Top department officials tell select committee that preparations for EU departure are going well
Credit: Elliott Brown/CC BY-SA 2.0 – This work has been amended
The leaders of the Department for Transport have assured MPs that projects to deliver seven new IT systems ahead of Brexit are “all on track”.
As part of its ongoing inquiry into the readiness of the UK’s borders for the country’s imminent departure from the EU, The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee this week heard oral evidence from DfT permanent secretary Bernadette Kelly and director general Lucy Chadwick.
Kelly told MPs that, as part of 17 Brexit-related workstreams, the department is currently working on implementing seven new IT systems. This work includes platforms for a new registration system for commercial trailers, a system for administering ECMT road haulage permits, and another platform dedicated to vehicle emissions, as well as various systems related to the UK’s “marine arrangements”.
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“I think they are, broadly… in good shape,” Kelly said. “We have had some challenges in testing our trailer registration scheme. But, even then, now we are starting to see that scheme work.”
Chadwick added that the new system for ECMT permits is already up and running, as is “one of the maritime systems”. The trailer registration system has moved into beta stage, while “all of the others are on track”, she said.
Also giving evidence was Clare Moriarty, permanent secretary of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The Defra chief also expressed confidence about her department’s ability to deliver the necessary technology arrangement’s in time for the UK’s exit from the EU.
“In terms of our no-deal planning, there are six IT systems which we need to have up and running,” she told MPs. “Two of them are functioning, four are in public or private beta.”
