Britain’s Prime Minister, Theresa May, has said she will take control of Brexit talks as she sliced part of the Brexit department’s remit and passed it to Downing Street officials.
In a statement published on the last day before Parliament’s summer break, Ms May said responsibility for negotiating Britain’s exit from the EU would pass from the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) to Downing Street’s Europe Unit, giving her greater control of the process.
It will also beef up the role of her main Brexit adviser, Olly Robbins, who has assumed increasing responsibility in recent months.
She said: “It is essential that in navigating the UK’s exit from the European Union, the Government is organised in the most effective way. To that end, I am making some changes to the division of functions between the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) and the Cabinet Office.
“DExEU will continue to lead on all of the Government’s preparations for Brexit: domestic preparations in both a deal and a no deal scenario, all of the necessary legislation, and preparations for the negotiations to implement the detail of the Future Framework. To support this, DExEU will recruit some new staff, and a number of Cabinet Office officials coordinating work on preparedness will move to DExEU while maintaining close ties with both departments.
While Dominic Raab, the new Brexit secretary, will continue to be lead negotiations with Brussels, Ms May said that, from now on, Downing Street would take main responsibility “for the preparation and conduct of the negotiations”.
She said: “I will lead the negotiations with the European Union, with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union deputising on my behalf. Both of us will be supported by the Cabinet Office Europe Unit and with this in mind the Europe Unit will have overall responsibility for the preparation and conduct of the negotiations, drawing upon support from DExEU and other departments as required. A number of staff will transfer from DExEU to the Cabinet Office to deliver that.
Ms May said the total number of staff at DExEU would not be reduced.
