UK Inquiry Tracker

Whitehall preparations for EU Exit

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 7 Sep 2020 Closed: 19 Apr 2021 Parliament page

Following the UK’s decision to leave the EU in 2016, Government Departments had to formulate new policies, procure goods and services, design and implement new systems and engage stakeholders, while planning for multiple potential outcomes and responding to changing deadlines. Departments spent more than £4.4 billion on preparations between 2016 … Read more Following the UK’s decision to leave the EU in 2016, Government Departments had to formulate new policies, procure goods and services, design and implement new systems and engage stakeholders, while planning for multiple potential outcomes and responding to changing deadlines. Departments spent more than £4.4 billion on preparations between 2016 and 31 January 2020 (see also our recent inquiry on the Get Ready for Brexit public information campaign). Ahead of the then 31 October 2019 deadline, more than 22,000 civil servants were involved in EU Exit. The National Audit Office has produced 28 reports examining government’s preparations up to September 2020, and the latest on learning for Government from preparations from EU exit pulls together the insights from breadth of its work on EU Exit to give perspectives on what government can learn from this experience to prepare for the end of the transition period. It also has lessons for other cross-government challenges that have now arisen, such as the demands of the global Covid-19 pandemic, which similarly requires a fast-paced response, innovative policy solutions, coordinated action across government and effective, external transparency and communication; and longer-term challenges like preparing for the transition to a net zero carbon economy, which will require the civil service to innovate and operate in new ways. The report finds Government still has a lot to do to manage the end of the transition period, particularly on preparations for the border. It is now also responding to the demands of a global pandemic, which like EU Exit requires a fast-paced response, coordinated action and effective external transparency and communication. The key findings include: The need for government to improve how it deals with uncertainty by planning for scenarios which will have a significant impact and could reasonably occur, even if some of these may not be the desired outcome. The importance of government developing clear structures for quick decision-making and clear accountability. It should also draw on expertise in implementation from the start as a routine part of policy development, to build a realistic understanding of the scale and complexity of the task. The need to engage early with partners, stakeholders, businesses and individuals to understand and communicate what is required of them. The importance of strong financial management and the need to track spending from the outset. In October the Committee will question senior Cabinet Office officials on Whitehall’s readiness for Britain’s exit from the European Union on December 31 this year, and what it is learning which can be applied to other major, cross-Governmnet, global challenges we now face. If you have evidence on any of the issues raised in this inquiry, please submit it here by Thursday 1 October 2020. Show less

10 Recommendations

17 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

1 Event

Activity timeline 3 events

24 Mar
2021

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twenty ninth report from Session 2019-21

2 Dec
2020

Report published

Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall preparations for EU Exit

8 Oct
2020

Oral evidence

Whitehall preparations for EU Exit

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

8 Oct 2020

View on parliament.uk

Whitehall preparations for EU Exit

Alex Chisholm · Cabinet Office Cat Little · Cabinet Office Emma Churchill · Ministry of Justice Jess Glover · HM Treasury

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall preparations for EU Exit	HC 682	2 Dec 2020	27	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

13 results

2 Recommendation Accepted

Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall pr…

Government is not doing enough to ensure businesses and citizens will be ready for the...

Government is not doing enough to ensure businesses and citizens will be ready for the end of the transition period, and it is unclear what has been learnt from the previous ‘Get ready for Brexit’ campaign. The Cabinet Office launched … Read more

Government Response

The government states it has accepted and implemented the recommendation, detailing its multi-pronged approach including a national Public Information Campaign, GOV.UK tools, and intensive business engagement, along with the recent establishment of the Brexit Business Task Force.

HM Treasury

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5 Recommendation Accepted

Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall pr…

EU Exit and the Covid-19 response have shown up critical gaps in the civil service’s...

EU Exit and the Covid-19 response have shown up critical gaps in the civil service’s approach to planning, particularly for unexpected events or undesired outcomes. The Cabinet Office keeps a national risk register, with input from across government and particularly … Read more EU Exit and the Covid-19 response have shown up critical gaps in the civil service’s approach to planning, particularly for unexpected events or undesired outcomes. The Cabinet Office keeps a national risk register, with input from across government and particularly the Treasury. The risk register includes “unexpected events” in terms of those that are irregular but known to occur, and those which may not have occurred before but which there may be a chance of occurring. However, in practice, recent events have shown up the limitations in these plans. Ministers specifically limited the amount of contingency planning the civil service was expected to carry out ahead of the EU Exit referendum in 2016. This led to a delay on negotiating positions and preparations as government had to take time after the referendum to formulate policy and determine what type of agreement they wanted to have with the EU. Our previous work on Covid-19 has highlighted the gaps in economic planning for pandemics, even though the risk of a pandemic was one of the most likely risks government had identified. The government has announced that there will be a review of its response to Covid-19, but so far only initial discussions have been held and no date has been set. Recommendation: The civil service has a duty to plan for multiple scenarios, even those which it or Ministers considers unlikely or undesirable. Civil servants should seek formal instruction if told not to plan by Ministers. Planning should be proportionate to the risk, but there should be mechanisms for activity to ramp up as risks get bigger. For example, on EU Exit, we would have expected increasing levels of planning from when the referendum commitment appeared in the Conservative Party manifesto. The civil service should consider the development of standard principles, particularly for planning for unexpected scenarios, which would put government in a better position to respond quickly. Show less

