight contingency arrangement to
support continuity of supply of medicines and medical products.
This will be an urgent contingency measure for products requiring
urgent delivery, within a 24-48 hour timeframe, if the UK leaves
the EU without a deal. This express freight contingency
arrangement forms part of the Department’s multi-layered
approach, which includes rerouting medical supplies from the
short strait crossings, extra warehouse space, stockpiling,
buffer stocks, clarifying regulatory requirements, supporting
traders to have all necessary paperwork in place at the border,
and strengthening the processes used to deal with shortages to
ensure that patients have uninterrupted access to medicines and
medical products if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Government will only pay for capacity as and when it is needed
and used. This will be designed to cover all of the UK. The
Department will be writing to industry to set out further details
of these preparations.
The Department for Transport is putting in place a freight
capacity framework agreement that will provide government
departments with the ability to secure freight capacity for our
critical supply chains as and when required. This framework does
not commit the Government to purchasing or reserving any freight
capacity, but it does provide a flexible list of operators and
options for the provision of the capacity that can be drawn upon
if needed.
In the coming months, the Government will make further
announcements on its preparations for a possible No Deal Exit on
31 October, including on trade continuity agreements to limit
disruption to our trade with third countries after we leave the
EU.
Many of the most important mitigations require businesses and
citizens to act. There have been hundreds of meetings at
ministerial and official level to discuss preparedness with
businesses and civil society groups. The Government will continue
to engage with stakeholders across the UK to ensure they are
ready for all scenarios. We have published extensive advice on
the steps that businesses and citizens may need to take to
prepare for our exit from the EU, which is available
on www.gov.uk/euexit.
