Brexit – keeping up to date Visit GOV.UK for current guidance and to sign up for email updates. What’s Thirteen doing to prepare for Brexit? At Thirteen we’re working closely with all our partners to prepare for the end of the transition period and the new rules that will come into force on 1 January 2021. Our main priority is to ensure continued service delivery and support for our customers, and we have effective plans in place for scenarios that could come up. How does it affect European citizens? Any European Union citizen wanting to remain in the UK will need to apply by visiting staying in the UK as an EU citizen. If people don’t apply, they’ll no longer be able to claim benefits, access public funds or legally work in the UK after 1 July 2021. Click here for more information. What are we doing to help our customers? We’re very much focussed on helping to support customers. If they fall into unemployment, then, we have our employability services to help them back into work. If there are cost-of-living increases, then we have great connections with food banks and support agencies to help our customers alongside the support our money advice team can offer to make sure customers are receiving all the benefits they are entitled to and to help maximise income. We've been doing lots of work around EU nations and our plan to support customers who are impacted. We believe there are very limited numbers affected but are working through all the things we need to do to be as proactive as possible. We have also reviewed our workforce, and we don’t anticipate any implications for our services. However, care providers do not fall under our remit (usually commissioned separately by local authorities).
Does Thirteen have data stored anywhere in Europe? We have reviewed any data or system dependencies, and these are limited to Microsoft Teams. We are monitoring Microsoft’s plans to ensure data agreements are in place and the service continues, but we can function without Teams if needed. Will anything change with procurement? The regulations governing the award of contracts will remain broadly unchanged whether or not a deal is agreed. Will we have any supply issues because of importing and exporting goods and could this affect services or building new homes? Disruptions to supply chains for some items is a risk and there could be additional costs and burdens. To address this, we’ve reviewed our building supplies, critical repairs components and vehicle capacity in the event of shortages to help make sure services and building new homes won’t be affected. Could commissioned services be affected? In relation to commissioned services, our position is that we can maintain current services, and we have plans in place to deal with any issues that might arise. What if medical supplies are affected? The government has designated medicines as extremely important 'category one goods', meaning that extra preparations are in place to ensure no disruption to supplies. We’ve assessed the vulnerability of our customers and any reliance they have on medical supplies and we have contingency plans in place where we are responsible. As part of our COVID-19 response, we have also ensured a six-month supply of PPE to mitigate any shortages or delays. What about Thirteen projects that receive EU finding? We have several funded projects which are due to come to an end shortly. We’ve also been preparing bids which won’t be impacted by Brexit, so that we can continue to grow our services and continue to support our customers. Have we prepared is Thirteen for the unexpected? We have liaised with the Tees Valley local authorities’ emergency planning officers to factor in the bigger national and regional picture, and our established resilience plans are in order and reflect all the above.