Brexit planning might cost UK government £65m a year and mean hiring 500 new civil servants

The planning of the UK exiting the European Union (EU) might cost the Government £65m ($84.6m) a year. It could also mean hiring at least 500 new civil servants, according to a report by The Institute for Government, an independent charity which works to increase government effectiveness.

In a report titled, 'Planning for Brexit: silence is not a strategy', the charity said both time and energy was being wasted amid political quarrel and turf wars. It added that while the British central administration had developed the machinery to respond to Brexit, politicians did not know what to do with it. It clarified that even if they knew, they were not saying it.

This report, which evaluates the progress made by the Government towards planning for Brexit, has been authored by Dr Hannah White and Jill Rutter. While both of them are programme directors, Dr White leads the Institute's work on Parliament and the relationship between scrutiny and effective government, and Brexit. Rutter on the other hand, directs the Institute's work on better policy making.

Both of them argued that while Whitehall had responded quickly to Brexit, there was lack of information about how the Government would reach a negotiating position. It called for the Government to act quickly to reach this position. They also argued for clear processes that would enable engaging affected sectors and other levels of the government.

This report follows the UK government's Brexit Department being hit with £250,000 legal advice bill in September. Europe minister David Jones had then said that the ministry was assessing the "overall requirement" for legal advice and related funding over the next year.

"Silence is not a strategy. The current situation – where we are left to interpret personal musings of individual ministers – is frustrating those looking for an early exit, perplexing those with whom we have to negotiate and unsettling those looking to do business in the UK. The Prime Minister has sworn she will not give a running commentary on negotiations, but she needs rapidly to clarify how and when the Government intends to go about making decisions on Brexit," Dr White said in the report.

Rutter added, "Ministers will be faced with a series of difficult choices over the shape of Brexit. These are too important to be left to normal interdepartmental wrangling and horse-trading."