The Department for Exiting the European Union is to be wound up once the UK leaves the bloc at the end of January.

A government spokesperson said staff in the department, created by Theresa May following the referendum result in 2016, had been informed. “We are very grateful for all their work and we will help everyone to find new roles,” the spokesperson said.

The news comes amid reports of the government’s intention to change the language used to describe the UK’s exit from the EU in order to reinforce the idea that “Brexit is done”.

According to the Huffington Post, the prime minister has ordered officials to drop the term “Brexit” once the withdrawal agreement is passed and the UK leaves the EU on 31 January as planned. The website reports that No 10’s Brexit press team will be renamed after that, with “Europe and economy” one new name being floated by officials.

Asked about the reports, a government spokesperson said: “I think the PM is very clear that on 31 January we will have got Brexit done and then the focus will be on the future relationship with the European Union.” Asked if the prime minister’s spokespeople would use the word after that point, one said: “I think it’s a word that will be with us for a long time to come.”

MPs are expected to vote on Boris Johnson’s withdrawal agreement bill on Friday, with the Conservative party’s 80-seat majority allowing for its swift passage through parliament. The bill could pass through the Commons by 10 January and through the Lords one or two weeks later.

The UK will then enter the so-called implementation period, during which it will be closely aligned to EU rules, until 31 December 2020. Johnson has insisted that he can secure a trade deal by then, despite criticism that 11 months is an unprecedentedly short time for such a complex negotiation.

The Department for Exiting the European Union, also known as DExEU, was established in July 2016 to “oversee negotiations to leave the EU and establish the future relationship between the UK and EU”.

The department was formed by combining staff from the Cabinet Office’s Europe unit, the Europe directorate of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the UK’s permanent representation to the EU.

DExEU has been headed by three Brexit secretaries: David Davis; Dominic Raab, now the foreign secretary; and most recently by Stephen Barclay.