Recent events have shown up the limitations in government’s forward planning capability when put into practice. Ministers specifically limited the amount of contingency planning the civil service was expected to carry out ahead of the EU Exit referendum in 2016.27 While the Cabinet Office felt that was a reasonable position for ministers to take, it admitted that this decision had led to a delay on negotiating positions and preparations as government had to take time after the referendum to f...

Recent events have shown up the limitations in government’s forward planning capability when put into practice. Ministers specifically limited the amount of contingency planning the civil service was expected to carry out ahead of the EU Exit referendum in 2016.27 While the Cabinet Office felt that was a reasonable position for ministers to take, it admitted that this decision had led to a delay on negotiating positions and preparations as government had to take time after the referendum to formulate policy and determine what type of agreement they wanted to have with the EU, at time when the speed of the response was critical.28 The Cabinet Type: conclusion | Number: 11 | Response status: not_addressed Government response: 5.1 The government agrees with this recommendation. Recommendation implemented 5.2 The government regularly conducts scenario-based exercises to ensure robust plans and appropriate capabilities are in place to respond to events, mitigate impacts and ensure the con