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1401956

	registered interest
	date	11/01/2022
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Food: Innovation
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to promote innovation in the food system.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	101767
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/01/2022 answer text <p>Defra recognises how central innovation and technology are to boosting productivity, enhancing the environment and feeding a growing global population. The Government is making significant investment to unlock innovation and translate our world leading research into practical, farmer-led solutions that improve productivity, environmental sustainability and resilience, and which move towards net zero emission farming systems.</p><p>We have several funding programmes open to industry as well as our own farming and food science research. These funding streams address key areas such as soil systems and land management, regenerative agriculture, sustainable feed and pest management, automation, alternative proteins, and precision farming.</p><p>The Government’s £90 million investment in the 'Transforming Food Production' (TFP) challenge, launched by UK Research and Innovation in 2018, is already supporting ground-breaking research and development to enable farmers and growers to harness the latest technology to produce high quality food, increase their productivity and move towards net zero emission farming systems by 2040.</p><p>On the back of this programme’s success, Defra launched a £14.5 million collaborative agricultural R&amp;D competition called 'Farming Innovation Pathways' in spring 2021, targeting existing and new farm focused innovation, which will be delivered through the TFP initiative.</p><p>In October 2021, Defra launched the first £17.5 million share of funding in its ambitious new Farming Innovation Programme – as part of the proposed measures to stimulate innovation and boost sustainable productivity in England’s agricultural and horticultural sectors as we move away from the EU system of farming subsidy payments. This Programme will enable more farmers, growers, and agri-food businesses to become involved in collaborative agricultural and horticultural R&amp;D, and will enhance knowledge exchange and adoption of innovation by farmers and growers to ensure innovation can make a real difference to the sectors. It will comprise three separate funds that will pull through innovation in different areas, from small farmer-led innovative research projects to larger industrial R&amp;D projects that can transform the sector.</p><p>On January 19 we will launch the Improving Farm Productivity theme of the Farming Investment Fund, part of the £27 million grant scheme fund launched last November. Farmers and growers in England will be able to apply for grants to invest in cutting edge robotic and automation technology to boost productivity. Farmers will benefit from grants ranging from £35,000 to £500,000 to invest in innovative equipment including state of the art autonomous driverless tractors, and cutting-edge robots that harvest, weed and spray crops and voluntary robotic milking systems.</p><p>Defra is also engaged with the £47.5 million UK Research and Innovation led Strategic Priorities Fund in Food Systems, which is addressing planetary and health challenges to transform the food system.</p> answering member constituency Bury St Edmunds answering member printed Jo Churchill question first answered 17/01/2022 13:16:25 answering member 4380 label Biography information for Jo Churchill
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1403924

	registered interest
	date	18/01/2022
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Working Hours
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what records his Department keeps relating to staff working times under Regulation 9 of the Working Time Regulations 1998; and how long those records are kept for.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	106759
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/01/2022 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Easington on 17 January 2022, PQ UIN <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-01-12/102586" target="_blank">102586</a>.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 21/01/2022 09:43:23 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1249914

	registered interest
	date	05/11/2020
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Artificial Intelligence
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) artificial intelligence and (b) machine learning projects are being (i) undertaken and (ii) considered for his Department.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	112083
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/11/2020 answer text <p>I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central on 10 September 2020, PQ UIN 83796.</p><p> </p><p>[<a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2020-09-01/83796" target="_blank">questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2020-09-01/83796</a>]</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Defra recognises the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to play an important part in ensuring that data and science are at the heart of decision making.</p><p> </p><p>All of Defra’s ongoing and previous research projects, including a number involving AI and ML, are published on Defra’s research and development website: <a href="http://randd.defra.gov.uk" target="_blank">randd.defra.gov.uk</a> Planned projects are advertised on Bravo: <a href="https://defra.bravosolution.co.uk" target="_blank">defra.bravosolution.co.uk</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Areas particularly benefitting from these tools include the interpretation of Earth Observation and automated sensor data, the development of advanced modelling techniques, and improved customer service.</p><p> </p><p>We will continue to work in partnership across Government, with academia and industry to develop the use of AI and ML for Defra.</p> answering member constituency Banbury answering member printed Victoria Prentis question first answered 13/11/2020 13:53:48 answering member 4401 label Biography information for Victoria Prentis
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1564169

	registered interest
	date	06/01/2023
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Veterinary Services
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had discussions with the RCVS Veterinary Nurses Council on changing the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 to (a) replace the criminal standard of proof with the civil standard and (b) make improvements to the Fitness to Practise disciplinary system.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	117662
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/01/2023 answer text <p>Defra is grateful for the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) recommendations for reforming the Veterinary Surgeons Act to ensure that vets and veterinary nurses are regulated in line with modern regulatory practice in the future. My officials have maintained regular contact with RCVS on these matters. Defra supports the need to make changes to improve veterinary retention and simplify the rules and processes used. The Government's legislation for the forthcoming session will be announced in due course. The department will continue to work with stakeholders and RCVS to prioritise other non-legislative work to support improvements to veterinary retention.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 19/01/2023 15:45:34 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1569008

