Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Fifty-first Report of the Committee of Public Accounts of Session 2022-23 on Tackling Defra’s ageing digital services, HC 737, published on 10 May 2023, how much of the £871 million allocated in the 2021 Spending Review to be spent by his Department on digital investment over three years has been spent.

At least £381.5 million of the £871 million allocated in the 2021 Spending Review to be spent by Defra on digital investment has been spent as of 31 December 2023.

Approximately £134 million of the £871 million was allocated to Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) for their own IT expenditure and so is monitored through individual ALB finance processes rather than central Defra finance.