Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
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 staff were promoted (a) in-grade and (b) to a higher grade in the last year broken down by (i) performance marking in the previous year and (ii) grade.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
With regards to a) the in-grade promotions: We are unclear how “in-grade promotion” should be defined in relation to the data we do hold.
Information on b) promotions to a higher grade is not held centrally. In particular, the information held centrally on outward secondments and loans does not record whether the secondment/loan is a promotion or whether it would be in-grade or not.
Collation and presentation of this data could potentially require significant manual work and data linking across departments and would come at a disproportionate cost and we are, therefore, unable to provide the information requested.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help decarbonise refrigerated transport.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport continues to work with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on an Off-Road Machinery Decarbonisation Strategy, which includes transport refrigeration units (TRUs). This strategy will set out how off-road machinery can further decarbonise while maintaining competitiveness, attracting investment and supporting growth. To support this, we are reviewing the findings of a multi-year research project commissioned to ZEMO Partnership into the emissions from diesel-powered auxiliary engines, including from TRUs used on heavy goods vehicles. Alongside this, the Transport Industrial Commercial Refrigeration project, funded through the DESNZ Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, is expected to publish a roadmap that includes transport refrigeration in Spring 2026. The Department will review the roadmap and consider its implications.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
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 staff in each grade were rated in the top performance category in the last year.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In core Defra, high performance substantive senior civil servants are those with an end-year performance rating of “Exceeded”. The headcount and proportion of each grade for those employed during the period November 2024 – October 2025 were:
Grade* | Number of employees | Proportion of Grade who achieved ‘Exceeded’ as their end-year performance decision |
Senior Civil Servant Pay Band 1 | 16 |
|
Senior Civil Servant Pay Band 2 |
|
|
* Where individuals changed substantive grade during the period, they are reported against their earliest substantive grade.
c. These numbers are suppressed in accordance with the Defra data protection policy.
End-year performance decisions were removed from the performance management framework for delegated staff grades in April 2023. Delegated staff grades are recognised through continuous recognition awards.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who is the Chief Risk Officer for national security risks relating to the work of their Department.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department does not have a formally designated Chief Risk Officer for national security risks. As with other Lead Government Departments, each Defra-owned risk in the National Risk Register (NRR) has a designated Risk Owner who is responsible for that risk area in the Department. These risks are discussed internally by the Executive Committee. The Secretary of State and accounting officers are ultimately responsible for all risks Defra owns.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the net zero targets for their Department and its arm’s-length bodies are; and what guidance has been issued to those bodies on adopting net zero targets earlier than 2050.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Greening Government Commitments set out the actions that government departments and their agencies will take to reduce their impacts on the environment. The targets are set by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the latest available guidance is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greening-government-commitments-2021-to-2025/greening-government-commitments-2021-to-2025. It includes the target of working towards net zero by 2050.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) single sex and (b) gender neutral bathroom facilities her Department provides in its Whitehall premises.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department’s main Whitehall building, 2 Marsham Street, has (a) four single sex bathroom facilities on its five floors, consisting of three cubicles that contain a toilet, and a shared station of three washbasins and hand-drying facilities.
2 Marsham Street has (b) ten gender neutral/accessible bathroom facilities that are individual self-contained lockable toilet rooms with a toilet, washbasin and hand-drying facilities. These are also wheelchair accessible.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many visas a) the Forestry Commission, b) Ofwat, c) the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, d) the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, e) the Environment Agency, f) the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, g) the Marine Management Organisation, h) the Covent Garden Market Authority and i) the Food Standards Agency have sponsored since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The requested data is not held centrally in a reportable format.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the total cost was of (a) settlement agreements and (b) special severance payments made to departing staff in the last year.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
For the last financial year, the total cost to Defra of payments associated with settlement agreements is set out in pg. 167 of Annual Report and Accounts. Where relevant, this includes special severance payments that have associated settlement agreements.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs made of the impact of reducing inheritance tax relief on agricultural and business property on farmer suicide rates before taking the decision to do so.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government encourages anyone who is concerned about their own mental health, or the mental health of those around them, to seek support. The Government takes mental health support for farmers very seriously. For example, Defra supports farming welfare organisations through funding the Farmer Welfare Grant. The fund supports projects in England designed to offer tailored support to farmers and their families, including preventing cases of poor mental health within farming communities, and to deliver a range of essential services, including one-to-one support.
The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, fixing the public finances, and funding public services. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. Where inheritance tax is due, those liable for a charge can pay any liability on the relevant assets over 10 annual instalments, interest-free.
As announced at Budget 2025, any unused £1 million allowance for the 100% rate of agricultural property relief and business property relief will be transferable between spouses and civil partners, including if the first death was before 6 April 2026.
The Government has set out that the reforms are expected to result in up to 375 estates across the UK claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, paying more inheritance tax in 2026-27. This is a reduction from up to 520 estates forecast to pay more at Autumn Budget 2024. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data.
A report by the independent Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax) published in August 2025, prior to the announcement at Budget 2025, concluded that half of the estates paying more would see an increase in their effective inheritance tax rate of less than 5 percentage points, and 86 per cent of these estates could pay their entire inheritance tax bill out of non-farm assets.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs made of the impact of reducing inheritance tax relief on agricultural and business property on farmers' mental health before taking the decision to do so.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government encourages anyone who is concerned about their own mental health, or the mental health of those around them, to seek support. The Government takes mental health support for farmers very seriously. For example, Defra supports farming welfare organisations through funding the Farmer Welfare Grant. The fund supports projects in England designed to offer tailored support to farmers and their families, including preventing cases of poor mental health within farming communities, and to deliver a range of essential services, including one-to-one support.
The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, fixing the public finances, and funding public services. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. Where inheritance tax is due, those liable for a charge can pay any liability on the relevant assets over 10 annual instalments, interest-free.
As announced at Budget 2025, any unused £1 million allowance for the 100% rate of agricultural property relief and business property relief will be transferable between spouses and civil partners, including if the first death was before 6 April 2026.
The Government has set out that the reforms are expected to result in up to 375 estates across the UK claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, paying more inheritance tax in 2026-27. This is a reduction from up to 520 estates forecast to pay more at Autumn Budget 2024. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data.
A report by the independent Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax) published in August 2025, prior to the announcement at Budget 2025, concluded that half of the estates paying more would see an increase in their effective inheritance tax rate of less than 5 percentage points, and 86 per cent of these estates could pay their entire inheritance tax bill out of non-farm assets.