	registered interest
	date	20/01/2023
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Equality
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure her Department complies with section 2.1.6 of the Civil Service Management Code; and whether that monitoring data gathered is shared with union representatives.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	128654
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/01/2023 answer text <p>Defra Group complies with section 2.1.6 of the Civil Service Management Code and regularly monitors EDI data, as regards all protected characteristics as defined in the Equality Act 2010.</p><p> </p><p>This Data is captured via self-declaration via Shared Serves Platform. This data is utilised to monitor all aspects of employee lifecycle, including recruitment, retention, in year award / recognition, performance ratings, L&amp;D / Talent and promotions to ensure equal access of opportunity to all. Furthermore, Equality impact Assessments are conducted at the point of policy creation and revision in order to assess impact and effectiveness of internal policies and action plans across protected characteristics.</p><p> </p><p>All monitoring data collated and analysed by the department is shared with the trade unions representing staff covered by the Departmental Trade Union framework (the core department and Executive Agencies), Natural England and the Environment Agency. Workforce data is published annually via Defra Annual Report.</p><p> </p><p>Please note, that 2.1.6 of the Civil Service Management Code (CSMC) <strong>does not</strong> place an obligation on departments to share this information with their representative trade unions.</p><p> </p><p>We have made good progress in recent years in diversifying the Civil Service. The percentage of civil servants from an ethnic minority background is at 15.0% and the percentage of those who declare themselves disabled is at 14.0%. Staff who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or other (LGBO) is 6.1% and the proportion of female civil servants stands at 54.5%. These rates are all at their highest recorded levels. However, we know there is still progress to be made in ensuring we are representative of the citizens we serve across all our grades.</p><p> </p><p>The new Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2022-2025 recognises our success and builds on this good work to encourage a broader range of people into the Civil Service to give depth to our understanding of contemporary society in the United Kingdom. It provides the necessary framing for diversity and inclusion activity in the Civil Service as part of our wider workforce strategy, and through that, how the Civil Service delivers for its people, the Government and our citizens.</p><p>A link to the Civil Service statistics can be found at the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-service-statistics</a></p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 31/01/2023 10:53:09 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1579630

	registered interest
	date	23/01/2023
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Minimum Wage
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of employees in their Department are paid at the rate of the National Minimum Wage.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	129892
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/01/2023 answer text <p>This Government is committed to paying people a decent living wage, which is being addressed through the statutory National Living Wage. In April 2022, the Government increased the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour. This will rise to £10.42 an hour from 1 April 2023, an increase of 9.7%.</p><p>By 2024, the Government has committed that the National Living Wage will reach 66% of median UK earnings.</p><p>The Government will always award contracts on the basis of the best value for money for the taxpayer.</p><p>Departments must ensure that they apply the legislative increase to the National Liv-ing Wage and National Minimum Wage.</p><p>The total number of civil servants in the Department for the Environment, Food and rural Affairs paid at or below the National Minimum Wage rate per hour was zero and at the National Living Wage rate per hour or below was zero as at January 25th 2023.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 31/01/2023 15:36:07 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1580707

	registered interest
	date	25/01/2023
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Holiday Leave
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has notified staff to (a) tell or (b) remind them that they can sell annual leave in the last four months.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	132463
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/02/2023 answer text <p>a) No and b) No.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 03/02/2023 14:55:09 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1581908

	registered interest
	date	30/01/2023
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps their Department takes to comply with section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992; and if they will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	135308
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 06/02/2023 answer text <p>There is a range of HR information which is published on GOV.UK and which is therefore publicly available.</p><p>Defra has a Departmental Employee Relations Framework, agreed with its three recognised trade unions (PCS, Prospect and FDA), which sets out the principles under which the Department and the unions should conduct and build their rela-tionship. It aims to ensure appropriate negotiation, consultation and information sharing between managers and TU representatives is conducted in accordance with agreed principles and legislative requirements.</p><p>This framework specifically references how the Department shares appropriate in-formation with the unions to allow for effective collective bargaining.</p><p>In addition, Defra meets regularly with its recognised Trade Unions and presents and shares a range of information and data where it is appropriate and in line with privacy statements. This helps inform decision making through formal negotiation and meaningful consultation and engagement.</p><p>Defra is therefore complying with section 181 of the Trade Union and Labour Rela-tions (Consolidation) Act 1992 and we always seek to work constructively with trade unions to reach fair and reasonable settlements.</p><p /> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 06/02/2023 17:04:43 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1582277

	registered interest
	date	31/01/2023
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Conditions of Employment
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if they will take steps to (a) publish an equality impact assessment and (b) consult with trade unions when proposing new HR policies for their Department; and if they will make a statement.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	136653
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/02/2023 answer text <p>a) <strong>Equality Impact Assessments</strong>:</p><p>i. An Equality Impact Assessment is carried out for all new HR policies in Defra. Our HR Policy Team routinely considers equality impacts in relation to new HR policies and significant changes to existing HR policies and takes advice as necessary from our HR Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Team to ensure compliance with our Public Sector Equality Duty.</p><p>ii. For new policies and where there is a significant change in policy, staff networks are consulted in preparation of the Equality Impact Assessment to ensure that potential equality impacts are identified and addressed.</p><p>iii. The Equality Impact Assessments are not routinely published but are available to staff on request.</p><p>b) <strong>Trade unions</strong> are always consulted in the development of new HR policies in Defra, through regular meetings between Defra HR and trade union representatives.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 08/02/2023 16:54:16 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1688564

	registered interest
	date	08/02/2024
	answering body	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept id	13
	answering dept short name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	answering dept sort name	Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
	hansard heading	Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Health and Safety
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether all (a) buildings and (b) workplaces staff from their Department occupy have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment under Section 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
	tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
	uin	13748
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/02/2024 answer text <p>Yes, all buildings and workplaces which staff from Defra occupy have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment under Section 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 23/02/2024 11:17:47 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
	tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens