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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure (a) value for money from his Department's projects and (b) that those projects are completed (i) on time and (ii) within budget.

The department is strongly committed to delivering value for money and, wherever possible, completing projects as expected. To do so we work through the Defra Board, where ministers, senior officials and non-executive directors maintain oversight of the department's work, and through specific Delivery and Investment committees acting on delegated authority from the main board, that provide targeted scrutiny and oversight.