Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support hedgehog conservation initiatives in Lincolnshire.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Greater Lincolnshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) demonstrates strong local commitment to hedgehog conservation. Following online public consultation, where hedgehogs emerged as one of the most frequently mentioned priority species, the draft LNRS includes specific actions to support hedgehog recovery. These targeted measures include creating suitable feeding habitats, encouraging property owners to leave gaps in fencing to improve garden connectivity, and building hibernacula to provide essential winter shelter.
Nationally, there are several projects underway which will enable the conservation of our hedgehogs. The first National Hedgehog Conservation Strategy has been published by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species and The British Hedgehog Preservation Society. Natural England (NE), the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Forestry England all contributed to the strategy, which highlights the factors causing a decline in native hedgehog populations. In addition, NE is co-funding the National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme. The information gathered will also produce insights into the factors causing hedgehog population decline, leading to the implementation of practical conservation measures to address this challenge.
These hedgehog-specific initiatives complement broader environmental improvements in Lincolnshire, including the designation of the Lincolnshire Coronation Coast National Nature Reserve - the first in the new King's Series. Such landscape-scale conservation efforts create the connected habitats that hedgehogs and other wildlife need to thrive.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Exact costs are not available for the amount the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science’s spent on dedicated home office equipment although they are low for this three-year period.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Forestry Commission has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Forestry Commission provides IT equipment to support staff working in a blended way, between office space and home and also a small number of contracted home workers.
Equipment is procured through best-value frameworks, including the Civil Service Purchase Platform, and is redeployed wherever possible to ensure value for money.
Estimated expenditure on IT equipment to support staff working from home or in a blended capacity:
Forestry Commission (Forest Services, Forestry England and Commissioners Office):
Forest Research:
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much Ofwat has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ofwat's staff balance working from home and in the office. This is important to support collaboration, build and sustain relationships with others, and support the delivery of Ofwat's business outcomes. Working from the office provides opportunities for face-to-face interaction and connection, in-person meetings, and networking.
Taking this hybrid approach, Ofwat recognises that staff are likely to incur new or additional spend on hybrid working incidentals. Ofwat has spent the following on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years:
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Veterinary Medicines Directorate has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate’s (VMD’s) spend on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years is:
Year | Total |
|
FY2022/23 | £10,579.77 |
|
FY2023/24 | £6,248.34 |
|
FY2024/25 | £3,235.72 |
|
The VMD is unable to differentiate between costs that are associated with the provision of equipment for use at home relating to a workplace adjustment, and formal working contracts versus any costs associated with hybrid working arrangements. Obtaining this information could only be achieved at a disproportionate cost.
The VMD, in common with other directorates and Government departments, has agreed that 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the Civil Service.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department spent on equipment for civil servants to work from home in each of the last three years.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
As was the case under the last government, the intended use of equipment purchased by civil servants is not recorded at the point of a purchase requisition being raised. This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost, although the new Government is looking for ways to tighten up any potential waste in this area. Although that will of course not be sufficient in the long-term, it is still treats public money with more respect than previous Conservative administrations did.
Additionally, since the change of Government, Defra has agreed that a 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the Civil Service.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Rural Payments Agency has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
Rural Payments Agency employees can be reimbursed the cost of purchasing some equipment to help make sure they have the right equipment to work safely from home in line with the department’s working from home policy.
The Rural Payments Agency is unable to respond with how much has been spent specifically to facilitate home working as the information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Heads of departments have agreed that 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the Civil Service.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the size of the badger population in (a) Lincolnshire and (b) the East Midlands.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The first major national badger population survey in a decade began in February, with the first round of fieldwork now concluded. Further surveying will resume later this year, to estimate badger abundance and population recovery.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure the enforcement of laws prohibiting piglet thumping on pig farms.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
There are strict rules to protect the welfare of animals at the time of killing. Due to serious concerns about the welfare consequences of a manual percussive blow to the head, piglet thumping is not a permitted method for stunning or killing piglets.
Potential breaches of animal health and welfare legislation, such as the use of manual blunt force trauma on piglets, are taken very seriously. Any allegations of poor animal welfare are investigated by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), and appropriate action is taken. The local authority, as the appropriate enforcement agency, may initiate prosecution action for animal welfare offences where there is sufficient evidence.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 size of the hedgehog population in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As hedgehogs are widespread but scarce, there are practical challenges in estimating their number nationally. In the last 10 years, only one estimate, updated in 2024, has been made which indicated a population size estimate of 597,000 hedgehogs in England. However, confidence in the accuracy of this estimate is low.
Natural England is supporting the National Hedgehog Monitoring Programme, in partnership with the Peoples Trust for Endangered Species and The British Hedgehog Preservation Society, to provide a more robust national estimate of Britain’s hedgehog population. The pilot is due to be completed in May 2026.