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?

stucknoue
They are lying about meds, individual hospitals are stockpiling when they can but some drugs have very short shelf lives, my friend is a nurse, t1 diabetic and very worried because her meds come from Germany, her specialists are worried, that is, they shared it with her because she works there.

I don't think they are lying at all, and as far as I'm aware insulin doesn't have a short shelf life. I have posted this link to Diabetes UK before - I see that they have updated their blog in the last few days - perhaps you could pass it on to your friend;

"The government have recently announced that they have 8 firms signed up to a freight procurement framework−creating a list of approved operators, who could transport critical goods like medicines after 31 October."

"The 8 companies signed up to the framework include ferry operators, Brittany Ferries, DFDS A/S, Irish Ferries, P&O Ferries, Seatruck and Stena, as well as operators from the aviation and rail industries Air Charter Services and Eurotunnel.They will focus on ports and terminals away from areas forecast as most likely for potential disruption, should it occur."

"The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is setting up a ‘Dedicated Health Channel’.This will be an express freight service that will be able to bring medicines and medical products into the UK within 24 to 72 hours if needed after 31st October.This is designed to support the uninterrupted supply of medicines and medical products where there is an urgent need or where a suppliers’ own plans are disrupted or delayed.This service will be able to refrigerate products, and so would be able to import insulin in the event of shortages."

What impact will there be on insulin supplies specifically?

"Earlier this year we wrote to the three main insulin manufacturers – Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi–to understand what contingencies and additional stocks they planned to have in place.This month we wrote back to them to check the situation again."

"All three have confirmed that these are still in place, and the manufacturers tell us they have gone beyond the recommendations made by the government–they are keeping at least 16 weeks of additional stock. People should continue to get prescriptions and use their medicines in the normal way."

blogs.diabetes.org.uk/?p=11050

individual hospitals are stockpiling

They shouldn't be - NHS England FAQ;

"Hospital stock levels will be monitored and incidences involving over-ordering of medicines will be investigated."

Can’t see any info in what Clav has posted about how schools are expected to continue to feed pupils with a 10% rise in food prices.

Can’t see any info in what Clav has posted about how schools are expected to continue to feed pupils with a 10% rise in food prices.

Not as much as 10% - September 2019; "Whereas previously (Mark) Carney said food prices could rise by as much as ten per cent, he today told MPs they could rise by five to six per cent."

Wholesalers/suppliers will absorb some of the extra cost at least. Stockpiled food need not go up in price - one Irish cheese company has stockpiled 6 months worth of cheese in the UK to avoid tariff rises and the temporary tariff schedule for most imported fruit and vegetables has been set as 0%.

I did read somewhere that 75% of NHS food is sourced from within the UK - I hope that school food suppliers are similar - this company sounds ideal;

www.schoolfoodcompany.co.uk/sourcing.htm

But when three lorries block a roundabout so no vehicle moves for 45 minutes
the cute fluffy farm provenance is worth diddly squat

Yellowhammer has been released
Black Swan is still secret

but its the black swan, flap of a butterfly wings that will throw the best laid plans adrift
and it could be something as trivial as a breakdown at Capel le Ferne

The oil majors have said rhey cannot guarantee supply of fuel. Why do you think Gove was asked it specifically in the house last week and refused to answer?

In addition there are many lies. The big one being rhe drop in the pound, the biggest impact, of between 25-40 percent has been omitted from the yellow hammer documents.

Wholesalers/suppliers will absorb some of the extra cost

Will they? Why? They don’t normally. Are they suddenly a charity?

Most schools have no spare budget to prep for no deal Brexit.

Traffic officers will have the power to stop and ask drivers of heavy
commercial vehicles to produce any documents relating to the vehicle’s journey and goods that are being exported.

This is not reassuring, at all, for the reasons stated above.
The last thing you want is a lorry being stopped.

I have family near Folkestone and vividly remember Operation Stack in 2015. We delayed taking a ferry from Dover for 4 days so as to avoid being amongst those who needed to be airlifted food and water.

