Brexit: Preparations cost government more than £4bn says watchdog

Government departments spent more than £4bn on preparations for leaving the EU, says the public spending watchdog.

The National Audit Office said this figure included spending on staff, external advice, and advertising.

A Treasury spokesperson said the government had made "all necessary funds available" to confirm the country was prepared for leaving the EU.

But the Lib Dems claimed, "billions of pounds have been thrown away in an exceedingly bid to paper over the Tories' Brexit mess".

The NAO stressed in its report that it absolutely was not making a judgment on whether the spending represented value for money.

It also emphasized that the figures represented a "minimum estimated level of spend" because of "limitations" within the data provided by departments.

Watchdog questions 'Get ready for Brexit' campaign

The government pays £33m over Brexit ferry case

A really simple guide to Brexit

The spending watchdog's report found that the home Office, HM Revenue and Customs and therefore the environment department accounted for more than half of the £4.4bn spent on Brexit preparations.

Between 2016-17 and 2019-20, the Treasury made available £6.3bn of additional funding to cover the prices of the united kingdom leaving the EU with or without a deal.

Of this money, a minimum of £1.9bn was spent on staffing. The NAO said staffing levels peaked in October 2019 when 22,000 civil servants were functioning on Brexit planning.

Advertising, building new systems and other services cost a minimum of £1.5bn - this included spending £283m to create the EU settlement scheme and £69m on Operation Brock, a traffic management system to be utilized in Kent within the event of a no-deal Brexit.

The £1.5bn also covered the £46m spent on the government's "Get ready for Brexit" campaign. Earlier this year the NAO said it had been "not clear that the campaign led to the general public being significantly better prepared".

Expertise and external advice cost £288m while local government organizations received £104m.

Government departments have also reported £92m in losses with reference to Brexit - this includes £50m paid to ferry companies and £33m to Eurotunnel.

'Lack of transparency'

The chairwoman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, Meg Hillier, said: "The public has been kept within the dark as to what the govt has been doing.

"Data is proscribed, and therefore the Treasury seems unconcerned by the shortage of transparency."

Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesman Alistair Carmichael said: "In the face of major floods and also the coronavirus threat, we've got to ask if the govt knows its own spending priorities."

The head of the NAO, Gareth Davies, said: "In preparing for EU exit, government departments planned for multiple potential outcomes, with shifting timetables and uncertainty.

"Producing this report has highlighted limitations in how government monitored spending on EU exit specifically, and cross-government programs more generally."