Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 16
16
At the peak, more than 22,000 civil servants worked on EU Exit, and at present...
Conclusion
At the peak, more than 22,000 civil servants worked on EU Exit, and at present the Cabinet Office reports that the number is around 15,000.43 The civil service responded to this demand by moving staff between departments. In particular two thirds of staff in DExEU came on secondment from other departments and many were drawn from the fast stream. A dedicated hub within the civil service human resources function co-ordinated the movement of thousands of civil servants to meet EU Exit priorities.44 The Cabinet Office told us that a similar approach had been taken in terms of pivoting staff to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and that this had a particularly acute effect on preparations for EU Exit in the period April to June 2020.45
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
4: PAC conclusion: EU Exit preparations involved more than 22,000 civil servants at the peak and have cost at least £4.4 billion. 4: PAC recommendation: The Cabinet Office should conduct a formal review, including seeking input from third parties (particularly the devolved administrations and 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. 4.1 The government disagrees with this recommendation. 4. 2 The government is committed to continuous improvement. It has been engaged in the EU Exit processes in various forms over the past four years and have engaged in iterative learning processes in parallel. There have been lessons to learn every week and every month, and the Committee has acknowledged some of the notable improvements it has made to our approach to planning as a result. Regarding resourcing in particular, lessons learned through EU Exit have been critical in informing the approach to cross-government resourcing, which has already enabled the government to pivot its approach to support the response to COVID-19. 4.3 This mode of continuous improvement also helps us to avoid complacency and any suggestion that nothing can be learned or changed until a formal review has been conducted. 4.4 Although the government is not proposing to do a formal review of all preparations, it is grateful to the National Audit Office for having conducted an extensive review and welcomes their findings.