Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has implemented a training programme to provide civil servants with skills to support its transition to net zero.

A seven-hour blended Carbon and Climate Change training package was made available to Environment Agency (EA) staff in 2021. The EA is the largest of Defra's arm's length bodies and represents over a third of Defra group staff. Following evaluation of this training, Defra plans to implement the same training package for all Defra group staff this year.

In addition, the new Government Curriculum will include modules on the implications of Net Zero, climate change and wider environmental issues for government. In the first phase, the Government Skills & Curriculum Unit (GSCU) is working with other Departments (including BEIS, Defra and FCDO) to create an awareness level training resource for all civil servants. This will be piloted from April 2022. In the next phases, GSCU will look at tailored provision for specific Functions and Professions, and will signpost the training and other resources on Net Zero which are already being provided internally at practitioner and expert levels by Government Departments.