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Written question asked by Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party) on Wednesday, 28 November 2018, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 3 December 2018 (named day). A holding answer was provided on Monday, 3 December 2018. A substantive answer was provided by George Hollingbery (Conservative) on Tuesday, 4 December 2018 on behalf of the Department for International Trade.

Department for International Trade: Staff

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many Departmental staff are working on trade policy; and what estimate he has made of the number of Departmental staff that will work on new international trade deals in 2019-20.

Answer

The Department for International Trade was created in July 2016.

Since the Department was created its Trade Policy Group has grown to around 470 people at the end of October 2018, bringing together trade policy, country specialists and experts on trade policy issues. A number of DIT staff in offshore posts are also undertaking work on market access trade policy issues.

The precise number of staff working on new free trade deals in 2019/2020 is yet to be decided.

Typically a trade negotiation will involve teams of differing sizes, depending on their complexity and would be staffed by the Department for International Trade (DIT) with the involvement of expertise from other Departments.

Other DIT staff at HQ and in overseas posts will also be involved in supporting the negotiators and for instance, handling relations with Parliament and external stakeholders.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
196713
Session
2017-19
Subjects
Staff Policy Trade Trade agreements Department for International Trade
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk