UNITED KINGDOM
The UK Public Service can expect major upheavals after the country leaves the European Union (Brexit) next year, officials say.
This comes after the biggest changes in decades, with the creation of two new Ministries — the Department for Exiting the EU (Dexeu) and the Department for International Trade (DIT) — which involved the recruitment of more than 9,000 new staff.
However, numerous new challenges lie in wait after Brexit, among them how to manage immigration and border policy and who is best to negotiate a trade pact with the EU.
Head of the FDA trade union, which represents senior PS employees, David Penman said a lot depended on the type of exit deal that was negotiated.
The starting point for the next revamp is what happens to Dexeu, the 650-strong Ministry set up in July 2016 after the EU referendum under Secretary for Brexit, David Davis.
The Department is expected to be disbanded at some point after the March 2019 departure, with its personnel and resources distributed around other Departments.
Then come the detailed negotiations between Britain and the EU about a new trade agreement.
Some top officials at DIT believe their Department should take the lead.
However, Sir Simon Fraser (pictured), a former official who served as Permanent Secretary at both the Foreign Office and the Department for Business, said the trade talks would be a huge undertaking covering dozens of industries, and should be directed from the Cabinet Office, close to the Prime Minister.
“The trade negotiations with the EU are going to be long and complex and the Cabinet Office will have to lead a comprehensive cross-Whitehall exercise,” Sir Simon said.
Other factors expected to propel the Public Service revamp include arrangements at the UK border for trade in goods after Brexit, and immigration.
None of these expected Whitehall changes will be introduced easily, but Ministers are beginning to grasp just how big a transformation of the Public Service will be necessary after Brexit.
London, 5 July 2018