Government Response

The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, describing existing scenario-based exercises and the enhancement of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat with a new multi-agency Command, Control and Coordination (C3) system from December 2020 to improve cross-government response capacity.

HM Treasury

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6 Recommendation Accepted

Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall pr…

Government still does not have a good grip on how much taxpayers’ money is being...

Government still does not have a good grip on how much taxpayers’ money is being spent on cross-government priorities. The Treasury has acknowledged the need for more timely, transparent financial information on cross-government areas of work, including both EU Exit … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented. HM Treasury has established a dedicated central team to track COVID-19 and EU Exit funding, is upgrading its OSCAR system for spending data, and has adapted and improved accounting and performance reporting guidance for departments to provide clearer, more consistent information on cross-government spending.

HM Treasury

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9 Conclusion Accepted

Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall pr…

The Cabinet Office recognises that other challenges government faces, such as the response to Covid-19,...

The Cabinet Office recognises that other challenges government faces, such as the response to Covid-19, will also require cross-government working, working at pace, or working in new ways.18 The Cabinet Office feels that it has learnt a lot from EU … Read more The Cabinet Office recognises that other challenges government faces, such as the response to Covid-19, will also require cross-government working, working at pace, or working in new ways.18 The Cabinet Office feels that it has learnt a lot from EU Exit and put it into a practice via a process of continuous improvement, which has allowed it to apply lessons “every week and every month”.19 The Cabinet Office gave examples of how this was working operationally, such as in getting businesses to apply for Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) numbers, and when considering how to redistribute the responsibilities of the Department for Exiting the EU.20 The Cabinet Office confirmed that it has no plans to conduct a formal review of the preparations to set out what it can learn for the future.21 Instead, it is relying on the National Audit Office’s 8 Q 19; C&AG’s Report, para 19 9 Qq 19, 57–58; C&AG’s Report, para 25 10 Q 20 11 Qq 19–20; C&AG’s Report, para 23 12 Qq 80–81; C&AG’s Report, para 28 13 Q 19 14 Q 4; C&AG’s Report, para 21 15 Qq 4, 20, 44, 6 16 Q 45 17 Q 19, 110 18 Q 48 19 Qq 36, 38 20 Q 39 21 Q 37 Whitehall preparations for EU Exit 11 work to identify lessons. The Cabinet Office described a process of comparing the National Audit Office’s recommendations to current practice in the key areas of decision-making, innovation, information-sharing and considerable possible future scenarios. The Cabinet Office highlighted some specific actions which had been taken as a result, including expedited processes in the Treasury which have been used to provide additional funding for the border, sharing assumptions for the reasonable worst-case scenario for disruption at the short Channel crossings, and developing plans for the structures and resource flows needed to cope with the combination of EU Exit, Covid-19 and other external factors.22 We recognise the value of taking action quickly via continuous improvement activity and are pleased that the Cabine Show less

Government Response

The government details how it applies lessons learned from EU Exit and other reports, such as using an enhanced communications approach and developing a comprehensive system for measuring campaign impact, which aligns with the continuous improvement noted by the committee.

HM Treasury

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10 Conclusion Accepted

Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall pr…

The Cabinet Office has a key role in ensuring government is ready to respond to...

The Cabinet Office has a key role in ensuring government is ready to respond to unexpected and unprecedented events. It is responsible for coordinating civil contingencies response to unexpected events, conducting COBRA meetings, working with local resilience forums and with … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees and states its recommendation is implemented, outlining how it already ensures robust contingency planning through regular scenario-based exercises, systematic risk assessment by the Civil Contingencies Secretariat, and the upcoming enhanced multi-agency Command, Control and Coordination (C3) system to address disruptive challenges holistically.

HM Treasury

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11 Conclusion Accepted

Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall pr…

Recent events have shown up the limitations in government’s forward planning capability when put into...

