The Foreign Affairs Committee is today publishing two letters
from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
(FCDO).
Foreign Secretary and Minister for the Cabinet Office:
UK-EU relations
, the Foreign Secretary, and
, the Minister for the
Cabinet Office, have written jointly to the
Committee on the Government's plans for UK-EU relations, in
response to questions from Committee Chair .
The letter outlines the remit of the new Europe Committee,
chaired by the Prime Minister, which will bring together
Secretaries of State and the Minister for European Union
Relations to consider matters related to European affairs.
The letter states that the “UK-EU reset” will be led by the
Cabinet Office. Fifty members of staff moved from the FCDO to the
Cabinet Office on 6 November. These officials, along with the
existing EU National Security Secretariat and Windsor Framework
teams, form the new European Union Relations Secretariat in the
Cabinet Office.
The letter describes Gibraltar's relationship with the EU as “the
last piece of the EU exit jigsaw”. Gibraltar was not covered by
the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
The letter states that the Government is looking to agree
mobility and goods and customs arrangements that would ensure
people, including the frontier workers who comprise half of
Gibraltar's workforce, can move easily between Spain and
Gibraltar.
Permanent Under-Secretary at the FCDO: evidence session
follow up letter
The Committee has also published today a letter from Sir , the Permanent
Under-Secretary of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development
Office (FCDO).
The letter covers a range of topics arising out of the Foreign
Affairs Committee's session with Sir , on Monday 18 November.
In the letter, the Permanent Under-Secretary provides a breakdown
of the FCDO's budget underspend. He also provides an overview of
statistics relating to the FCDO's diversity targets and gender
pay gap, and an update on the FCDO's move to new premises in
Scotland.
