Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many civil servants in his Department have a criminal conviction.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.
New appointments to Defra undergo pre-employment criminal record checks. Where a conviction is flagged, appointment is dependent on a role-specific risk assessment. Convictions for the following offences result in the individual automatically failing pre-employment checks and not being appointed: life sentences, arson, sexual offences and hate and terror offences.
Defra has participated in the Going Forward into Employment Scheme for Ex-Offenders and has appointed to posts via this scheme. We can confirm that the numbers appointed under this scheme are currently less than 10. However, exact numbers may enable individuals to be identifiable and the privacy and confidentiality of this information requires us to ensure individuals are properly protected.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of (a) board members and (b) employees of the Environment Agency have previous experience in the sectors that they regulate.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs appoints members to the Environment Agency board based on the skills and experience they bring from a wide range of sectors, including finance, business, regulation, and agriculture.
The Environment Agency attracts and recruit’s employees with a wide range of skills and experiences also from a range of sectors. However, the information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of (a) board members and (b) employees of Ofwat have previous experience in the sector that they regulate.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ofwat board members bring a range of relevant skills and experience, however no current board members have direct experience of working in a regulated water company.
For employees of Ofwat, we do not hold this information. Ofwat recruits people on the basis of their skills and experience which can help us to hold companies to account. Once employed by Ofwat, they are subject to civil service rules on independence, propriety and probity as part of the Ofwat Code of Conduct applicable to all employees.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) reward-only training and (b) e-collar training to deter escaped dogs from attacking sheep.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs includes guidance on how to keep dogs safe and under control, and can be found here: Code of practice for the welfare of dogs (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Defra published research in 2014 on the use of e-collars which can be found here: Science Search (defra.gov.uk)
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the civil service headcount for their Department was on (a) 15 November 2022 and (b) 1 February 2020.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Core Defra civil service headcount was (a) 6,469 and (b) 4,965.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many employees in her Department work on matters related to covid-19.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There are currently 9 employees working on matters relating to Covid-19.
The Government published its Living with Covid plan in February 2022 to help and support citizens as we transition out of the pandemic.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 June 2022 to Question 11614, on Clean Air Zones: Bradford, how many pieces of correspondence there have been between Bradford Council and the Government on the Clean Air Zone in Bradford; what the cost would be of placing details of all correspondence in the Library; and if he will break down that cost.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Bradford City Council was first directed to complete a feasibility study in March 2018 to reduce its NO2 levels to within legal limits. Since then, there has been substantial correspondence related to the detail of their proposals which have been thoroughly scrutinised in line with the relevant legislation and Government policy. The relevant ministerial directions have been placed in the Library and the council’s website provides extensive details of the development and planned implementation of the proposals.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will place a copy of all correspondence between the Government and Bradford Council relating to the introduction of a Clean Air Zone in the Library.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Placing details of all correspondence in the Library would incur disproportionate cost. We will be placing copies of the relevant Ministerial directions under the Environment Act in the Library. Comprehensive information on the Clean Air Zone is available via breathe better BRADFORD | Bradford Council.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will detail the losses and special payments valued at under £300,000 for his departmental group as defined by section A4.10.7 in HM Treasury's Managing Public Money for (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The losses and special payments valued at under £300,000 for the departmental group for the years 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 as already held on the record of losses for the public sector organisations within the departmental group, in accordance with Managing Public Money (Annex A4.10.7), or as otherwise held for the purposes of special payment disclosures, are set out below. These disclosures are consistent with the organisations’ obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018.
(a) 2018-19
Loss / Special Payment | Amount (£) | Description |
Loss | 137,750.00 | 1 project that the European Court of Auditors reduced the project value, resulting in a reduction of £137,750 |
Loss | 122,157.55 | 2 projects were subject to Legal proceedings by MMO (Marine Management Organisation). The applicant was found guilty, but the Court judgement was that funding could not be recovered. |
Loss | 64,239.52 | 2 projects where the company is bankrupt and administrators have advised repayment of grant is unlikely |
Loss | 32,559.55 | 9 projects paid at incorrect intervention rate totalling £32,559.55. The irregularity was detected by Audit and covered the period from 2010 - 15. |
Loss | 9,997.88 | 1 Project subject to both Ombudsman referral and MMO Legal consideration |
Loss | 3,449.67 | Invoice number 1000052670 dated 17 June 2015 for £5,249.67 to recover a salary overpayment. Regular repayments had been made but these ceased in January 2017. SSCL have been unable to contact person & there has been no response to the final notice that SSCL (Shared Services Connected Ltd) sent in May 2017. |
Loss | 2,577.94 | 1 project was subject to overpayment, which was detected after final payment at the end of the EFF (European Fisheries Fund) scheme. Identified as part of formal EFF closure activity. |
