UK regulators struggle to recruit staff to deliver post-Brexit functions

UK regulators struggle to recruit staff to deliver post-Brexit functions

Three key UK regulators are struggling to recruit and train enough staff to implement the government’s promise to deliver Brexit benefits, a report by the spending watchdog has found.

The National Audit Office found that the shortages had left the Competition and Markets Authority, the Health and Safety Executive and the Food Standards Agency facing significant challenges in standing up bespoke, post-Brexit regulatory regimes.

Lawyers, veterinarians and toxicologists were among the professions the three bodies were struggling to recruit as they tried to build capacity as a result of leaving the EU’s regulatory umbrella.

The NAO’s findings come as Boris Johnson’s government prepares to introduce a “Brexit freedoms bill” in the months ahead to capitalise on what ministers have promised would be the benefits of being outside the EU’s regulatory and legal framework.

At the CMA, which will manage the post-Brexit subsidy control regime, the vacancy rate for legal services roles was 25 per cent; at the HSE, which handles chemicals regulation, a quarter of all staff time in that division had been spent on training, the report said.

Gareth Davies, head of the NAO, said Brexit had exerted a “major impact” on many UK regulators, including creating problems recruiting the right specialists. He urged