Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many staff in his Department are working on matters related to (a) European policy, (b) the future of Europe, (c) reform of the EU, (d) the renegotiation of the UK's relationship with the EU, (e) the EU referendum and (f) the consequences of the EU referendum; how many full-time equivalent staff are working on such matters; what the (i) staff and (ii) other cost of such work is; what proportion of that work is undertaken by such staff on (A) communications, (B) strategy and (C) policy; whether his Department has established any specific unit or units to deal with those matters; to whom such (1) staff and (2) units report; whether his Department has issued guidelines to staff on those matters; and if he will make a statement.

The Government is fighting hard to fix the aspects of our EU membership that cause so much frustration in Britain - so we get a better deal for Britain and secure our future. Departments are appropriately resourced to support the Government's priorities in Europe, including the renegotiation and referendum.