Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Staff

(asked on 12th May 2021) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of officials employed by his Department receive remuneration as a result of working for an organisation or company outside of government.


Answered by
Victoria Prentis Portrait
Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
This question was answered on 21st May 2021

On 23 April, the Cabinet Secretary wrote to the Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the management of outside interests in the Civil Service.

The Committee published this letter on 26 April. It can be found here: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/5623/documents/55584/default/

The Cabinet Secretary’s letter sets out a series of steps to improve processes. This programme of work will also take account of any recommendations that emerge from Nigel Boardman’s review.

The Civil Service Management Code sets out, at paragraph 4.3.4, the requirement that civil servants must seek permission before accepting any outside employment which might affect their work either directly or indirectly. The applicable principles are those set out in the Business Appointment Rules. The Civil Service Management Code is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-servants-terms-and-conditions.

Where the civil servant is a member of the departmental board, any outside employment as well as other relevant interests will be published as part of the Annual Report and Accounts or other transparency publication.

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