Loss | 1,897.81 | 3 Projects were detected by Audit activities during the course of the Programme and total £1,897.81. One project was overpaid due to exchange rate calculation, one refused to repay the small OP and cited bankruptcy, with the final applicant being untraceable from 2015. |
Loss | 1,469.90 | Invoice 1000064304 dated 22 April 2016 for £1,469.90 to recover an overpayment of a season ticket advance. SSCL have been unable to contact him & there has been no response to the final notice that SSCL sent in May 2017. |
Loss | 1,108.94 | Damage to cage traps used during badger control culling operation for bovine TB disease controls in 2018 by anti culling activists. 12 cage traps were damaged beyond repair. |
Loss | 580.35 | System error which added an incorrect VAT sum to an invoice. Beyond legal recovery period. |
Loss | 454.14 | Paid £587.50 to wrong supplier. Partially recovered in legacy. Beyond legal recovery period. |
Loss | 193.52 | Travel reimbursement paid to wrong employee who left shortly after. Would require full trace at circa £50 plus staff time to find sufficient records to instigate plus potential chasing costs. Uneconomic to recover. |
Loss | 101.46 | Land line phone calls billed after employee left. Would require full trace at circa £50 plus staff time to find sufficient records to instigate plus potential chasing costs. Uneconomic to recover. |
Loss | 44.40 | Legacy system error which added VAT. Beyond legal recovery period. |
Loss | 42.24 | Credit note for 2 invoices paid in legacy system which was partially recovered in final payment to supplier in February 2012. Beyond legal recovery period. |
Loss | 27.97 | Personal mobile calls billed after employee left. Beyond legal recovery period. |
Loss | 27.00 | SSCL have advised that the remaining balance on the invoice of £27.00 has arisen due to the deduction of bank charges from the customer's payment and exchange rate variances. As the customer is based overseas it is uneconomical to pursue. |
Loss | 5.90 | Personal mobile calls billed after employee left. Uneconomic to recover. |
Loss | 0.23 | Personal mobile calls billed after employee left. Uneconomic to recover. |
Loss | 0.01 | Invoice 1000064804 dated 30 April 2016 for £24,000. This invoice was raised to recover Defra's incorrect payment of invoice 1129585 on 16th March 2016. The invoice has been part paid but given the outstanding amount of £0.01, it is uneconomical to pursue the remaining balance. |
Special Payment | 3,250.00 | A consolatory payment of £3,250 has been recommended by the Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman (PHSO). £500 has been paid leaving an outstanding balance of £2,750. PHSO found that there had been maladministration by Defra in relation to the online portal in relation to the Nitrate Vulnerable Zones scheme and that someone had suffered injustice from Defra |
Special Payment | 119.00 | Request for a replacement of a damaged item of clothing - A member of staff had their jacket damaged by a fire door whilst on duty on MMO premises. |
(b) 2019-20
Loss / Special Payment | Amount (£) | Description |
Loss | 20,395.66 | Damage to cage traps, GPS trackers and smart phone with tracking devices used during badger control culling operation for bovine TB (Tuberculosis) disease controls in 2019 by anti culling activists. 5 cage traps, 178 smart phones and 8 trackers were damaged beyond repair. |
Special Payment | 54,596.00 | Derbyshire Lunar Cull – costs to company after cancelled cull programme. |
Special Payment | 5,000.00 | HR staff case (sensitive and details not for circulation outside of Defra Finance and HR teams). |
Special Payment | 1,224.00 | Judicial Review / Costs of cancelled mediation to claimant’s solicitors. |
Special Payment | 1,000.00 | Allegations of failure to arrange reasonable adjustments. |
Special Payment | 75.00 | Missing personal property. |
(c) 2020-21
Loss / Special Payment | Amount (£) | Description |
Loss | 240,257.00 | Historic invoicing not recovered |
Loss | 15,597.62 | Damage to cage traps, GPS (Global Positioning System) trackers and smart phones/sims with tracking devices used during badger control culling operation for bovine TB disease controls in 2020 by anti culling activists. 2 cage traps, 132 smart phones and 38 trackers were damaged beyond repair. |
Loss | 1,445.04 | TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)) from EA (Environment Agency) to Defra. Came in on a TARA (Temporary Additional Responsibility Allowance) and her manager subsequently increased her TARA payments outside of existing policy. Her revised salary was confirmed to her by SSCL HR (Human Resources). Staff member was unaware this additional payment was not allowed. As no fault of the individual HR are proposing that this is written off rather than recovered |
Loss | 740.15 | Sick pay was entered on SOP incorrectly by her manager leading to overpayment of £740.15. Staff member has since died and as such HR do not want to pursue her estate for the recovery of the overpayment |
Special Payment | 9,000.00 | Race and Disability case. Settlement to offset tribunal costs. |
Special Payment | 8,500.00 | Reflects liability on the unfair dismissal claim |
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that his Department and its agencies remove all internal covid-19 related policies, restrictions and mask mandates.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Throughout the pandemic, all Civil Service employers have followed Government guidance in setting out their internal COVID-19 related policies. This includes complying with the Working Safely during Coronavirus (COVID-19): Guidance which sets out the key actions organisations should take to protect employees and customers in order to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading in workplaces, along with carrying out health and safety risk assessments that include the ongoing risk from COVID-19.
On 21 February 2022, the Government published its COVID-19 Response: Living with COVID-19. This document sets out how and when the remaining restrictions will be lifted in England. Government guidance was subsequently amended, including the Working Safely guidance.
The Government’s Working Safely guidance, which was launched on 24 February 2022, continues to require organisations to carry out a risk assessment which includes the risk from COVID-19. It also sets out additional actions organisations can take to protect employees and customers in the workplace, such as ensuring adequate ventilation, frequent cleaning, asking people to wash their hands frequently and asking people with COVID-19 to stay away. The guidance advises that people continue to wear face coverings in crowded and enclosed settings where they come into contact with people they do not normally meet, when rates of transmission are high. Civil Service employers will continue to follow this guidance and align their policies accordingly.