Recommendations & Conclusions
7 items
4
Recommendation
Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall prepara…
Not Addressed
EU Exit preparations involved more than 22,000 civil servants at the peak and have cost at least £4.4 billion. But there has been no serious attempt to reflect and capture lessons for other challenges that government faces. Every government department has been affected by preparations for EU Exit and this …
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EU Exit preparations involved more than 22,000 civil servants at the peak and have cost at least £4.4 billion. But there has been no serious attempt to reflect and capture lessons for other challenges that government faces. Every government department has been affected by preparations for EU Exit and this has put pressure on government’s ability to manage cross-government coordination and decision- making. Government has made changes to the way the process has been managed. The ministerial structure now consists of just two committees, one focused on operations and one focused on strategy, and it is clearer where to go for decisions. The Cabinet Office reports that it shares more information on preparations with departments. The key oversight functions, particularly the Transition Task Force and the Border and Protocol Delivery Group now all sit together within the Cabinet Office, which we are told has resulted in a closer working relationship. Government has recognised that other challenges it faces, such as the response to Covid-19, will also require cross-government working, working at pace, or working in new ways. 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. However, it has no plans to conduct a formal review of the preparations, relying on the National Audit Office’s work to identify lessons, rather than also choosing to do its own significant review of what it can learn for the future. Recommendation: The Cabinet Office should conduct a formal review, including seeking input from third parties (particularly the devolved administrations and Whitehall preparations for EU Exit 7 local government) and covering the whole period of preparations. This should be done early in 2021 when there’s a chance to see how plans have held up in reality post-transition. It should cover structures, communications and oversight—areas which can be applied to other cross-government undertakings.
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Government response AI summary
The government's response details revisions to contract management structures and operating procedures, and improvements in information capture and sharing. This response does not address the recommendation for the Cabinet Office to conduct a formal review of EU Exit preparations.
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HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall prepara…
The Cabinet Office relies on information departments provide on their readiness to identify the highest risk elements of the programme, although it continues to use specialist support from the Infrastructure and Projects Authority to review projects and also uses commercial and digital experts to assess departments’ readiness.11 The Cabinet Office …
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The Cabinet Office relies on information departments provide on their readiness to identify the highest risk elements of the programme, although it continues to use specialist support from the Infrastructure and Projects Authority to review projects and also uses commercial and digital experts to assess departments’ readiness.11 The Cabinet Office told us that it has taken the approach of a “culture of openness and information- sharing” in managing coordination, which contrasts with the Department for Exiting the EU’s culture of secrecy and restriction of information. As an example, the Cabinet Office said that it was sharing with departments both milestone information about their own projects, and operational readiness across the country.12
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HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall prepara…
The Cabinet Office set out the current governance and decision-making structures for EU Exit.13 There are two ministerial committees, one focused on operations which currently meets daily and one focused on strategy which meets less often. At an official level, there is a programme board and regular meetings of senior …
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The Cabinet Office set out the current governance and decision-making structures for EU Exit.13 There are two ministerial committees, one focused on operations which currently meets daily and one focused on strategy which meets less often. At an official level, there is a programme board and regular meetings of senior officials across government involved in EU Exit and transition preparations.14 The Cabinet Office feels that the ministerial structure has worked well, to achieve consensus and for “cracking through” decision-making.15 It feels that it represents a concentration and simplification of decision-making structures, compared to those which existed earlier on EU Exit.16 It has also replicated the same two-committee structure at a ministerial level for work on Covid-19 and on climate change.17
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HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall prepara…
Not Addressed
Government spent £4.4 billion on preparations for EU Exit between the referendum and January 2020.34 The Treasury admitted that it had not itself asked departments to provide information on their expenditure on EU Exit which it could consolidate to get an overall picture of spending for any period prior to …
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Government spent £4.4 billion on preparations for EU Exit between the referendum and January 2020.34 The Treasury admitted that it had not itself asked departments to provide information on their expenditure on EU Exit which it could consolidate to get an overall picture of spending for any period prior to 2019–20. In 2019–20 it had asked departments to publish information on EU Exit spending in their 2019–20 Annual Reports, but these have been delayed due to Covid-19 and the Treasury has identified inconsistencies in what has been presented so far. The Treasury is now tracking information in-year for 2020–21.35 However, the Treasury is still consolidating departments’ expenditure for the first half of 2020–21 and information on devolved administrations’ spending on EU Exit will not be available until spring 2021 in the supplementary estimates.36
