Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to employ additional staff in response to demands placed on his Department by the EU exit process.

Over 80% of Defra’s agenda is affected by the UK’s departure from the European Union. As a result, many roles across the Defra group are supporting EU exit-related work, either directly or indirectly. As the Cabinet Secretary set out in July, we have recruited over 400 additional staff to support our comprehensive programme focused on EU exit and we continue to keep our plans under review.