Boris Johnson will axe the Brexit department when the UK leaves the EU in January 2020.
The department was set up by Theresa May in 2016 in an attempt to show she was serious about getting Brexit through but three years and three Brexit secretaries later it is being wound up.
A government spokesman said the Department for Exiting the European Union will be “wound up” less than four years after it was opened in July 2016.
DExEU has had three Brexit secretaries in three years - starting with David Davis, who resigned in 2018 in disagreement with Mrs May's plan to leave the EU.
He was followed by the now-Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab , who also resigned four months later over Mrs May's approach.
Mr Barclay took over in November 2018 and was kept on by Mr Johnson after he took over in No 10 last summer.
“DExEU staff have been spoken to today,” the spokesman said. “We are very grateful for all their work and we will help everyone to find new roles.”
It means the future relationship with the EU will be negotiated between other departments, largely expected to involve the Department for International Trade, the Foreign Office and the Cabinet Office.
Staff were told about the closure on Thursday, but the PM's spokesman said they would help them find jobs.
The UK is expected to leave the EU on January 31 next year, after prime minister Boris Johnson secured an 80-seat majority at the general election last week.
The department is due to be wound up on 31 January 2020.
Britain is scheduled to leave the EU on the same day, and will then enter a transition period until December 2020.
