Britain's spending watchdog today became the second influential body to say it will investigate the new Government’s cash spree on no-deal preparations.
The National Audit Office will examine what projects ministers spend the money on and the “quality of the information” that Whitehall has on the expenditure.
The Standard revealed yesterday that Parliament’s spending watchdog, the Commons Public Accounts Committee, is to probe the Government’s “throwing” of hundreds of millions of pounds at no-deal schemes over the next three months.
The MPs will grill ministers and senior civil servants over the expenditure, including on hundreds more border officials and better IT systems, before the planned departure from the EU by October 31.
However, the NAO, which has far greater resources, will carry out more detailed investigations into no-deal, and other Brexit, spending.
“Our work on EU exit to date has examined the state of preparations and expenditure across a number of areas of government,” it said in a statement.
“This report will review expenditure across government departments in the period up to October 2019.”
The Treasury had already allocated by June more than £4 billion to departments to fund preparations for the UK’s exit from the EU, including for no deal, in the period 2016-17 to 2019-20, with at least £2 billion more made available today. Departments have also allocated other resources out of existing budgets. But serious doubts over the Government’s no-deal plans were raised last year after it emerged that the Department for Transport had agreed a £14 million emergency ferry contract with a company, Seaborne Freight, which had no ships.
The DfT was then forced to agree a £33 million settlement with Eurotunnel after the company was unable to bid for three contracts worth more than £100 million in total which were handed out to three ferry or freight firms.
The Department of Health has organised an airbridge to fly in medicines and medical devices with short lifespans if there is chaos at Dover or Calais.
Ministers are confident there will be continuity of supply. But Health Secretary Matt Hancock previously stopped short in Cabinet in guaranteeing that no one might die as a result of medicine shortages over possible no-deal disruption. Theresa May asked the EU for a delay to Brexit beyond the spring after being warned of the risks of a no-deal.
