The Government’s plans for post-Brexit trade have been hindered by delays in its Single Trade Window (STW) digital programme, according to a new report from the National Audit Office (NAO).
The broad thrust of the report, The UK border: Implementing an effective trade border, is that it still not clear when new import controls will be fully in place, with traders facing increasing additional costs and administrative burdens.
Government is currently operating a partial import control regime after delaying the implementation of full controls five times since the end of the EU exit transition period on 31 December 2020.
The NAO says that improving the functioning of the border is dependent on the successful delivery of the STW digital programme by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). In May 2023 a contract worth up to £150 million was awarded to Deloitte, working with IBM, as technical delivery partner, but the programme fell behind its original schedule from a February 2023 business case and has since been replanned.
The programme’s latest March 2024 business case and delivery roadmap do not commit to milestones for the delivery of future strategic releases but they specify the functionality that will be delivered incrementally by 2027.
Over-optimism and complexity
The report identifies challenges to the delivery of the STW, including overly optimistic timescales and an underestimation of the programme’s complexity. Among the points it highlights are a need for common data standards across different department and external systems, ensuring that contract management and funding arrangements remain appropriate for a project of the scale, and an integration of STW with a plethora of legacy systems.
The latter point reflects the plan to create a new user interface to identify a trader then collect and share data with appropriate systems. This will require a data translation layer and the management of a wide range of interpendencies with other programmes, such as the Single Customs Platform.
HMRC has acknowledged the challenges facing the STW programme and said it considers delivery to be back on track.
Head of the NAO Gareth Davies said: “The UK leaving the EU created a large scale change in arrangements for the movement of goods across the border. However, more than three years after the end of the transition period, it is still not clear when full controls will be in place.
“The border strategy has ambitious plans to use technology and data to facilitate trade while managing risks. To achieve its objectives, government requires strong delivery and accountability – including a more realistic approach to digital transformation – together with effective monitoring to enable future improvements.”
