Interesting and thorough report from NAO into costs of Whitehall EU exit preparations.
Stand out:
-22,000 civil servants working on EU exit at peak.
-If that were a standalone dept it would be the sixth biggest in Whitehall.
-min cost for prep £4.4bn
nao.org.uk/report/the-cos…
Stand out:
-22,000 civil servants working on EU exit at peak.
-If that were a standalone dept it would be the sixth biggest in Whitehall.
-min cost for prep £4.4bn
nao.org.uk/report/the-cos…
What was the £4.4bn in EU exit costs spent on?
1) Staff- £1.9billion
As of March 2019, 5% of Whitehall staff overall were working on EU exit. A pretty chunky 12% of all senior civil servants (of whom there are now a larger number than before) were working on EU exit.
1) Staff- £1.9billion
As of March 2019, 5% of Whitehall staff overall were working on EU exit. A pretty chunky 12% of all senior civil servants (of whom there are now a larger number than before) were working on EU exit.
In addition to this, 1500 civil servants were moved within government, to Brexit priority depts (HMRC, FCO, DexEU, Defra, Home Office etc) to prepare for a potential no deal exit,
MoD loaned 339 staff
DWP loaned 335
MoJ loaned 190
DfID loaned 165
DfE loaned 135
MoD loaned 339 staff
DWP loaned 335
MoJ loaned 190
DfID loaned 165
DfE loaned 135
2) External expertise
Whitehall EU exit prep has made it a good time to be a consultant.
Govt has spent "at least £288m on expertise and external advice...[on] long standing skills shortages in areas required for EU Exit, such as project delivery and commercial skills."
Whitehall EU exit prep has made it a good time to be a consultant.
Govt has spent "at least £288m on expertise and external advice...[on] long standing skills shortages in areas required for EU Exit, such as project delivery and commercial skills."
3) Infrastructure spending
"at least £1.5bn...[for] building new systems, advertising and other services"
E.g. £283m by Home Office on EU Resettlement Scheme
£69m on Operation Brock in Kent (never used but part of no deal prep)
£49m on adverts, like "Get Ready for Brexit"
"at least £1.5bn...[for] building new systems, advertising and other services"
E.g. £283m by Home Office on EU Resettlement Scheme
£69m on Operation Brock in Kent (never used but part of no deal prep)
£49m on adverts, like "Get Ready for Brexit"
NAO report makes clear it is not suggesting that money spent preparing for no deals was "wasted" by civil servants. Rather that they were planning for a range of scenarios, as they had been asked to do. Some spending was in any case useful for both deal/no deal scenarios.
There were, however, plenty of examples of money wasted incl:
-£50m to ferry companies was a "fruitless payment" (a payment which can't be avoided as the recipient is entitled to it but for which the dept gets nothing in return)
-£33m to Eurotunnel
-£8.9m drugs supply losses
-£50m to ferry companies was a "fruitless payment" (a payment which can't be avoided as the recipient is entitled to it but for which the dept gets nothing in return)
-£33m to Eurotunnel
-£8.9m drugs supply losses
Obviously, this isn't the end of Brexit preparedness spending. The govt set aside an additional £2bn in 2020-21 to prepare for whatever comes next, once the transition period comes to an end in December.
