Boris Johnson will not axe the foreign aid department as he scales back proposed Whitehall shake-up 

The foreign aid department will escape the axe as Boris Johnson scales back his proposed Whitehall shake-up, the Mail can reveal.

Plans for a radical overhaul that would have seen a raft of departments created, merged or scrapped have been curtailed.

Instead the Prime Minister will largely concentrate on improving performance in the existing ministries.

The Department for International Development is expected to be given a reprieve and will not now be merged with the Foreign Office. The suggested creation of a borders and immigration ministry separate from the Home Office is also unlikely to happen.

A pared down re-organisation of departments will take place next month as Mr Johnson carries out his much-awaited Cabinet reshuffle.

Ministers facing the threat of losing their jobs include Andrea Leadsom. The Business Secretary is a Brexit stalwart, but was largely kept away from the national campaign ahead of the general election.

Government departments will be told to overhaul how they communicate what they are doing, as part of Mr Johnson’s plans. The creation of a borders and immigration ministry separate from the Home Office is also unlikely to happen

Among those in line for promotion are Oliver Dowden and Rishi Sunak. Together with Robert Jenrick – who was appointed to the Cabinet as Housing Secretary when Mr Johnson became prime minister in July. They are seen as the next generation who could be nurtured into becoming Cabinet big beasts. It is understood that Sajid Javid will keep his job as Chancellor.

As part of Mr Johnson’s drive to improve Whitehall performance, government departments will be told to overhaul how they communicate what they are doing. Government press officers will be instructed to use the internet to find new ways to get their messages across to the public.

Oliver Dowden and Rishi Sunak (pictured from left) are in line for a promotion. Meanwhile ministers facing the threat of losing their jobs include Andrea Leadsom

Tory strategists believe they need to make in-roads into the overwhelming proportion of young people who vote Labour in order to stay in power at the next election.

Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s senior adviser, last week made a public appeal for ‘super-talented weirdos’ to apply to work in Downing Street and the rest of Whitehall.

Mr Johnson’s senior advisor Dominic Cummings (pictured on January 6) has revealed he wants official who include ‘true wild cards, artists, people who never went to university and [those who] fought their way out of an appalling hell-hole’

Writing on his personal blog, Mr Cummings revealed he wants to bring in special advisers and officials who include ‘true wild cards, artists, people who never went to university and [those who] fought their way out of an appalling hell-hole’. Mr Cummings said he believed ‘there are many brilliant people in the civil service and politics’, but warned there are ‘some profound problems at the core of how the British state makes decisions’.

‘We want to hire an unusual set of people with different skills and backgrounds to work in Downing Street with the best officials,’ he said.

Mr Johnson is under pressure to improve how Britain spends foreign aid after he pledged at the election to keep David Cameron’s commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on overseas development.

The UK’s foreign aid budget rose £493million in 2018 to reach £14.6billion for the first time, the Daily Mail revealed last week. Spending in China and India increased to £151million, even though both are rich enough to mount missions to the Moon.

Leading charities had warned that a suggested plan to fold Dfid into the Foreign Office would be counter-productive as it could lead to less money going to the world’s poorest people. The National Audit Office had previously said that a lack of transparency in government departments outside of Dfid meant uncertainty that UK aid was being used effectively.  

Trade talks with Trump set to force EU’s hand 

Boris Johnson will pile pressure on the EU to complete a quick trade deal with Britain by opening parallel talks with America straight after Brexit.

Downing Street says US trade talks are likely to begin as soon as Britain is out of the EU at the end of this month.

Shake on it: Boris Johnson showing his bond with Mr Trump last September

The EU Commission suggested yesterday it will not be ready to start talking until weeks later, but ministers hope parallel negotiations with Donald Trump will force Brussels to complete a deal by the end of this year. The Prime Minister will use his first meeting with new European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen tomorrow to rule out any further Brexit delay.

US Ambassador Woody Johnson said of President Trump: ‘A US-UK free trade deal is at the top of his list.’

No 10 also said Mr Johnson is considering an event to mark Britain’s EU exit at 11pm on January 31 – possibly special chimes from Big Ben.