The portaloos dotted at regular intervals all down the M20 towards Dover are quite telling.

Operation "Brock" is not synonymous with anything comforting.

Even if the shortages are not as bad as expected owing to alternative arrangements being made, is no one worried about the extra costs involved? Who is going to bear them? How long can they be sustained?

Wholesalers/suppliers will absorb some of the extra cost
Will they? Why? They don’t normally.

They frequently do - from the FT 2016:

"A number of analysts and retail bosses have predicted price rises as a weaker pound increases the cost of imports, but according to the Barclays report, 53 per cent of retailers plan to absorb the costs, while only 31 per cent anticipate passing them on to consumers."

As a nation, we are fucking morons.

Someone should put that on the side of a bus. At least it would be a true statement this time.

A significant aspect of preventing a population from panicking and making a situation even worse is by controlling the information you provide. That's what I take from some of the "reassuring statements" being quoted here.

Operation "Brock" is not synonymous with anything comforting.

"Kent County Council has recently received substantial funding from both the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government and from the Department for Transport.This has enabled the Kent highways to carry out crucial improvements to Kent’s local road network, particularly focused around the route corridors to Dover, Folkestone and Manston."

Ooh goody, money for Manston, the fairy dust has landed

and back in the real world of Capel or Whitfield ....
one roundabout, three lorries
= black swan

As a nation, we are fucking morons

As much as that's a bit harsh the level of ignorance on what people wish, when the info is out there, is quite staggering.

People who will loose their homes, their jobs are bellowing for it. It's sad and disturbing.

This has enabled the Kent highways to carry out crucial improvements to Kent’s local road network

The M20 is going to be a lorry park. If things get really bad, so is the M26. Pretty sure they haven’t improved Kent’s local road network to motorway standard.

Bluntness100
The oil majors have said they cannot guarantee supply of fuel.Why do you think Gove was asked it specifically in the house last week and refused to answer?

Is this what you are referring to?

Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby) (Lab)

"The Government’s plans for 0% import tariffs on petrochemicals will see a flood of cheap products coming from Russia and the middle east and make UK producers such as the Lindsey oil refinery uncompetitive. Are the Government planning to cut excise duty in a domestic sector-specific arrangement, and will that result in a loss to the Treasury? If so, how much? Is there a risk to fuel security if we become dependent on volatile regions for supply?"

Michael Gove

"The hon.Lady raises an important point, but I stressed earlier that some prices will rise and others will fall, not just in the event of a no-deal Brexit but in the event of global economic circumstances. If prices fall for consumers, that is good for them and good for business."

A long term problem perhaps.

Hi, no. It wasn't that one. It was a Male labour front bencher who asked him. I can't recall who. And he blanked it and didn't answer directly. Started talking Shite about retail companies being ready etc. Totally avoided answering it.

Most of our crude oil comes from Norway - via a pipeline I believe.

Do schools use a lot of crude oil from Norway
or are they more dependent on fresh veg from Spain
hence the black swan three lorries ....

or are they more dependent on fresh veg from Spain

The school supplier I linked to above;

"our local supplier of fresh fruit and vegetables is a family run business based in Knutsford, Cheshire."

Does fruit and veg from Spain come via Dover or another port? Portsmouth? Southampton?

Clavinova are you on commission for the Brexit dept or something?

No wonder Aldi didn't sign that letter to the Government earlier this year - they have a cunning plan - not only do they source over 70% of their produce from the UK, they are importing fruit via Liverpool;

www.peelports.com/blogs/2019/liverpool-connection-bears-fruit-for-fresh-produce-importer

I'm a senior leader of a school. We have made zero preparations. We can't afford to stockpile , we have been told there will probably be good shortages and we should plan accordingly. How exactly are we supposed to do that ?

Clav has an enormous collection of sows ears, which she spends an equally enormous amount of time attempting to fashion.