John Hayes

The Commission is unable to give the exact proportion of procured food that is sourced in the UK due to the size and volume of goods procured. However, when contracts are put out to tender, they stipulate that preference will be given to bidders with robust environmental and local sourcing policies, and those with strong links to British farming organisations such as the English Farming and Food Partnership, and the Red Tractor scheme.

The vast majority of fresh products, such as meat, poultry, dairy, eggs, bread, ice cream, and most fruit and vegetables when in season are sourced from within the UK. This includes a commitment to ensure that menus showcase seasonal variation and that in-season produce be highlighted to customers, as well as championing local producers.

The number of heat pumps installed on the Parliamentary estate over the past three years is as follows:

2022: 10 heat pumps
2023: 41 heat pumps
2024: 18 heat pumps

Most of these heat pumps have been configured to provide cooling for comms rooms. A comms room (short for communications room) is a dedicated space within a building that houses critical networking and telecommunications equipment. Its primary purpose is to manage data exchange, connectivity, and communication infrastructure for an organisation. In Parliament we call these rooms Secondary Distribution Points (SDPs). Comms rooms are a common feature in most buildings with a reasonable level of IT infrastructure. Air conditioning (provided by a heat pump system) is often used to maintain stable temperatures to prevent overheating and malfunction of the IT equipment.

Where heat pumps are proposed on the Parliamentary estate the system design is interrogated to ensure that the noise generated is not excessive and suitable for the context in which it is located.

Like all other equipment, system components and machines on the estate, heat pumps consume electricity. The design of any proposed heat pump on the estate will be interrogated to confirm that the electrical supply proposed for the heat pump is suitable and can be met by the estate’s electrical infrastructure.

The number of heat pumps installed on the Parliamentary estate over the past three years is as follows:

2022: 10 heat pumps
2023: 41 heat pumps
2024: 18 heat pumps

Most of these heat pumps have been configured to provide cooling for comms rooms. A comms room (short for communications room) is a dedicated space within a building that houses critical networking and telecommunications equipment. Its primary purpose is to manage data exchange, connectivity, and communication infrastructure for an organisation. In Parliament we call these rooms Secondary Distribution Points (SDPs). Comms rooms are a common feature in most buildings with a reasonable level of IT infrastructure. Air conditioning (provided by a heat pump system) is often used to maintain stable temperatures to prevent overheating and malfunction of the IT equipment.

Where heat pumps are proposed on the Parliamentary estate the system design is interrogated to ensure that the noise generated is not excessive and suitable for the context in which it is located.

Like all other equipment, system components and machines on the estate, heat pumps consume electricity. The design of any proposed heat pump on the estate will be interrogated to confirm that the electrical supply proposed for the heat pump is suitable and can be met by the estate’s electrical infrastructure.

The Office for Equality and Opportunity does not have its own definition of gender identity.

All staff at the Equality and Human Rights Commission are working to advance equality through their statutory remit. No staff are specifically employed in full-time equivalent diversity, equality and inclusion roles.

This Government is committed to working with the police and other partners to address the blight of wildlife crime in Lincolnshire and across the country.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has fourteen Areas (regional teams) across England and Wales – the CPS East Midlands Area serves the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, and Nottinghamshire including the cities of Nottingham, Derby, and Leicester, and the county of Rutland.

More broadly, we have announced that the CPS will receive an additional £49m to support victims of crime and transform the services they provide to the public.

We are introducing tougher measures to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, stronger neighbourhood policing, and robust laws to prevent farm theft and fly-tippers.

We are recruiting 13,000 more neighbourhood police and police community support officers across England and Wales.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council Wildlife and Rural Crime Strategy 2022-2025 provides a framework through which policing, and its partners, can work together to tackle the most prevalent threats and emerging issues which predominantly affect rural communities.

CPS prosecutors also work closely with local police officers and officers from the National Wildlife Crime Unit to tackle all types of rural crime.

The CPS also provides legal guidance on wildlife, rural, and heritage crime, which is available to all its prosecutors to assist them in dealing with these cases. It also provides specialist training to ensure that its prosecutors have the expert knowledge needed to prosecute these crimes.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.

The Government Legal Department is making limited use of generative AI (“Gen AI”) powered by large language models. Since December 2024, GLD has been running a trial of Microsoft’s M365 Copilot, which now has 100 participants and will shortly increase to 150. GLD’s AI Programme is considering where AI may be used and provide tangible benefits within specific work areas and processes, including proposed testing of online legal research tools with Gen AI-based capabilities.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is exploring new and existing technologies, including AI, to enhance efficiency. AI has the potential to support the CPS day-to-day in the delivery of justice. I am keen to explore the opportunities for efficiency that this new technology can bring, being mindful of ethical considerations.

