Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many non-disclosure agreements his Department has signed with (a) companies and (b) trade associations advising the Government on preparations for contingency planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Government departments make use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) when structuring their engagements on preparations for leaving the EU, which is a crucial component of planning. It is for departments to determine the manner in which engagement with stakeholders takes place.
Given the sensitive nature of some discussions, there may be limited circumstances in which departments have used NDAs to enable those conversations, thereby reaching more stakeholders than would otherwise be the case.
The department has put a limited number of NDAs in place in the course of its work. The use of NDAs is limited to standard contractual arrangements with those providing services to support our work and are necessary to protect commercial considerations.
According to central records, the department has seven current NDAs covering standard contractual arrangements with providers for activity including media monitoring, consultancy and research.