Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff in his Department who were transferred or seconded to work (a) in other departments or (b) on other departmental briefs on preparations for the UK to leave the EU, have since returned to his Department.

Twelve civil servants from my Department have been seconded or transferred to work (a) in other departments or (b) on other departmental briefs on preparations for the UK to leave the EU. So far, 3 have returned.

EU Exit is an all-of-government operation. The Department for Exiting the European Union is responsible for overseeing negotiations to leave the EU and establishing the future relationship between the UK and EU. The Department for International Trade works to secure UK and global prosperity by promoting and financing international trade and investment, and championing free trade.

Departments continually review workforce plans, reprioritise and assess changing needs, which includes identification and cessation of non-priority work where appropriate. We have accelerated our plans, and at the same time, the Civil Service as a whole is working to ensure that EU Exit Implementation is carried out to high quality without impacting public service delivery across the whole of government.