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 reports and guidance their Department has produced in the last three financial years; and how much was spent on their (a) printing and (b) distribution.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The requested information is not centrally held, and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the department. Reports and guidance that the department has published can be found on gov.uk.
Asked by: Karin Smyth (Labour - Bristol South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on improving infection prevention and control practices in animals.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government takes a One Health approach to infection prevention and control, and antimicrobial resistance, as set out in the UK National Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance (NAP AMR) for 2019 to 2024. The UK NAP AMR delivery board is co-chaired by senior officials from the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs.
Officials from the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate meet regularly to consider appropriate actions to promote good animal health, welfare, and biosecurity in the animal health sector. This is done in accordance with the Government’s One-Health approach, to mitigating the risk of transmission of zoonotic infections between animals and humans, and to tackle the threat of antimicrobial resistance. A zoonosis is any disease or infection that is naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans.
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 guidance his Department issues on the use of WhatsApp.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
All departments in central government, including arm’s lengths bodies, apply the published guidance: Non-corporate communication channels (e.g. WhatsApp, private email, SMS) for government business published by Cabinet Office in March 2023. It applies to all individuals in central government (ministers, special advisers, officials, contractors, non-executive board members and independent experts advising ministers). Defra uses the central guidance and has applied it since March 2023.
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, how many domestic overnight visits Ministers within his Department have taken in each of the last three financial years; and what the cost to the public purse was of these visits.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government publishes on GOV.UK details of the cost of overseas Ministerial travel, including costs of travel, and on other costs (vias, accommodation, meals).
But as has been the case under successive administrations, the Government does not publish granular detail on Ministers’ travel at home or abroad.
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, how much funding his Department (a) allocated for and (b) spent on magazine subscriptions in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Budgets are not allocated to this level of detail. The annual Library budget allocation does not provide specific allocation to magazine subscription. The overall budget allocation covers magazines, (e-)books, print and online journals, document delivery, memberships, news coverage, analytical/economic tools and reference/full text databases.
The allocated library budget and spend on magazines and journals over the last three years since 2021/22 is outlined below.
Financial Year | Total Library budget | Spend on magazine and journals |
2021/22 | £780,000 | £487,281.54 |
2022/23 | £1,043,000 | £412,074.32 |
2023/24 | £1,247,000 | £538,098.20 |
Defra Library purchases magazines and journals for Defra, Animal and Plant Health Agency and Natural England staff to support them in their role.
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, how much funding his Department (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on advertising in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The attached table outlines how much spending has been budgeted for and spent on advertising by the department in each of the last three financial years. Like all areas of government spending, costs are reviewed regularly to ensure value for money.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many trees have been planted on behalf of his Department since December 2019.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Below are the annual figures for the number of trees planted:
Total Trees Planted (April 2019 - 30 September 2023): 17,219,000 trees.
These figures reflect our continuous commitment to enhancing the UK's green spaces and contribute towards our environmental goals and targets.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in his Department have job titles which include the words (a) equality, (b) diversity, (c) inclusion, (d) gender, (e) LGBT and (f) race.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has a specialist HR Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Team made up of 11 full-time equivalent posts. In addition, the Farming and Countryside Programme has two posts which include EDI in their job titles. All roles are internally focused.
The Government is auditing the cost-effectiveness of all activities that support the EDI of the workforce, through the review of EDI spending announced last June.
As stated in the Autumn Statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Minister for the Cabinet Office will be outlining the final proposals in response to the review in due course.
Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)
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 Chapter 6 of his Department’s publication entitled Defra’s annual report and accounts for 2022 to 2023, published on 26 October 2023, which local authority received the excess rock armour.
Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The rock armour was transferred to Brighton and Hove City Council for the Brighton Marina to River Adur Coastal Protection Scheme.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many posts there are for (a) press, (b) media and (c) other communications staff in his Department; and what the salary band is for each post.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra Group Communications is the first single employer shared service communications team in Whitehall, working for six organisations.
Alongside the core department, the team provides communications support for the core Department and five of its largest Arm’s Length Bodies including the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, the Forestry Commission and the Rural Payments Agency. The teams work across all communications disciplines in support of the policy and operational priorities within each of these organisations. This includes media, planning, stakeholder engagement, digital communications and internal communications across the six parts of the Defra group. This integrated function reduces duplication, improves performance and saves money.
As Defra Group Communications staff work in an agile way in multiple organisations, it is not possible to provide granular full-time equivalent figures for each part of the group, including the core department.
As announced by the Government last year, departments are submitting productivity plans to modernise the Civil Service and reduce the size of the state to pre-pandemic levels. These roles, as all other business units in the department, are considered as part of these plans.