Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many staff of her Department have been seconded to other departments to work on the Government's response to the covid-19 pandemic.

The response to COVID-19 is a key priority for the Department for International Trade (DIT). Our current estimate is that approximately 75% of our people are working full time or part time on it. This includes our overseas workforce who are supporting the FCO-led crisis response at post.

In the UK DIT has deployed 28 people to 4 other departments for COVID-19 related activity since 4 March 2020, of which 4 people have now returned.