Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how much his Department has spent on (a) consultancy, (b) legal and (c) accountancy fees since it was created.

a) The Department for Exiting the European Union has used the services of a number of consultancy firms to support departmental set-up and planning. The cost to the public purse on each occasion was either nil, a nominal fee or at the same rate as a civil service salary.

b) The Department has sought legal advice from the Government Legal Department and external organisations. We will not be providing a running commentary but costs associated with the ongoing Article 50 litigation will be published in due course.

c) The Department has not incurred any accountancy fees to date.