Brexit has resulted in more than £4bn of additional costs to the taxpayer, according to Whitehall's spending watchdog.

The National Audit Office (NAO) said that between the EU referendum in June 2016 and 31 March this year, government departments will have spent at least £4.4bn.

A total of £6.3bn was allocated by the Treasury to prepare for Britain's EU exit, which happened at the end of January.

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The preparations included planning for both "deal" and "no deal" scenarios.

A total of £2bn was earmarked specifically for no-deal preparations in 2019-20, with this being scaled back once the prospects of such an outcome receded.


The NAO said the £4.4bn figure represented a "minimum estimated level of spend" because of "limitations" in the data provided by departments.

Of the cash spent, £1.9bn was made up of staffing costs, £1.5bn went on building new systems and infrastructure, while £288m was spent on bringing in expertise and external advice.

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The peak of activity came in October 2019, in the lead-up to the Brexit deadline at the end of that month that was later pushed back until January.

There were 22,000 staff working on Brexit preparations, including 1,500 who had been shifted within government to prepare for a no-deal scenario.

Gareth Davies, head of the NAO 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 programmes more generally."

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MP Meg Hillier, chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee, expressed concern over a "lack of transparency".

"The public has been kept in the dark as to what the government has been doing," she said.

"Data is limited, and the Treasury seem unconcerned by the lack of transparency."

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Although Britain left the bloc on 31 January, it is now in an 11-month transition period in which it will continue to follow EU rules and regulations.

This is to allow both sides the time to negotiate the terms of the future relationship.

Despite warnings that this timeframe is too short, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged not to extend the transition period beyond the end of December and walk away from the talks without a trade deal if necessary.