Recent events have shown up the limitations in government’s forward planning capability when put into practice. Ministers specifically limited the amount of contingency planning the civil service was expected to carry out ahead of the EU Exit referendum in 2016.27 … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the committee's observations and states the recommendation is implemented, highlighting its regular scenario-based exercises and the work of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS). It also commits to supplementing the CCS with an enhanced multi-agency Command, Control and Coordination (C3) system from December 2020.

HM Treasury

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12 Recommendation Accepted

Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall pr…

Our previous work on Covid-19 has highlighted the gaps in economic planning for pandemics, even...

Our previous work on Covid-19 has highlighted the gaps in economic planning for pandemics, even though the risk of a pandemic was one of the most likely risks government had identified. In July 2020, we recommended that the Cabinet Office … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, detailing its ongoing systematic risk assessment, regular scenario-based exercises, and the establishment of an enhanced multi-agency Command, Control and Coordination (C3) system from December 2020 to ensure holistic risk management across government.

HM Treasury

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15 Recommendation Accepted

Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall pr…

The Treasury has acknowledged the need for more timely, transparent financial information on cross-government areas...

The Treasury has acknowledged the need for more timely, transparent financial information on cross-government areas of work, including both EU Exit and the Covid-19 response.39 In the past, it has said that this is particularly difficult because these areas of … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, detailing actions such as establishing a dedicated central team to track COVID-19 and EU Exit funding, providing updates to the Committee, upgrading the OSCAR system, and improving cross-government accounting guidance for better financial transparency.

HM Treasury

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19 Conclusion Accepted

Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall pr…

Government has made extensive use of consultants to support preparations for EU Exit, and is...

Government has made extensive use of consultants to support preparations for EU Exit, and is also doing so on Covid-19. This Committee has raised concerns in the past about government’s increasing spend on consultants, and on the gap between the … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the need to address consultant spending and has established a programme with a target implementation date of March 2021. This programme includes creating a Government Consulting Hub, reforming controls, improving data, developing a consultancy standard, and addressing workforce capability to reduce reliance on consultants.

HM Treasury

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20 Recommendation Accepted

Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall pr…

The Cabinet Office set out that there is sometimes a need for consultants with 43...

The Cabinet Office set out that there is sometimes a need for consultants with 43 Q 101; C&AG’s Report, para 15 44 Qq 53, 54; C&AG’s Report, para 26 45 Qq 5, 18 46 Qq 46, 53; C&AG’s Report para … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees with the recommendation to reduce spending on consultants and contractors, outlining a programme that includes establishing a Government Consulting Hub by early 2021, reforming central controls, improving data quality, developing a new consultancy standard, and tackling capacity and capability drivers.

HM Treasury

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21 Conclusion Accepted

Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall pr…

The Cabinet Office launched a new communications campaign, ‘The UK’s new start: let’s get going’,...

The Cabinet Office launched a new communications campaign, ‘The UK’s new start: let’s get going’, in July. Its aim is to inform businesses and the public about what actions they need to take to be ready for the end of … Read more

Government Response

The government states it agrees and is already implementing this, detailing its three-fold approach of public information campaigns, GOV.UK tools, and intensive business engagement. It confirms that the current campaign tracks actions taken, not just awareness, through independent surveys and established a Brexit Business Task Force in December 2020.

HM Treasury

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22 Conclusion Accepted

Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall pr…

Despite the new campaign having been underway for some time, there remains a significant risk...

Despite the new campaign having been underway for some time, there remains a significant risk that businesses and individuals will not be ready for the end of the transition period. Government survey data suggests that 36% of SMEs still believe … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees and outlines its extensive preparedness efforts, including public information campaigns, GOV.UK tools, and business engagement events. It states that the current campaign uses independent surveys and ONS data to track intent and actions taken, providing information on readiness, and that engagement was intensified with the Brexit Business Task Force in December 2020.

HM Treasury

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24 Conclusion Accepted

Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall pr…

Although the Cabinet Office believes it has been clear that businesses need to be ready...

Although the Cabinet Office believes it has been clear that businesses need to be ready for the end of the transition period, there are multiple dates in 2021 from which new requirements for businesses on importing and exporting to the … Read more

Government Response

The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, outlining its ongoing public information campaigns, GOV.UK tools, and intensive business engagement, including the establishment of the Brexit Business Task Force in December 2020, all aimed at communicating new requirements to businesses.

HM Treasury

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Government Response AI assessment · 25 of 10 classified

Accepted 13

Accepted in Part 1

Acknowledged 2

Not Addressed 5

Rejected 4

Total 10 recs + 17 conclusions