To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


View sample alert

Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Nature Conservation: Education
Tuesday 28th February 2023

Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to use the conservation education expertise of (a) Chester Zoo and (b) other zoos on the implementation of the Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy.

Answered by Nick Gibb

In developing the Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy, the Department engaged with a wide range of expert groups and organisations including Chester Zoo. The Department also sought the views of young people through a Youth Panel which included a member of the Chester Zoo Youth Board.

Chester Zoo are also working with Manchester Metropolitan University and the Natural History Museum in the delivery of the National Education Nature Park, which is one of the Department’s key strategic initiatives.


Written Question
Nature Conservation: Curriculum
Tuesday 28th February 2023

Asked by: Justin Madders (Labour - Ellesmere Port and Neston)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to embed conservation and biodiversity issues within the school curriculum.

Answered by Nick Gibb

Topics related to climate change and sustainability already feature in the National Curriculum.

A Natural History GCSE will be introduced in 2025. Pupils will explore organisms and environments in more depth, gain knowledge and practical experience of fieldwork and develop a greater understanding of conservation.

The National Education Nature Park will provide educational opportunities for pupils to take part in citizen science and biodiversity monitoring. It will increase opportunities for all children and young people to spend time in nature, learn more about it and become actively involved in the improvement of their local environment.


Written Question
Agriculture and Countryside: Education
Wednesday 20th July 2022

Asked by: Earl of Leicester (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to teach school children about the countryside and British farming.

Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

There are opportunities within the geography and science curriculums to teach about the countryside, farming and agriculture, and how important the latter are to food production. These do not feature as stand-alone topics in the National Curriculum. The National Curriculum is a framework designed to give teachers the freedom and flexibility to cover particular topics in greater depth if they wish, and this could include teaching about the countryside and farming.

As part of the department’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy, our National Education Nature Park initiative will also give children and young people the opportunity to learn about and connect with nature.


By 2025 we aim to introduce a natural history GCSE, giving young people a further opportunity to engage with and develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of the natural world. In studying this GCSE, young people will explore organisms and environments in more depth, gain knowledge and practical experience of fieldwork and develop a greater understanding of conservation.


Written Question
Nature Conservation: Education
Tuesday 26th April 2022

Asked by: Stuart Anderson (Conservative - Wolverhampton South West)

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on ensuring conservation education is taught in schools in England.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

I recently met with DfE's Minister Walker to discuss the importance of increasing children's connection and access to nature and to expand educational opportunities to support green skills and jobs. Defra and DfE worked closely on the Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy which was published on Thursday 21 April. The strategy includes the following commitments where conservation education will play a key role in delivery:

1. A commitment from DfE to increase opportunities for all children and young people to spend time in nature, learn more about it, and get involved in improving their local environment.

2. A commitment to build on the investment into the Children and Nature Programme by engaging with Defra on more research into outdoor learning and how to help schools deliver it. DfE also commit to embedding the learning from the Children and Nature Programme into their two new initiatives - the National Education Nature Park and the Climate Leaders Award. By 2030, they anticipate that participation in the National Education Nature Park, and increased opportunities to connect with nature, will increase the number of young people who become data scientists, ecologists and biologists.

3. A goal to introduce a new natural history GCSE by 2025, which will include developing a deeper understanding of conservation. This will be accompanied by a pathway of learning for children up to GCSE level so that they have the knowledge and skills to undertake the GCSE. This includes a new Primary Science Model Curriculum with an emphasis on nature. This will raise the profile of education on nature and climate change and help to ensure that young people have the right skills to progress into a career in green jobs if they choose to do so.

4. The Strategy recognises the 25 Year Environment Plan as a driver of green jobs and skills needs alongside the Net Zero Strategy and sets out the natural environment training on offer. DfE have also committed to working with Defra to help develop this offer where gaps are identified through the Green Jobs Delivery Group.


Written Question
Climate Change and Nature Conservation: Education
Monday 15th February 2021

Asked by: Lord Knight of Weymouth (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether (1) the causes of climate change, and (2) actions that can benefit and decrease any negative impact on the natural environment, are taught in schools in England.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

It is vital that young people are taught about climate change. For this reason, related topics are included throughout both the science and geography curricula and GCSEs. In primary science and geography, pupils are given a firm foundation for the further study of the environment in secondary school. For example, in primary science, pupils are taught about how environments can change as a result of human actions. They will learn about animals’ habitats, including that changes to the environment may pose dangers to living things. In primary geography, pupils will be taught about seasonal and daily weather patterns, climate zones and human geography, including land use, economic activity and the distribution of natural resources.

In secondary science, pupils are taught about the production of carbon dioxide by human activity and the effect this has on the climate. This is expanded on in GCSE science where pupils will consider the evidence for additional anthropogenic causes of climate change. In secondary geography, pupils will look at how human and physical processes interact to influence and change landscapes, environments and the climate. As part of GCSE geography, pupils will look at the causes, consequences of, and responses to extreme weather conditions and natural weather hazards. In 2017, the department also introduced a new environmental science A level. This will enable pupils to study topics that will support their understanding of climate change and how it can be tackled.

School and teachers can go beyond the topics set out in the national curriculum, or do more in-depth teaching of these topic areas, if they so wish.


Written Question
Civil Servants: Recruitment
Monday 9th February 2015

Asked by: Lucy Powell (Labour (Co-op) - Manchester Central)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which government departments' executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies are participating in the next generation Civil Service human resources programme; what the basis is for cost-sharing arrangements for set-up and running costs of that programme; and what human resources functions that programme undertakes.

Answered by Lord Maude of Horsham

The Next Generation HR programme started in 2010 and has delivered significant savings - in 2010 annual spend on HR in the Civil Service was £524million, in 2014 annual spend was £257.5 million.

Services provided cover the range of human resources activity, including learning, employee policy, recruitment and organisational design and Departments share the full cost of the core services provided. Those services that are volume related (such as bulk recruitment) are paid for on the basis of usage. More information is available onhttps://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/civil-service-human-resources-profession/about

The list below details those organisations who take services from the shared expert services created as part of the Next Generation HR Programme.

Attorney General's departments

Attorney General's Office

Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate

Treasury Solicitor

Crown Prosecution Service

Serious Fraud Office

Business, Innovation and Skills

Companies House

Insolvency Service

Land Registry

Met Office

National Measurement Office

Ordnance Survey

Skills Funding Agency

UK Intellectual Property Office

UK Space Agency

Capital for Enterprise

Technology Strategy Board

UK Commission for Employment and Skills

Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service

Office of Gas and Electricity Market

Cabinet Office

Government Procurement Service

Government in Parliament

Charity Commission

Department for Communities and Local Government

Planning Inspectorate

Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre

Homes and Community Agency

Leasehold Advisory Service

West Northamptonshire Development Corporation

Competition & Markets Authority

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Royal Parks

National Portrait Gallery

Sports Grounds Safety Authority

Ministry of Defence

Defence Science and Technology Laboratory

Defence Support Group

UK Hydrographic Office

Department for Education

Education Funding Agency

National College for Teaching and Leadership

Standards & Testing Agency

Department of Energy and Climate Change

Committee on Climate Change

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency

Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science

Food and Environment Research Agency

Rural Payments Agency

Veterinary Medicines Directorate

Consumer Council for Water

Joint Nature Conservation Committee

Marine Management Organisation

National Forest Company

Natural England

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Gangmasters Licensing Authority

The Sea fish Industry Authority

The Water Services Regulation Authority (OFWAT)

Office of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales (Estyn)

Export Credits Guarantee Department

Food Standards Agency

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

FCO Services

Locally Engaged staff

Overseas Territories

Wilton Park Executive Agency

Great Britain in China (GBCC)

Department of Health

Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency

Public Health England

Human Tissue Authority

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority

Health and Social Care Information Centre

HM Revenue and Customs

Valuation Office

HM Treasury

Office for Budget Responsibility

Chancellor's other departments

Debt Management Office

Government Actuary's Department

National Savings and Investments

Home Office

Identity & Passport Service

National Fraud Authority

Disclosure and Barring Service

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Office of Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC)

Department for International Development

Ministry of Justice

Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service

National Offender Management Service

Legal Aid Agency

The Office of the Public Guardian

Criminal Cases Review Commission

Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority

Family Justice Council

HM Inspectorate of Prisons

HM Inspectorate of Probation

Independent Advisory Council on Deaths in Custody

Independent Monitoring Boards

Judicial Appointments and Conduct Ombudsman

Commission for Judicial Appointments

Judicial Office of England and Wales

Lancashire Probation Trust

Law Commission

Legal Services Ombudsman

Legal Services Board

Legal Services Consumer Panel

Office for Judicial Complaints

Office for the Accountant General

Official Solicitor

Parole Board

Prisons and Probation Ombudsman

Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

The National Archive

Northern Ireland Office

Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED)

Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (OFQUAL)

Scotland Office (incl. Office of the Advocate General for Scotland)

Security Community

Department for Transport

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Driving Standards Agency

Highways Agency

Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Vehicle Certification Agency

Vehicle and Operator Services Agency

British Transport Police Authority

High Speed 2 Ltd

Northern Lighthouse Board

Passenger Focus (Rail Passengers' Council)

Office of Rail Regulation (ORR)

UK Statistics Authority

UK Supreme Court

Wales Office

Department for Work and Pensions

Independent Living Fund

National Employment Savings Trust Corporation

Office of the Pensions Ombudsman

The Pensions Advisory Service Ltd

The Pensions Regulator

Health and Safety Executive

Scottish Government

Accountant in Bankruptcy

Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal

Disclosure Scotland

Education Scotland

Registers of Scotland

Scottish Housing Regulator

Student Awards Agency

Transport Scotland

Highlands and Islands Enterprise

Scottish Legal Complaints Commission

Scottish Public Pensions Agency

National Records of Scotland

Crofting Commission

Architecture and Design Scotland

The Scottish Funding Council for Further and Higher Education

Welsh Government

House of Lords Administration

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority

National Assembly for Wales

National Audit Office