Recommendation 17

There has been high turnover among staff working on EU Exit, particularly at senior levels. DExEU has had three Permanent Secretaries, the Border Delivery Group has had three Director-Generals, and there have been changes at Permanent Secretary grade in key Departments impacted by EU Exit, including Defra and HMRC.46 The Cabinet Office believes that the large majority of staff who left DExEU during its operation or since it was disbanded, have either returned to their ‘parent’ departments or, in the case of fast streamers, moved on to another role. While we asked the Cabinet Office whether efforts were made to capture learning from these staff before they returned to their departments or moved elsewhere, there was no indication that any specific activity had been undertaken.47