Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials in his Department have been seconded away from their normal duties to work on the UK's withdrawal from the EU; and what effect that secondment of staff has had on the effectiveness of his Department.
Since the Referendum, 65 FCO staff have been transferred to work in other government departments to support EU Exit preparations. The FCO continues to keep its EU Exit staffing levels under constant review to ensure that they are appropriate to deliver the Government's objectives. The Civil Service as a whole is working to ensure that EU Exit implementation is carried out to a high quality without impacting public service delivery.