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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many consultations his Department (a) initiated and (b) completed in the last Parliament between (i) 13 February 2020 and 6 September 2022, (ii) 6 September 2022 and 25 October 2022, (iii) 25 October 2022 and 13 November 2023 and (iv) 13 November 2023 and 4 July 2024.

All Defra consultations are published through the Citizen Space digital consultation platform and are available in the public domain Defra - Citizen Space. The Defra Citizen Space account also hosts consultations for several of Defra’s Arm’s Length Bodies. Other engagement activities such as Call’s for Evidence are also hosted on this platform.

The table below covers volumes for Defra’s public consultations only. Where completed volumes don’t align with initiated, this is as a result of the consultation period extending across date ranges.

Number of Defra Consultations initiated and completed by date range: