Asked by: Samantha Niblett (Labour - South Derbyshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on sites intended for building that have previously been used as dumps for fly ash.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that planning policies and decisions should ensure that a site is suitable for its proposed use taking account of ground conditions and any risks arising from land instability and contamination. This includes risks arising from natural hazards or former activities such as mining, and any proposals for mitigation including land remediation (as well as potential impacts on the natural environment arising from that remediation). My Department continues to work closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on matters relating to meeting our shared ambition to deliver 1.5 million new homes in this Parliament while improving and protecting the environment.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the costs to her Department of climate-related extreme weather since 1 January 2020.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3), published in 2021 under the UK Climate Change Act 2008, includes a Monetary Valuation of Risks and Opportunities assessment of the current and future costs of climate change to the UK.
Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the number of civil servants working from home for three days a week or more is increasing or decreasing.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Data on Civil Service Headquarters (HQ) occupancy is collected and published quarterly on GOV.UK for all HQ buildings of Whitehall Departments, Office for Scotland, Office for Wales and Northern Ireland Office.
Data for the latest period for which data is available is copied below. No other information on occupancy data or workforce attendance is gathered centrally.
Departments manage their own arrangements for monitoring workforce attendance. Heads of departments have agreed that 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the Civil Service.
Monthly Average HQ Building Occupancy (Quarter 1: April to June 2025)
| Departmental HQ | Building | April | May | June |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Cabinet Office | 70 Whitehall | 62% | 92% | 83% |
Department for Business and Trade | Old Admiralty Building | 76% | 79% | 77% |
Department for Culture, Media and Sport | 100 Parliament Street | 69% | 72% | 62% |
Department for Education | Sanctuary Buildings | 65% | 66% | 70% |
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero | 3-8 Whitehall Place/55 Whitehall | 100% | 97% | 100% |
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 2 Marsham Street | 74% | 59% | 72% |
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology | 22 Whitehall | 88% | 85% | 92% |
Department for Transport | Great Minster House | 61% | 61% | 61% |
Department for Work and Pensions | Caxton House | 61% | 61% | 62% |
Department of Health and Social Care | 39 Victoria Street | 76% | 81% | 72% |
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office | King Charles Street | 65% | 63% | 65% |
HM Revenue and Customs | 100 Parliament Street | 70% | 68% | 73% |
HM Treasury | 1 Horse Guards | 68% | 69% | 68% |
Home Office | 2 Marsham Street | 72% | 74% | 73% |
Ministry of Defence | MOD Main Building | 82% | 85% | 87% |
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | 2 Marsham Street | 71% | 72% | 74% |
Ministry of Justice | 102 Petty France | 81% | 75% | 76% |
Northern Ireland Office | 1 HG/Erskine House | 57% | 59% | 59% |
Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland | Dover House | 61% | 55% | 62% |
Office of the Secretary of State for Wales | Gwydyr House | 66% | 59% | 59% |
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on water safety education for primary school children.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Departmental officials had discussions with their Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs counterparts in drawing up the new relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) statutory guidance. The department has made water safety and the Water Safety Code part of statutory health education, taught as part of RSHE. It is included within the new topic of ‘personal safety’. The new curriculum comes into force from September 2026. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education.
Swimming and water safety are also compulsory elements of the primary physical education curriculum at key stages 1 and 2.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to respond to Written Question 74702 on Sustainable Farming Incentive.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Question 74702 was answered on 22 September 2025.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to answer Question 74602 on UK Internal Trade: Northern Ireland.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Question 74602 was answered on 15 September 2025
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure timely public health messaging on avian influenza in coastal tourist areas during periods of increased seabird mortality.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have a range of communication messages ready for use for avian influenza.
For coastal tourist areas, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has created guidance relating to wild birds. Guidance relating to reporting dead wild birds is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/report-dead-wild-birds
In addition, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ guidance on the removal and disposal of dead wild birds is available at the following link:
The UKHSA has also published broader public health guidance on the general risk, not specific to wild birds, which is available at the following link:
Land managers and local authorities are also able to use a range of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ communication messages, including posters, to spread these messages, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/avian-influenza-bird-flu-posters-for-land-managers
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of (a) overseas and (b) domestic Ministerial official flights by his Department are (i) carbon offset and (ii) use Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No flights were offset and we cannot provide data on the use of sustainable aviation fuel on flights as this detail is not available through our travel booking contract.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many days were lost to sickness absence by civil servants in their Department (a) in total and (b) on average per employee between 5 July 2024 and 4 July 2025.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Sickness absence data for the Civil Service, including departmental breakdowns is published annually, and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence.
The next update will be for the year ending 31st March 2025.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what purposes their Department has used artificial intelligence in the last year.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In the last 12 months, Defra has explored the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across a range of areas to improve delivery of public services, strengthen resilience, and support innovation. AI has been deployed in habitat maps, such as Living England, and peatland restoration projects, such as AI4Peat, to enhance biodiversity monitoring, and in the Environment Agency’s FloodAI trial to improve flood forecasting, strengthen early warning systems, and protect critical infrastructure.
Before any application is deployed, the department considers data and security protection risks to ensure AI is applied responsibly. Guidance on the safe, effective, and responsible adoption of AI can be found in the Government’s AI Playbook.
The department also acknowledges the mandatory obligation under the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS) to report where algorithms are used in decision-making. As of September 2025, Defra has published several ATRS records, including Local Authority Waste Collection Cost Groupings, Hello Lamp Post, and Living England, covering algorithmic tools in environmental protection and public engagement.
The department is also piloting the use of artificial intelligence to analyse open sources online for emerging civil contingencies risks and issues.
Internally, the department has piloted AI-powered tools to automate the migration of legacy IT systems to modern cloud environments and rolled out Microsoft Copilot Chat to streamline day-to-day tasks, improve productivity, and support staff in working more efficiently.