Cabinet confirms thousands of extra civil servants recruited for Brexit

2 Nov 17

Thousands of extra staff have been recruited into the civil service to help with Brexit, the government has confirmed.

Brexit secretary David Davis revealed the figures to the Cabinet on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Downing Street, at a press briefing after the meeting, said: “Nearly 3,000 new posts have now been created in support of EU exit across government – including in specialist functions.”

This includes 300 lawyers, who have joined the government’s legal department.

The spokesperson added: “The government expects the number of posts to continue to grow next year as we move into the next phase of delivery.

“HMRC have confirmed that they will recruit an additional 3,000 to 5,000 staff next year.”

In addition it was revealed that the Treasury had committed an additional £250m from next year towards preparations for the UK’s departure from the EU, this follows £500m which had already been allocated.

Officials also confirmed that 300 programmes relating to Brexit were underway across government.

The government said these were being monitored closely by the Department for Exiting the European Union and the Cabinet Office.

The spokesperson for Downing Street also said: “Each of these plans prepares the country for the range of negotiated outcomes and a ‘no deal’ scenario for a policy area affected by the UK leaving the EU.

“The plans set out detailed delivery timelines including, for example, to recruit and train new staff; to design and procure IT systems; and to deliver the necessary legislative and regulatory changes."

This comes after warnings from unions and the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, which warned that the civil service needed more resources to handle Brexit.

Vince Cable, Liberal Democrat leader, said: “David Davis has revealed just who benefits from Brexit: lawyers, 300 of them just to help us crash out of the European Union.

"A no deal Brexit should not even be considered, let alone cost us £500m, and probably more by the end of next year."

A Labour motion was passed yesterday calling on the government to release impact assessments of Brexit on more than 50 key industries.

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