A pilot of Microsoft Copilot concluded in August 2024, with approximately over 400 staff across the organisation given access to Copilot to assist them in everyday tasks such as summarising emails, creating PowerPoint presentations, and analysing excel data.

The scheme established that that Copilot reduced the amount of time it took staff to complete administrative and day-to-day tasks and has the capacity to save thousands of hours across the organisation.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.

During the past 12 months, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has been trialling the use of Technology Assisted Review (TAR), utilising AI, on a live criminal case. The trial demonstrated that TAR could help meet legal disclosure obligations more efficiently.

The trial adhered to relevant disclosure guidelines and officials are still making the decisions on what is in fact relevant and what is disclosed.

Following the success of the trial, the SFO is planning to use TAR in more SFO cases in the future.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country

Ministers have not used AI in the Department in their roles as Law Officers.

A small number of officials within the Department have been piloting the use of a Microsoft 365 application ‘CoPilot’ which can be used to summarise content and meetings, assisting with drafting content and interrogating information. ChatGPT has also previously been used in this manner.

The Race To The Top (RTTT) grade 6/7 Network was a collaborative volunteer network which no longer exists. The RTTT does not hold a budget, but a department can choose to provide support where there is a business case to do so. We are not aware of any such financial support. We are not aware of any cost to the public purse of the Race To The Top Grade 6/7 Network since 2020. We do not hold any records prior to this date. The RTTT network was created in 2018.

The Civil Service LGBT+ staff network is a volunteer collaborative group of Civil Service staff. The LGBT+ network does not hold a budget, but a department can choose to provide support where there is a business case to do so. We are not aware of any such financial support. There has been no cost to the public purse of the LGBT+ network since 2020. We do not hold any records prior to this date. The LGBT+ network was created in 2003.

A:gender was founded in 2003. As a staff network, it is a volunteer collaborative group of Civil Service staff. We do not hold final central records for any funding prior to 2020. Based on the information the Cabinet Office holds, funding was provided from 2020-2021 to 2023-2024. No funding was provided in 2024-25.

Data from the Equality, Diversity and Expenditure (EDI) Review will be published in due course. This will include the overall spend from 2020 onwards for cross CS EDI networks, which will incorporate any a:gender expenditure.

The Civil Service Race Forum (CSRF) is a volunteer collaborative group of Civil Service ethnic minority staff. The CSRF does not hold a budget, but a department can choose to provide support where there is a business case to do so. We are not aware of any such financial support since 2020. We do not hold any records prior to this date. The CSRF was created in 2016.

The Government has a robust set of security policies in place to oversee how information is handled, within our buildings, on our IT, and by our staff.

We keep these policies under constant review to ensure they are applicable to new technologies.

The Government's Generative AI framework outlines that only corporately assured Generative AI tools should be used to process HMG information. Everyone who works in government has a duty of confidentiality and a responsibility to safeguard any government information or data that they process, access or share, and all government departments are required to meet a range of mandatory security standards.

The Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies (“CICs”) (“the Regulator”) plays a crucial role in maintaining the CIC model as an effective form of social enterprise. By exploiting the considerable overlap between the Regulator and Companies House, and the close working relationship that already exists between the two, the Government intends to fully integrate the Regulator’s functions into Companies House as part of wider plans to streamline the UK’s regulatory environment. As the Regulator is entirely funded by fees, there will be no saving to the public purse.

Appointments to the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council were made through direct ministerial appointment by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Council’s membership includes a diverse group of the UK’s top business leaders, policy experts and trade union leaders. Members have been appointed in a personal capacity and the Council will help to ensure our Industrial Strategy is informed by a broad and high-quality evidence base, and a diverse range of perspectives.

The Industrial Strategy Advisory Council was launched on 17 December 2024 with their first official meeting. They met in person for a second time on 13 February. In addition the Council has held virtual check in meetings and a number of workstream meetings in smaller groups.

The Employment Rights Bill is the first phase of delivering our plan to Make Work Pay, supporting employers, workers, and unions to get Britain moving forward.

Establishing the Fair Work Agency will create a strong, recognisable single brand so individuals know where to go for help and lead to a more effective use of resources

We are committed to ensuring that the Fair Work Agency is established on a sound financial footing and operates effectively in fulfilling its mandate. We will set out details about the approach we will take to implementation and annual costs in due course.

The department does not procure any food directly. All accommodation, property, and facilities management services - including catering outlets - are provided to, and managed on behalf of, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) by the Government Property Agency (GPA).