Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
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 to the public purse was of legal (a) support and (b) representation to Ministers in his Department in relation to their official conduct in each of the last three years.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Such information is not centrally recorded or collated in the form requested. More generally, I would refer the hon. Member to the long-standing policies on legal expenditure, as set out recently by Cabinet Office Ministers on 12 March 2004, Official Report, PQ 17709 and 12 March 2024, Official Report, House of Lords, Cols. 1901-1904.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which local authorities (a) charged for collection of garden waste and b) provided a free garden waste service in 2023/24.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs does not hold this data.
Under section 45(3) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 waste collection authorities are permitted to charge a reasonable amount for the collection of garden waste.
Local Authorities are best placed to determine the effective delivery of local services.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of local authorities that charged an annual fee of (a) less than £30, (b) £30.01- £40, (c) £40.01- £50, (d) £50.01- £75, (e) £75.01- £100.00 and (f) £100.01 or more for the collection of garden waste in the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs does not hold this data.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to coordinate activity across Government in order to improve the UK’s preparedness for extreme wildfire events.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office are the lead Government Department for Wildfire Response and own the National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA) wildfire risk.
This Wildfire Framework outlines the work being undertaken to improve the UK’s preparedness for wildfires in England. The Home Office works closely with other departments and key stakeholders including Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities to mitigate the risk of wildfire.
The Home Office have committed to scoping a wildfire strategy and action plan by mid 2024, with support from Defra and its agencies. This commitment is outlined in the third National Adaptation Plan.
The Home Office maintains regular engagement with National Bodies including the National Fire Chiefs Council and England and Wales Wildfire Forum to monitor and review sector led improvements to wildfire response and mitigation.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the report entitled Cross-Government Fraud Landscape: Annual Report 2022, published on 21 March 2023, what the basis is of the increase in detected error in his Department rom £9.5m in 2019-20 to £15.9m in 2020-21.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In reference to the hon. Member’s question, the Fraud Landscape Report figures were reported to the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA, formerly the Counter Fraud Centre of Expertise) as part of established reporting cycles.
The Government defines error as losses arising from unintentional events, processing errors and official Government errors - such losses are judged as without fraudulent intent.
Since 2014, Fraud Landscape Reports show an increase in both detected fraud and error across government. This is in line with the Government's explicit objective to find more fraud in the system. By detecting more, we can understand fraud better - and deal with it better.
The Defra detected error in 2019/20 was published in the Fraud Landscape Bulletin and in 2020/21 was published in the Fraud Landscape Report. The reasons for any increase are set out in these documents as well as in our Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22.
The PSFA assists ministerial departments and public bodies in their delivery of specialist fraud activity. In its first year it delivered £311 million in audited counter fraud benefits.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2024 to Question 16898 on Landfill Tax, what discussions has he had with the (a) Environment Agency, (b) Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and (c) waste disposal sector on the potential impact of the removal of landfill tax exemptions.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Documents relating to the ongoing review of Landfill Tax in England and Wales are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/landfill-tax-review-call-for-evidence. These confirm the government is considering a range of options to future-proof, simplify and improve environmental outcomes from the tax.
To this end, HM Treasury officials continue to work closely with departments including HM Revenue and Customs, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Environment Agency – as well as with external interested parties, before confirming further next steps.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2024 to Question 16898 on Landfill Tax, whether he has had recent discussions with the (a) Environment Agency and (b) Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the alignment of landfill tax reforms with environmental policy.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Documents relating to the ongoing review of Landfill Tax in England and Wales are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/landfill-tax-review-call-for-evidence. These confirm the government is considering a range of options to future-proof, simplify and improve environmental outcomes from the tax.
To this end, HM Treasury officials continue to work closely with departments including HM Revenue and Customs, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Environment Agency – as well as with external interested parties, before confirming further next steps.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the amount of money lost to fraud and error by his Department in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is proud of its record in proactively seeking to find and prevent more fraud in the system. We have established the dedicated Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA). In its first year it delivered £311 million in audited counter fraud benefits.
The PSFA produces a Fraud Landscape Report (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cross-government-fraud-landscape-annual-report-2022). This provides data on fraud and error detection, loss and recoveries in central government, outside of the tax and welfare system. The 2020/21 Report was published in March 2023.
Information on detected fraud and error can be found in Defra’s Annual Report and Accounts. The Annual Report and Accounts for the past three years may be accessed here:
Defra Annual Report and Accounts 2020-21 (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Defra Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22 (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Defra Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many civil servants in his Department have a criminal conviction.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.
New appointments to Defra undergo pre-employment criminal record checks. Where a conviction is flagged, appointment is dependent on a role-specific risk assessment. Convictions for the following offences result in the individual automatically failing pre-employment checks and not being appointed: life sentences, arson, sexual offences and hate and terror offences.
Defra has participated in the Going Forward into Employment Scheme for Ex-Offenders and has appointed to posts via this scheme. We can confirm that the numbers appointed under this scheme are currently less than 10. However, exact numbers may enable individuals to be identifiable and the privacy and confidentiality of this information requires us to ensure individuals are properly protected.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the (a) quality of and (b) availability of the water supply on the viability of the Cambridge 2040 plan.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
At the Spring Budget 2024, the Government published a policy paper setting out its ambition to address water challenges in Greater Cambridge and measures to achieve this. Further information can be found here.
The Government also published a joint statement from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Environment Agency, and Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service, signalling the intention to work together to support successful delivery of these measures.