| Author (Corporate) | United Kingdom: House of Commons: Public Accounts Committee |
|---|---|
| Publisher | United Kingdom: Parliament |
| Series Title | 37th Report |
| Series Details | (2017-19) HC699 |
| Publication Date | 04/05/2018 |
| Content Type | Policy-making, Report |
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Further information + Preparations being hampered by the pervasive uncertainty The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Department for International Trade (DIT) faced an unprecedented challenge in preparing for Brexit. Their preparations, however, were being hampered by the pervasive uncertainty about the UK’s future relationship with the EU, which left not only departments but also businesses in the dark about exactly what they needed to do to prepare. This meant that Defra, in particular, is having to work up options for the three different scenarios — deal, no deal or transition. This was time consuming and costly. It also had to navigate new legislation and major IT programmes in very short time. + Concern over realism of Departments' plans At the time of the Committee's evidence session, less than a month before the start of the 2018–19 financial year, funding for departments’ EU Exit programmes had not yet been confirmed. This slow decision-making on the part of HM Treasury stood in the way of effective government preparation. The Committee was concerned about how realistic the departments’ plans for Brexit were, especially where new IT systems were required. But both departments appeared optimistic that they can deliver what’s required to be ready for March 2019, whatever the outcome of the negotiations. There was a lot at stake — a functioning trade policy was vital and if the UK left the single market and customs union there needed to be clear alternatives in place or business and the economy would suffer. DIT appears to have adopted a free trade policy but business needs time to adapt and there are still many uncertainties with no clear timetable for changes. Defra has said it will fall back on to manual systems as it seeks to deliver all that it needs to for Brexit, but this could impede or at least slow down imports and exports causing severe delays at the border. Both departments have an impossible challenge and don’t have a clear plan of top priorities. They must be clear about what they will not be delivering as a result of Brexit.The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee published a report called Exiting the European Union: The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and the Department for International Trade on the 4 May 2018. In the report the Committee said that preparations for Brexit were being hampered by uncertainty over UK’s future relationship with the EU. |
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| Source Link | Link to Main Source https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmpubacc/699/699.pdf |
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| Countries / Regions | United Kingdom |
