Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to Annex A of the Secretary of State's letter of 30 October 2017 to the Chair of the Lords Sub-Committee on EU External Affairs, for what reason his Department has not included the charity sector in its list of sectors to help structure analytical work on EU exit.

As part of our work preparing to make a success of our departure from the European Union we are carrying out a full suite of analysis as you would expect a responsible Government to do. This means looking at 58 sectors as well as cross-cutting regulatory, economic and social issues to help inform our negotiation positions.

Charities cover a wide range of issues and sectors, as such, they do not necessarily all face the same issues. Specific charities will however share many characteristics that affect particular sectors, which are included in the list. For example Charities relating to medical research will be covered by medical services and pharmaceuticals sectors.

Taking a cross-Whitehall approach to engagement we have been working closely with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport to ensure that we speak to stakeholders who represent a cross-section of groups. We continue to hold engagements with a range of charitable organisations at both ministerial and official level.

There are many breakdowns and names of sectors used by different organisations. It is entirely to be expected that our list will not map directly onto every other such list. Regardless, this list is not the only way we are looking at sectors, and we draw on the full range of information available in our assessments and analysis of cross-cutting issues.