Sir Jeremy Heywood, the cabinet secretary, is planning to relocate at least 750 policy experts from across Whitehall to five key Brexit departments without any extra cash to cover the cost of replacing them.



In further evidence of the drain upon resources by Britain’s complex negotiations to leave the EU, the head of the civil service asked last month for experienced policy developers to be prepared to move as soon as possible.

The “policy professionals” will go to the Department for Exiting the EU), the Department for International Trade, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Home Office.

Senior Whitehall mandarins from non-Brexit departments have been warned to expect further demands for more senior staff in the long term, according to leaked emails.

There will be no extra resources given to the Brexit departments to recruit the new staff or to non-Brexit departments to replace those who have moved, the Cabinet Office has indicated.

The move will draw upon a dwindling band of experienced civil servants who develop policy for central government. Those being asked to move are ranked from executive officers to departmental directors.

The disclosure comes as Theresa May prepares for the Queen’s speech on Wednesday which is expected to outline a shrunken government programme dominated by plans to handle the UK’s exit from the EU.

It follows increased tensions between Downing Street and Whitehall over Brexit since the general election, the result of which forced May into plans to form a minority government.

In leaked memos sent to senior staff late last month, Rupert McNeil, the chief people officer to the civil service, said he was outlining activity underway to meet an urgent demand for resource to work on the UK’s exit from the EU.

The departments most involved in drawing up policy around Brexit were looking to immediately fill about 100 key roles, he said. “These roles are crucial to the success of our collective effort to exit the EU safely and secure the very best deal for the UK,” he wrote.

Another memo sent to staff last month said that Heywood needs a “significant increase in the amount of policy expertise”, with 750 staff needed in the medium term and “maybe many more” in the long term.

Dave Penman, the head of the FDA union for senior civil servants, said the leaked memos showed hundreds, if not thousands, of additional experienced policy professionals would be required to support the EU negotiations.

“What is also abundantly clear is that departments will be given no additional resources to cope with this unprecedented demand and so Brexit on the cheap remains the government’s abiding philosophy.

“If we are to make a success of Brexit we must invest in the capability and capacity of the very people who are task with delivering it.”

Jill Rutter, programme director at the Institute for Government, said what may appear at first glance to be a last minute recruitment drive by Heywood and McNeil could well be a shrewd move.



“Since the referendum result, the government has been building up its resources. But as you get closer to the negotiations and you have a better appreciation of the scale of the task, you get a clearer idea how to reallocate those resources.



“These memos suggest the problem is at least being gripped centrally at the most senior levels rather than being left to departments to fight it out amongst themselves.”

The EU negotiations started on Monday amid turmoil both within Whitehall and Westminster. Two ministers in the Brexit department departed last week within hours of each other.

Heywood is under pressure to increase pay to attract top trade negotiators. Jonathan Fried, a Canadian trade negotiator who played a leading role in brokering deals with the US, the EUand China, was considered to be the best candidate to become the UK’s chief negotiator but walked away because Heywood would not increase a £160,000 salary, the Times claimed.

Asked about the latest recruitment drive for Brexit departments, a cabinet office spokesman said it was common practice for civil servants to be moved around between departments to meet demand.

“The Department for Exiting the European Union and the Department for International Trade were successfully set up from scratch last summer. Naturally they have been gradually increasing their staffing over this period and funding has been allocated for this.

“As you would expect, plans are in place to further increase staffing in anticipation of Brexit negotiations. These posts would be funded from the departmental budgets.”