DfE lied about No Deal preparations - schools are not ready

[noblegiraffe]

Despite saying in July that plans had been made to mitigate risks to schools, the DfE has refused to provide these in response to an FOI request.

schoolsweek.co.uk/did-dfe-mislead-parliament-over-no-deal-brexit-preparations/

In what other areas have we been lied to about No-Deal planning?

[Mistigri]

Government is also lying about NHS readiness according to doctors, and about business readiness according to businesses.

Is there a common theme here ... is this government perhaps a little dishonest across the board?

[noblegiraffe]

Schools readiness includes making sure they can afford food for school dinners when food prices increase, and source nutritiously balanced meals in the face of shortages.

Schools already have to subsidise the cost of free school meals as the amount given by the government doesn’t cover it, so this is worrying.

[BackInTime]

Senior Brexit planning official to resign. Probably knows what's coming and does not want to stick around.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.ft.com/content/ab601430-e14c-11e9-b112-9624ec9edc59

[Clutterbugsmum]

Most if not all school canteen are run by your local council, they are nothing to do with school budgets.

[noblegiraffe]

Really? Our MAT buys in catering services from an outside company.

[TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince]

Most of them are not run by councils.They are outsourcex

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

It’s lying about the NHS too. There’s no way that’s ready, it can barely cope as it is.

[MythicalBiologicalFennel]

This government has been caught lying so many times. And there are no consequences - and nobody seems to care. As a society it seems that we think it's one of those things. This government is changing the political and social landscape in a dangerous way.

[80sMum]

Could it be possible that the reason the government hasn't prepared is because they know full well that a no-deal Brexit is not going to happen?

[itsgettingweird]

See I keep hearing no deal brexit will not happen.

But then there is suddenly loads of adverts about preparing and every government page I've looked at in recent weeks has the tag line we will leave the eu on 31st October blazoned across the top.

It doesn't surprise me noble they haven't been ready for all the other changes in the past few years (EHCPs being a big one) because they seem to have these ideas that are great in theory but don't actually have the budgets to meet demand.

[nocoolnamesleft]

If the NHS is ready, I'm a purple polka dotted unicorn. Staffing, food supplies, medication supplies, isotopes supplies, spare parts supplies...

[Kaddm]

Nobody knows what exactly is going to happen so how can anyone (individual or organisation) be prepared?

As a nation, we are fucking morons.

[Somebodystired]

80sMum if only that was true. I work for a government department that is exceptionally well prepared, and because of this we are putting a significant effort into helping other departments to prepare.

A lack of preparation is not indicative at all of whether or not there will be a deal, as much as I would love if it was.

[itsgettingweird]

Those in nhs with the know.

Does anyone know If baclofen supplies are likely to be affected? I've no idea where it's manufactured!

[ThinkAboutItTomorrow]

Not being goady here but... given the Benn act prevents no deal and the government have said they will abide by it surely its fair to assume no deal is off the table?

I know there are worries that Bojo will try to get round it on some technicality but that'd be pretty extreme. On paper at least we must be 99% sure we're safe from no deal?

[m0therofdragons]

NHS feels as ready as it can be without panicking. All risk areas highlighted and mitigated as much as we can. We're trained for major incidents so if it gets really bad then we will follow those procedures.

Schools (I'm a governor) feel late to the party but the info I saw on Thursday looks like they're catching up.

Fuel doesn't come through Europe so no fuel shortages unless people panic buy and food will be available but choice may be reduced.

What are you specifically concerned about?

[m0therofdragons]

Isotopes likely to be an issue but most medicines are unlikely to face delays more than 2-3 days.

[Theworldisfullofgs]

Oh dear. Most schools pay for school dinners. I dont know one that doesn't. We used to get purse via a council service that cost us £££££. We outsourced it to be cheaper. It now costs us £. Free school meals are not entirely covered.
You get a set budget from the government that doesn't = what it costs.
We've had little to no info from the government re planning for no deal.
I'm a school governor so I know actual facts.

I have no idea what's going to happen next. The Benn act is in theory at the mo and it looks like there are ways around it.
Of course there could be civil disobedience and the govt could enact emergency powers. Some people would say that the heighten of language is the HoP by some leading individuals could be about this. I mean I wouldn't say this, bit dome people would.

[noblegiraffe]

Fuel doesn't come through Europe so no fuel shortages unless people panic buy and food will be available but choice may be reduced.

There are legitimate concerns that a reduced choice of food (including a shortage of fresh produce) will mean that schools are unable to meet basic nutritional standards. Given that over a million children on free school meals rely on them, this would be unacceptable.

In addition, school budgets will not be able to cope with the predicted 10% increase in food prices.

Schools being unable to feed their pupils is a serious issue.

Oh and Kent will pretty much shut down. No school for those kids.

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

Wasn’t the redacted bit in the YellowHammer document about fuel? Not immediately, but middle to long term

[Parker231]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/business-49405270

Potential fuel shortages in the event of a no deal exit

[BackInTime]

Wasn't it Gove that said 'people will have the food they need' in relation to a question about shortages. So we will have the food we need (whatever that means) but not necessarily the food we want The run up to Christmas in supermarkets is going to be interesting.

[noblegiraffe]

Well the worry is that kids won’t have the food they need, in terms of nutritional standards so it looks like Gove is lying again.

And as he is in charge of No Deal preparations, why has he let the DfE lie and say that they are prepared when they aren’t?

[ListeningQuietly]

Some school food suppliers have already taken steps to make their supply chains resilient
www.hants.gov.uk/educationandlearning/hc3s/ourfood/suppliers

[Clavinova]

Schools being unable to feed their pupils is a serious issue.
Oh and Kent will pretty much shut down. No school for those kids.

Kent County Council's Update 12th September:

"Kent has well-developed plans to ensure we minimise disruption to Kent’s residents and businesses."

"Kent’s no-deal plans have been in place since March 2019. We were prepared, if required, ahead of the previous no-deal deadline (31 March and 12 April 2019)."

"Through close collaborative working with the Department for Transport and Kent Resilience Forum, we have a well-thought through, sensible and practical plan, “Operation Brock”, ready to go live at short notice." "This will manage potential disruption and delay at the ports, enable Kent to hold up to 12,000 goods vehicles and, for the first time, keep all Kent roads open at all times."

"Kent is in a strong position to ensure the County Council can meet its statutory obligations, that Kent’s public services continue, communities are kept moving, and businesses can continue to trade."

"We have made considerable progress on the outstanding issues in recent weeks and are much encouraged by the level of readiness in both Kent and our counterparts in France. We will continue to work closely with government over the next 8 weeks to focus national and local actions on the final arrangements that need to be put in place for a no-deal scenario."

"KCC met with the Department for Education in July 2019 to discuss preparations, including the provision of essential supplies to schools."

"A considerable number of Kent schools buy meals services through a framework operated on the Council’s behalf by its property services company, Gen² Property Ltd. The main providers on this framework have all provided reassurance that they have considered the risks associated with Brexit and have arrangements in place to minimise disruption to their supply chains."

democracy.kent.gov.uk/documents/s92050/Item%207%20-%20Brexit.pdf