Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 13 September 2017 to Question 8511, on civil service: secondments, which other departments sent staff to Brussels in any round of negotiations with the EU.

The total number of staff will vary from round to round as we deploy the negotiating team best able to work on the issues under negotiation. To do this best we are drawing together expertise from a wide range of departments where there is specific relevant knowledge on the issues to be negotiated.

Over the last five rounds of negotiations the following Government Departments have had members of staff attend the negotiations in Brussels:

• Department for Business, Energy and Industry Strategy,

• Competition and Markets Authority,

• Department for Food and Rural Affairs,

• Department of Health,

• Department for Work and Pensions,

• Foreign and Commonwealth Office,

• Government Legal Service,

• HM Treasury,

• HM Revenue and Customs,

• Home Office,

• Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency,

• Ministry of Justice,

• Northern Ireland Office,

• Department for Exiting the European Union.