Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 47
47
Accepted
We recommend that the Cabinet Office takes steps to strengthen inter-departmental flows of information on...
Recommendation
We recommend that the Cabinet Office takes steps to strengthen inter-departmental flows of information on EU negotiations with other Departments, to ensure sectoral expertise is efficiently incorporated into the UK negotiating position; that Departments are able to communicate on the state of negotiations in their policy areas to the relevant Select Committees and other interested parties; and so that they can prepare fully for the requirements that implementation of the envisaged agreements with the EU will place on them and their stakeholders. Once agreed it should be set out clearly how they plan to work together across departments and reviewed regularly to ensure that genuine cross-department collaboration and input occurs. (Recommendation, Paragraph 124)
Government response summary AI-generated
The government states it already has a collaborative approach with a robust internal governance structure, regular inter-departmental meetings, and mechanisms for efficient information flow and stakeholder engagement. It affirms that these existing practices ensure sectoral expertise is incorporated and commits to continuing regular updates to Parliament.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted
There is strong inter-departmental working on the negotiations with the EU. The Prime Minister chairs the Cabinet sub-committee on Europe, whose membership (listed here ) consists of relevant Cabinet Ministers, to consider matters related to European affairs. Other Ministers are invited as needed. Central coordination of UK-EU work is led by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, but the policy, negotiations and implementation efforts are shared with multiple government departments. The Minister for the Cabinet Office is supported by the EU Relations Secretariat, which was established in July 2024 to provide central coordination of the Government’s manifesto commitments to reset relations with the EU. This was due to the Cabinet Office having the strong inter-departmental coordination function and strategic overview of processes to support the work of other government departments who are contributing to the reset agenda. Responsibility for communicating the state of negotiations is shared by Ministers across different departments. For instance, the Minister for the Cabinet Office and the Minister for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories have appeared jointly at several select committee hearings, including one to the Foreign Affairs Committee in September 2025 and to the European Affairs Committee in July 2025. Additionally, in March this year, the Minister for Trade appeared before the Business and Trade Committee to discuss the UK-EU trading relationship, and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at DEFRA appeared before the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee in December last year to discuss animal and plant health.
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