Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many nights were spent in hotels by Departmental staff in financial year 2024-25 by the star rating of the hotel.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The total number of nights spent by Departmental staff in all hotels in 2024-25 was 28,905. The information requested on hotel star ratings is not held and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether they will require their department and agencies to offer payroll deductions to all employees to enable them to join a credit union.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not offer a credit unions payroll deduction process to staff. Defra does operate a comprehensive employee benefit offering with access to retail discounts, savings, Cycle to Work schemes, dental and health wellbeing programmes, and has recently launched additional Financial Wellbeing products, accessible through payroll savings, the Government “Help to Save” scheme and access to more affordable borrowing solutions through our benefit partners.
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, if she will review the incomplete Answer her Department provided to Question 97203 on 6 January 2026.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The incomplete answer to Question 97203 on 6 January 2026 was due to a processing and formatting error on the Written Parliamentary Questions website. This error has been corrected and the complete answer to Question 97203 is below:
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 | c. |
Senior Civil Servant Pay Band 2 | c. | c. |
* 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: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what consultation her Department has had with counterparts at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the withdrawal of the visa concession for temporary employment as sheep shearers.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Immigration Rules concessionary arrangements are temporary and subject to regular Ministerial review. The sheep shearing concession had been operating for 14 years and closed after the 2025 shearing season as it reasonable to expect that over this period a long-term sustainable solution had been found to fill this workforce gap. To provide plenty of time to plan and transition to new arrangements DEFRA officials were informed last year that the concession would not be renewed again.
Ministers regularly meet with their DEFRA counterparts to discuss a wide range of issues, including the closure of this concession.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many civil servants are employed through Skilled Worker visas in (1) the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (2) Natural England, and (3) Environment Agency.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not employ any civil servants through Skilled Worker visas as the department is not a sponsoring organisation.
As Natural England (NE) and the Environment Agency (EA) are non‑departmental public bodies (arm’s‑length bodies), they do not employ civil servants.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with (a) Ministerial colleagues and (b) external partners on the 25-year conservation plan for Akrotiri Salt Lake in the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Sovereign Base Areas Administration oversees the conservation plan for the Akrotiri Salt Lake, specifically through the ‘Akrotiri Peninsular Environmental Management Plan’. This was prepared in 2012 with the input and cooperation of local communities, non-Government organisations, and agencies of the Republic of Cyprus. Activity within this plan has been undertaken with technical and project support from cross-Government partners, including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Asked by: Peter Fortune (Conservative - Bromley and Biggin Hill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much their department spent on X and xAI since July 2024.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 29 January 2026 to the hon. Member for Windsor, UIN 106863.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 28 January (HL Deb col 923) indicating that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will shortly publish a perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) plan, (1) whether they plan to consult health experts and campaigners in addition to industry, (2) whether they are using the precautionary principle in considering the use and environmental presence of PFAS, and (3) when the plan will be published.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government published the PFAS Plan on 3 February 2026.
The plan will serve as a platform to engage further with industry, other bodies, and the public on PFAS. This will include engagement with health experts and campaigners.
In addressing the risks posed by PFAS, the Government has given due regard to the environmental principles policy statement, pursuant to the Environment Act 2021. This includes the integration, prevention, rectification at source, ‘polluter pays’ principle, and the precautionary principles.
Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the environmental and health impacts of their School Food guidance in the context of the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission; and how she plans to respond to the Commission’s Planetary Health Diet recommendations.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department is committed to raising the healthiest generation ever and encourages schools to have a whole school approach to healthy eating.
We are continuing our work to revise the School Food Standards and are engaging experts across the sector, including academics and nutrition professionals. We are also taking account of the emerging themes from recent research and papers as we progress the review.
We are also working with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to support on the outcomes of their government Food Strategy. Additionally, schools can voluntarily follow the government buying standards
Asked by: Lord Bird (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to reduce regional differences in life expectancy; and what steps they are taking to account for housing, employment and environmental factors in health policy.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to increasing the amount of time people spend in good health and to preventing premature deaths, with an ambitious commitment to halve the healthy life expectancy gap between the richest and poorest regions.
Our 10-Year Health Plan for England sets out a reimagined service designed to tackle inequalities in both access and outcomes, as well as to give everyone, no matter who they are or where they come from, the means to engage with the health service on their own terms.
The 10-Year Health Plan and the Environmental Improvement Plan set out how the Government will take action to reduce exposure to harmful emissions of air pollutants. This includes action on domestic burning, on which the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have recently launched a consultation.
The 10-Year Health Plan also sets out actions to address poor quality housing and improve the standard of rented homes, alongside £15 billion of investment announced in the Warm Homes Plan. £5 billion of this will be targeted at low-income and fuel poor households. This will help to make homes warmer, more comfortable, and more energy-efficient, which in turn will improve health and reduce health inequalities.
Further to this, the Government recognises that good-quality employment is an important determinant of good health. Sir Charlie Mayfield has submitted the Keep Britain Working review, which highlights how crucial it is to support people to stay healthy and in work.
In partnership with the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Work and Pensions, we are rapidly translating Sir Charlie’s key recommendations into action.