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, in 2025 how many full-time equivalent civil servants in her Department focused on farming policy.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2025 Core Defra had 234 FTE working on farming policy directly. Farming benefits from wider Defra policies and activities where other staff in the Department would contribute.
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, whether department monitors how much food waste its offices generate each month.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The department monitors food waste from offices it manages on a monthly basis.
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, whether her Department holds records on how many (1) people or (2) organisations have been issued warnings about breaching hosepipe bans in the past ten years.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) does not collect or hold information on individuals or organisations that may have breached these restrictions. Responsibility for monitoring compliance and taking any enforcement action rests with the relevant water company.
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 she is taking to support wildlife conservation sites in Lincolnshire.
Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra published its updated protected sites Environment Act target delivery plan on the 16 July to support the improvement of protected sites here.
The Government supports wildlife conservation sites in Lincolnshire through Natural England and its partners. Natural England protects and improves Sites of Special Scientific Interest across Lincolnshire, including developing a Protected Sites Strategy for The Wash. Countryside Stewardship agreements support farmer-led habitat management, while Landscape Recovery Projects including Lincolnshire Wash, Lincoln & Witham, and Boothby Wildlands create connected habitats. Natural England also supports development of the Greater Lincolnshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy to guide future conservation investment.
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, other than special advisers if her Department has appointed anyone from outside the civil service since July 2024.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Since July 2024, the Department has made appointments from outside the Civil Service through public appointments and direct ministerial appointments. Information on these appointments is publicly available on GOV.UK here and here.
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 many agency staff were employed by her Department in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The department employed 51 agency staff in the financial year 2025/26, 23 agency staff in 2024/25, 64 agency staff in 2023/24, 35 agency staff in 2022/23, and 52 agency staff in 2021/22. All headcount figures are as of 31 March of the relevant financial year.
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 steps she has taken to support arable farmers in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is supporting arable farmers in South Holland and the Deepings and across Lincolnshire through a record £11.8 billion commitment to sustainable farming and food production over this Parliament. This year, eligible farmers can apply for new funding through the £240 million Sustainable Farming Incentive, at least £50 million for new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreements, £225 million in Capital Grants and £123 million through the Farming Innovation Programme, which supports productivity, innovation and resilience on farms.
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 she is taking to monitor water usage nationally from the growth of data centres.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Environment Agency and water companies to improve understanding of data centre water demand. We are building the evidence base on water use, considering its implications through national water resources planning, and supporting efficient, sustainable water use by the sector.
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 many political appointees have been made by her department since July 2024.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra officials have taken ‘political appointees’ to mean special advisers. A list of special advisers by department is published each year in the Annual Report on Special Advisers which is laid in parliament. The Annual Report on Special Advisers 2026 will be published in due course.
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, whether her department has estimated how many seabirds have died due to colliding with offshore wind turbines for each of the last five years.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have commissioned the Joint Nature Conservation Committee to undertake a project to calculate estimated mortalities from offshore wind farms using up to date methods and parameters. This will support future assessments of offshore wind impacts on seabirds.