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1702530

registered interest
date	19/04/2024
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: Maladministration
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 has taken to reduce the costs of error in the last three financial years.
tabling member constituency	Leicester South
tabling member printed	Jonathan Ashworth
uin	22733
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2024 answer text <p>Figures used in the cross-Government <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/641c158b32a8e0000cfa9251/2974_Fraud_Landscape_Annual_Report_2022_.pdf" target="_blank">Fraud Landscape Report</a> show the level of detected error across the group including arm’s length bodies. The figures for 2021-22 and 2022-23 may be found in the following reports: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/635a7f1e8fa8f5653f83f4f0/defra-annual-report-2021-2022.pdf" target="_blank">Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22</a> and <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/653a9479e6c9680014aa9be8/annual-report-and-accounts-2022-23.pdf" target="_blank">Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Steps we have taken are detailed in the annual report and accounts. These include creation of a dedicated grants hub with counter fraud expertise, fraud risk assessments, prepayment checks allowing correction of errors prior to payment, audits of both the control environment and delivery bodies’ counter fraud capability, external assurance, as well as governance forums which routinely consider the risk of fraud and error at both design and delivery stages.</p><p> </p><p>The Government reports a combined fraud and error rate as it is difficult to disaggregate between the two, is cost intensive and may not be the most effective use of limited department resources. The choice is therefore left to the discretion of individual departments.</p><p> </p><p>When found, error would be defined as losses arising from unintentional events, processing errors and official government errors.</p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 01/05/2024 15:42:21 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4244 label Biography information for Jonathan Ashworth

1702147

registered interest
date	18/04/2024
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: Fraud
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 has taken to reduce the costs of fraud in his Department in the last three financial years.
tabling member constituency	Leicester South
tabling member printed	Jonathan Ashworth
uin	22571
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/05/2024 answer text <p>The Government is determined to uncover fraud in the public sector and is proud of its record. As part of this, the Government established the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA). In 22/23 the PSFA set a target of delivering £180m of savings to the taxpayer. In fact, the PSFA far surpassed this within the first 12 months by preventing and recovering £311 million.</p><p> </p><p>As it enters its second year, the PSFA has a target of achieving £185 million of savings for the taxpayer. The Government has also announced an additional £34 million to deploy cutting edge tools and Artificial Intelligence tools to help combat fraud across the public sector, saving £100 million for the public purse. This is in addition to existing partnerships between PSFA and the tech sector.</p><p> </p><p>Defra's headline response to countering fraud is set out in the Governance Statement of the Annual Report and Accounts. The Annual Report and Accounts for Defra for the past three years may be accessed here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fmedia%2F61a604d4e90e070441bcf801%2Fdefra-year-end-accounts-2020-2021.pdf&amp;data=05%7C02%7Ccorporatepqs%40defra.gov.uk%7C0b72e9bfb1ac409d674008dc643a0ba0%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638495447675813239%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=nRH7wZaPnUSZoCAOuuRfC4J9iBUIEJlhE39vCGv0noc%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Defra Annual Report and Accounts 2020-21 (publishing.service.gov.uk)</a></p><p> </p><p><a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fmedia%2F635a7f1e8fa8f5653f83f4f0%2Fdefra-annual-report-2021-2022.pdf&amp;data=05%7C02%7Ccorporatepqs%40defra.gov.uk%7C0b72e9bfb1ac409d674008dc643a0ba0%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638495447675824944%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=abUKBzLyva8eBsqNoa7LhJrVtZR1IxuzCJRLRd2MHt8%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Defra Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22 (publishing.service.gov.uk)</a></p><p> </p><p><a href="https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.publishing.service.gov.uk%2Fmedia%2F653a9479e6c9680014aa9be8%2Fannual-report-and-accounts-2022-23.pdf&amp;data=05%7C02%7Ccorporatepqs%40defra.gov.uk%7C0b72e9bfb1ac409d674008dc643a0ba0%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C638495447675831576%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=YkHVyZ%2FaD50a%2BqgeyTMM0KGwgwIxwqtHIu5pIKWG2Fo%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Defra Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 (publishing.service.gov.uk)</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Sir Mark Spencer question first answered 01/05/2024 09:34:23 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4244 label Biography information for Jonathan Ashworth

