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 (a) has taken and (b) intends to take to resolve the ongoing dispute over the 2022-23 Environment Agency pay offer.

My Department works with the Environment Agency through the provision of its Corporate Services, including HR, to support it in developing a pay offer for its staff whilst ensuring it meets the requirements of the Government’s pay guidance of the day. The Environment Agency, as a non-departmental public body, conducts its own relevant consultation and negotiations on such matters, and has been actively engaging with the unions on the issue of pay.