"There are many cases where more information about that negotiating position would support departments in their planning, but [Prime Minister] Theresa May’s preference is to keep these details under wraps until talks begin… Departments’ uncertainty and concern extends beyond that point and into areas of process and planning which, if the Government addressed now, would, in our view, help to smooth the path of Brexit," the Institute for Government said in a report dubbed Whitehall’s preparation for the UK’s exit from the EU.
In order to make the Brexit preparations more efficient, the think tank recommended the government to provide its departments with more information, to ensure that all the institutions were doing sufficient post-Brexit planning, to decide on the details of the negotiations' process and to shape own priorities.
On June 23, the United Kingdom voted in a referendum to leave the European Union. Soon after the referendum, May said that the country would trigger the Article 50 of the EU Lisbon Treaty by the end of March 2017, thus kick-starting withdrawal negotiations. May's government have been repeatedly criticized for the secrecy surrounding the preparations to the start of the Brexit process.
