Home Office, Defra and HMRC top latest Brexit funding allocations

The government has allocated £2bn worth of funding to help departments improve their preparedness for Brexit, with the Home Office, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and HM Revenue and Customs set to receive the largest amounts.

The money has been distributed following a needs-based analysis of what departments must do to prepare for Brexit, and in particular the impact of leaving the EU with no deal, according to the Treasury.

The allocations were made after the Cabinet yesterday approved plans to urge departments to suspend all non-essential government business so that civil servants can concentrate on no-deal planning. Following the Cabinet meeting, defence secretary Gavin Williamson also told MPs that 3,500 army troops were on standby to support departments on any "contingencies".

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The UK could leave the EU  without a deal next March if the House of Commons does not approve the draft agreement prime minister Theresa May has reached on the terms of the UK’s exit. The postponed vote on the plan is now set to take place in mid-January.

The money will not be available until the start of the 2019-20 financial year in April so it will enable departments to  respond to, rather than anticipate, the impact of no deal.

But announcing what would be provided, chancellor Philip Hammond said the spending would support vital preparations including getting new border and customs operations ready, gearing up UK trade policy and taking back control of our waters.

“I’ve worked with departments so they have the resources to prepare as we leave the European Union, including our borders, trade policies and support for businesses. But a responsible government prepares for all contingencies and that is why we’re stepping up no deal planning,” he said.

The five biggest Brexit preparation allocations confirmed today are made to the Home Office (£480m), Defra (£410m), HMRC (£375m), BEIS (£190m) and the Department for International Trade (£128m).

Projects to be funded include the Home Office’s expansion of the Border Force and introduction of the EU Settlement Scheme to offer settled status to EU nationals living in the UK.

Defra’s preparations to ensure uninterrupted trade in fish and fisheries products, chemicals, and agri-food whatever the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, while HMRC is expected to use the cash to will employ over 3,000 additional customer service and compliance staff in operational roles to handle increases in customs activity, as well as introducing new technology at the border. BEIS plans to use the funds for projects including the development of options for a UK global navigation satellite system if the UK is excluded from the EU’s Galileo system.

This means that since the UK voted to leave the EU in 2016, £4.2bn has been made available towards EU exit preparations, the Treasury said.

This consists of £412m for DIT, FCO and DExEU at Autumn Budget 2016 and over £250m across a number of departments in 2017-18, £1.5bn Brexit preparedness funding for 2018/19, allocated at Spring Statement 2018, and the £2bn for 2019/20.

The full list of 2019-20 allocations is below.

Source: Treasury written statement

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