Association representing leading public servants warns against ‘Brexit on the cheap’, amid fears there will be no extra resources in the autumn statement

Brexit poses the single biggest task for the UK’s civil service since the second world war, according to the most senior union official representing civil servants.

Dave Penman – general secretary of the FDA, which represents leading public servants including permanent secretaries – fears departments will be forced to drop other priorities unless there is more money to pay for the extra work. But he said there was “no indication” that the government was planning to boost resources in next week’s autumn statement.

Penman’s warning about the consequences of “Brexit on the cheap” comes after a leaked memo claimed that Whitehall was working on more than 500 projects relating to leaving the EU and could need to hire 30,000 extra civil servants.



The government said it did not recognise the document, which was drawn up by consultants at Deloitte, and denied its conclusion that there was no government-wide plan for Brexit.

Leaked Brexit memo: Whitehall struggling to cope and no single plan Read more

A spokeswoman for Theresa May said: “[The memo] has nothing to do with the government at all. It was not commissioned by government. It was written by an individual at an accountancy firm who is not working for government ... This individual has never been in No 10 or engaged with officials in No 10 since the prime minister took office.

“It is really for Deloitte to answer what it is about. It has not been distributed widely across government. It does seem this is a firm touting for business aided by the media.”

But Penman said it highlighted an important issue: “Whether the memo represents a considered government position or not, it’s clear that unpacking 40 years of EU membership is the single biggest task facing the civil service since the second world war.

“While politicians squabble about hard and soft Brexit, there is a deafening silence from ministers over whether any additional resources will be provided to deliver this momentous task. Brexit on the cheap appears to be the government’s preferred approach, but this will satisfy no one.”

He said that while the autumn statement might be used to offer money for two new Brexit departments, there was no suggestion that ministers would plough more money into the work going on in other key areas, such as environment, work and pensions or in the Home Office.

“There is no indication that they are considering additional resources to government departments to support the Brexit process,” he said. “This will be ministerial priority – but what is going to give?”

Penman’s comments come amid fears that May’s plans for social reform are being crowded out by civil servants focusing on the complex process of extricating Britain from the EU.

Research carried out by the House of Commons library for Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, shows that of the 25 bills listed by David Cameron in the Queen’s speech in May, just 15 have so far begun their passage through parliament.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest David Cameron stands next to the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, at the state opening of parliament in May. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/AFP/Getty Images

A better markets bill, which was set to include consumer-friendly policies such as faster switching of mortgages, is yet to be published, for example; and while the justice secretary, Liz Truss, has insisted the government will press ahead with the Conservative manifesto commitment to introduce a bill of rights, it is unclear when this will be.

Anand Menon – director of the UK in a Changing Europe, a group of academics monitoring Brexit – said ministers and civil servants across Whitehall were being forced to confront the implications of the vote to leave the EU.

“The scale of this is eye-watering: every department is having to rethink its future,” he said. “This is in a context of a civil service whose numbers have been slashed anyway: there’s just a lack of capacity.”

The Institute for Government, an independent charity working to increase the effectiveness of government, said that Whitehall urgently needed more resources for Brexit, arguing that the demands being placed on civil servants were an “existential threat” to how some departments operate. They said there was a lot to be positive about the work so far, but warned the task was “unprecedented”.

The IFG’s own research does not mirror the scale of the challenge suggested by Tuesday’s leaked memo, but suggests Brexit planning could cost the government £65m a year, and might require at least 500 new civil servants.

The thinktank also claimed the government is not planning far enough ahead and that some of the process has been “chaotic and dysfunctional”. The IFG said “silence is not a strategy” and warned that failing to update the public on thinking around Brexit was eroding confidence among businesses and investors.

Brexit: Irish minister says UK trying to 'divorce and keep all the assets' Read more

Emma Norris, the IFG’s programme director, told the Guardian that a lack of progress on other reforms from the Queen’s speech reflected three factors: a shift in political priorities under May; the formidable challenge of making Brexit work; and the fact that a government with a small majority can’t risk too many confrontations with rebellious backbenchers.



“Clearly there’s a question about capacity,” Norris said. “But there’s also a question about headspace. There’s a question about whether Whitehall and political leaders have the headspace to push through other domestic policy priorities.”

The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said the leaked memo showed “a dereliction of government duty” on the part of ministers. “I suppose what angers most people is that the government, before the referendum, never made the preparations for an alternative result,” he said.



“What we saw from the memo today simply confirms what we all suspected because of the various leaks that have been coming from the government already,” McDonnell said. “It isn’t just about staffing, it’s ministers arguing amongst themselves all the time, no common view of the way forward, and no shared vision for the future of our country.”

McDonnell said Labour would support the employment of extra civil servants as needed, but was surprised this had not been planned for. “I just find it staggering that you have a government facing a momentous decision, an implementation of negotiations, and they haven’t even staffed up,” he said. “It’s just extraordinary. It’s a dereliction of government duty.

“We’ll help them all we can to secure a common vision for the future, and we’ll offer a bipartisan approach to the decision. But to have a bipartisan approach you need to know what their policy is, and we simply don’t.”

May’s spokeswoman dismissed the memo’s specific prediction that up to 30,000 more civil servants would be needed.