Inside Number 9: Where every Brexit civil servant came from

Inside Number 9: Where every Brexit civil servant came from

The Department for Exiting the EU was established seven months ago and officials have been recruiting from across Whitehall to staff up. Here we exclusively reveal where every civil servant used to work in government before joining the team at Number 9 Downing Street.

The information, released after a Freedom of Information request by BrexitCentral, reveals recruitment came from a wide range of sources but that almost 20 per cent of the department is staffed by former Cabinet Office employees, (62) and 9 per cent from the Foreign Office (31).

The figures from January show that staff from the department for Business, Energy and Industrial strategy contributed the third largest group, making up 8.5% of the new departmental team with 29 employees.

By 1st January, 304 staff in total had moved to DExEU or were there on secondment from other government departments, but the number of workers recruited from outside the civil service is yet unknown.

The Scotland Office, Welsh government and Northern Ireland contributed less than 5 employees each to the new department – so few that officials refused to release exact numbers. The remaining departments contributed the following numbers:

HM Treasury 18
Ministry of Justice 18
Department for Education 12
HM Revenue & Customs 11
Department for Communities and Local Government 10
Department for Work and Pensions 10
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs 9
Department for Transport 8
Department of Health 8
Department for Culture, Media & Sport 5

The following departments contributed less than five officials:

Attorney General’s Office
Competition and Markets Authority
Civil Service Learning
Department for International Development
Government Legal Department
HM Courts & Tribunals Service
Ministry of Defence
Northern Ireland Office
Scotland Office
Office for National Statistics
UK Export Finance
Valuation Office Agency
Vehicle and Operator Services Agency
Welsh Government

The Trade Department and the Foreign Office are facing a reduction in their budgets of 6 per cent, which has prompted anger towards the Treasury, although the Brexit Department is exempt from the cuts. Brexit ministers have since demanded Chancellor Philip Hammond release more money to allow them to recruit hundreds of extra staff as the Brexit negotiations begin.