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Government response AI summary
The government states it disagrees with this recommendation, discussing its commitment to continuous improvement and lessons learned from EU Exit for resourcing, and explicitly stating it is not proposing a formal review of all preparations. This response does not address the conclusion's points about the …
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HM Treasury
25
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall prepara…
Not Addressed
We are concerned that industry bodies have said that government has not provided key information needed by businesses to prepare, such as detailed guidance on how to apply for simplified customs procedures.70 The Cabinet Office provided an update on the status of two specific systems. The Goods Vehicle Movement Service …
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We are concerned that industry bodies have said that government has not provided key information needed by businesses to prepare, such as detailed guidance on how to apply for simplified customs procedures.70 The Cabinet Office provided an update on the status of two specific systems. The Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) is a new core HMRC system that will be required for July 2021 for the full implementation of import controls, though it will be used in a more limited scope for transit functionality at the border at the end of December. GVMS is currently in the testing stage and the Cabinet Office believes the testing will be completed in early December. “Check an HGV is ready to cross the border”, previously called Smart Freight, is a web service which the Cabinet Office told us will be available on GOV.UK. and is designed to minimise disruption at the border through allowing drivers and hauliers to check they have the necessary paperwork in place to cross the border successfully. If documentation is missing, then it will indicate 63 Qq 22, 30 64 Q 27 65 Q 24 66 Qq 34, 59; C&AG’s Report, Figure 1 67 Qq 59, 88Q 59 68 Qq 58–59; C&AG’s Report, Figure 1; Announcement from the Cabinet Office at https://www.gov.uk/government/ news/government-accelerates-border-planning-for-the-end-of-the-transition-period 69 Q 25 70 Q 88 Whitehall preparations for EU Exit 17 to the user that they should not travel until the correct documentation is in place. If all documentation is present, then it should link to the issuing of a Kent Access Permit to the user. This service will be mandatory for all drivers and hauliers using the short Channel crossings. However, it will not be operational until the end of December. We are concerned in both cases that the timetables given leave little margin before they must be operational and, in the case of the “Check an HGV is ready to cross the border” service, it is not clear what time there will be for users to become familiar with the system
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, outlining its public information campaigns, GOV.UK tools, and business engagement. However, the response does not specifically address the concern about the lack of detailed guidance on simplified customs procedures or the tight timetables for the new …
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HM Treasury
26
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall prepara…
Not Addressed
The Cabinet Office admitted that the market for customs agents is not expanding at the pace it needs to meet the increased demand post transition, despite an additional £50 million in funding announced by the government. This was an extension of previous funding of £34 million which had been used …
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The Cabinet Office admitted that the market for customs agents is not expanding at the pace it needs to meet the increased demand post transition, despite an additional £50 million in funding announced by the government. This was an extension of previous funding of £34 million which had been used up. To date these two grant schemes have funded just over 20,000 training courses and just over 16,000 pieces of IT.72
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Government response AI summary
The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, detailing its public information campaigns, GOV.UK tools, and business engagement, including the establishment of the Brexit Business Task Force. However, the response completely fails to address the specific concern about the insufficient expansion of the customs …
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HM Treasury
27
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Whitehall prepara…
Not Addressed
In the event of major delays at the short Channel crossings, the Cabinet Office told us that there are plans to prioritise certain goods, such as exports of day-old chicks and fish for human consumption, and that additional freight capacity has been procured for the import of critical goods.73 The …
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In the event of major delays at the short Channel crossings, the Cabinet Office told us that there are plans to prioritise certain goods, such as exports of day-old chicks and fish for human consumption, and that additional freight capacity has been procured for the import of critical goods.73 The Cabinet Office said it is developing a border impact centre to manage disruption but is facing issues in securing access to data held by other government departments. The infrastructure in Kent to hold HGVs in case of delays is also still in development, with one of the two sites still to be acquired when we took evidence in early October.74 It is not clear how the geographical travel restrictions introduced for Covid-19 may complicate the movement of freight, although the Cabinet Office is confident the processes used to ensure freight flowed through the national lockdown will work through the winter.75 71 Q 85 72 Q 88 73 Qq 86–87 74 Qq 91, 92 75 Q100 18 Whitehall preparations for EU Exit
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Government response AI summary
The government response, while stating agreement and implementation, focuses on general communication and business engagement strategies (Public Information Campaign, GOV.UK, Brexit Business Task Force) rather than directly addressing the specific points raised in the committee's conclusion regarding prioritisation of goods, freight capacity, the border impact …
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HM Treasury