Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, (a) how much his Department cost to set up, (b) how many staff his Department employs and (c) what the estimated cost of running the Department is for the next three years.

a) Costs of setting up dept

The total expenditure of the Department for Exiting the European Union will be set out in the Annual Report and Accounts at the end of the financial year as is standard practice.

b) Number of staff

The Department for Exiting the European Union now has over 300 staff, plus the expertise of over 120 officials in Brussels from the UK Permanent Representation to the EU, and is growing fast.

c) Cost of running dept for next three years

The Autumn Statement announced additional funding of up to £51m in 2016-17 and up to £94m per year from 2017-18 until the UK’s exit is complete. The full budget for the department will be presented to Parliament at the Supplementary Estimate as is standard practice.