Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what guidance his Department provided to other Government departments on what information they should retain or redact in the impact assessments they were providing on the UK leaving the EU; and if he will make a statement.

Our analysis is not, nor has it ever been, a series of sectoral impact assessments examining the quantitative impact of Brexit.

In order to meet the motion of 1st November, we have taken time to bring together the sectoral analyses in a way that is accessible and informative to the Committee.

We have provided a vast amount of factual information to help the Committees in their scrutiny whilst respecting our overriding duty to the national interest.

Ministers have a specific responsibility, which Parliament has endorsed in a motion in December 2016, not to release information that would undermine our negotiating position. As such, the sectoral reports do not contain material that we judge would undermine the UK’s hand in the negotiations, or material that is commercially or market sensitive.