Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s Greening Government Commitments for 2021-25, how many reams of A4 paper were purchased by her Department in Financial Years (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21 and (c) 2021-22.

DCMS is committed to the Greening Government Commitments target of reducing government’s paper use by at least 50% from a 2017 to 2018 baseline.

• Our paper purchasing for the financial year 2019-2020 was published in the Greening Government Commitments Annual Report which is available on gov.uk

• Our paper purchasing for the financial year 2020-2021 will be published in the Greening Government Commitments Annual Report for 2020-2021, in early 2023.

• Our paper purchasing for the financial year 2021-2022 will be published in the Greening Government Commitments Annual Report for 2021-2022.

• GGC annual reporting is delayed due to Covid-19 impacts, but the government remains committed to reducing the environmental impact of its estate and operations.

• Established in 2010, the Greening Government Commitments (GGCs) set out the actions that the government will take to improve the environmental impact of the government estate and its operations. They demonstrate how the UK government is leading by example and working to improve the environmental performance of its own estate and operations, in line with our 25 Year Environment Plan commitments to improve the environment within a generation.

• Since the inception of the GGCs, the government has halved its greenhouse gas emissions and waste, in addition to making many other efficiencies. Progress against the commitments is published in GGC annual reports.