Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what the level of legal expertise on state aid and competition law is in his Department .

At present the Government Legal Department (GLD) provides around 40 lawyers in its Division advising the Department for Exiting the European Union. They have a wide variety of experience gained across government, regulators and in the private sector including in the areas of state aid and competition law. As part of the GLD, they can also draw on the expertise of barristers and solicitors working in various government departments and public bodies including the lawyers at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy who are the general lead for government on these topics.