1697085

registered interest
date	19/03/2024
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: Domestic Visits
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on how many occasions Ministers from his Department have visited (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland in each of the last three financial years.
tabling member constituency	Leicester South
tabling member printed	Jonathan Ashworth
uin	19363
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2024 answer text <p>The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.</p><p> </p><p>Across the UK Government we are committed to delivering the best possible outcomes for all citizens, no matter where in the country they call home. All citizens contribute to the strength of the United Kingdom which is the most successful political and economic union the world has ever seen.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 02/04/2024 12:53:59 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4244 label Biography information for Jonathan Ashworth

1692011

registered interest
date	27/02/2024
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: Press
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 subscriptions to (a) newspapers, (b) magazines and (c) online journals his Department has paid for in each of the last three financial years.
tabling member constituency	Leicester South
tabling member printed	Jonathan Ashworth
uin	15896
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 12/04/2024 answer text <p>The following is a combined list of subscriptions that the Defra Library and Communications have paid for over the last three financial years. Some are in print and some are online. Not everything on the list was purchased in all three years – subscriptions change on demand and to reflect usage. Information on any subscriptions from other team budgets is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.</p><p> </p><p>Defra Library purchases magazines and journals for Defra, Animal and Plant Health Agency and Natural England staff to support them in their role. The Communications team purchases newspapers for monitoring the media coverage of issues in Defra’s remit.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Angling Times magazine</p></td><td><p>Environmental Finance</p></td><td><p>Lyell Collection</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Animal Health Research Reviews</p></td><td><p>Estates Gazette</p></td><td><p>Materials Recycling World</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Argus Fertilizer Europe</p></td><td><p>Ethical Consumer</p></td><td><p>Microbiology Society</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Avian Pathology</p></td><td><p>Executive Support magazine</p></td><td><p>New Zealand Veterinary</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>BioOne</p></td><td><p>Farmers Guardian</p></td><td><p>Planning Resource</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bird Study Pack</p></td><td><p>Farmers Weekly</p></td><td><p>Privacy and Data Protection</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Bloomberg</p></td><td><p>Financial Times</p></td><td><p>Professional Update</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British Archaeology magazine</p></td><td><p>Fishing News Weekly</p></td><td><p>Responsible Investor</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British Poultry Science</p></td><td><p>Freedom of Information Journal</p></td><td><p>Royal Forestry Society</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>British Wildlife Magazine</p></td><td><p>Fresh Produce</p></td><td><p>Sunday Times</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Conservation Land Management</p></td><td><p>Geoheritage</p></td><td><p>Telegraph</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Daily Express</p></td><td><p>Goat Veterinary Journal</p></td><td><p>The Economist</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Daily Mail</p></td><td><p>Guardian</p></td><td><p>The Grocer Magazine</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Daily Mirror</p></td><td><p>Habitats Regulations Assessment</p></td><td><p>The Sun</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Daily Telegraph</p></td><td><p>Harvard Business Review</p></td><td><p>The Times</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dairy Industry Newsletter</p></td><td><p>Horticulture Week</p></td><td><p>UK Livestock magazine</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Dods People and Monitoring</p></td><td><p>I</p></td><td><p>Veterinary Pathology</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Econlit</p></td><td><p>ICES Journal of Marine Science</p></td><td><p>Washington Trade Daily</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Elsevier Freedom Collection</p></td><td><p>iNews</p></td><td><p>Water Report</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Ends Europe</p></td><td><p>Inside Housing</p></td><td><p>Wiley STM Collection</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Ends Report</p></td><td><p>Insurance Post</p></td><td><p>Yorkshire Post</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Ends Waste &amp; Bioenergy</p></td><td><p>Nature.com</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Environment Complete</p></td><td><p>Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation</p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency Sherwood answering member printed Mark Spencer question first answered 12/04/2024 09:41:38 answering member 4055 label Biography information for Sir Mark Spencer
tabling member	4244 label Biography information for Jonathan Ashworth