Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civil servants have been recruited so far to his Department to work on matters relating to the UK leaving the EU; and how many more civil servants his Department plans to recruit for such work.

Preparing for the UK's Exit from the EU is cross Government effort. The Department for Exiting the European Union is doing detailed work with Departments to prepare for the upcoming negotiations by understanding the risks and opportunities of leaving the EU and coordinating planning.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has a small central team who have been appointed to deal exclusively with Defence issues relating to the UK's decision to leave the EU. This team draws on a range of colleagues from across the MOD who support EU exit related work, in addition to their normal duties.

Given the interactions between EU exit work and the MOD's other priorities, it would not be possible to give an accurate estimate.