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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much grant funding was provided to the Office for Environmental Protection in financial years (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24.

The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) in England is publicly funded by a grant in aid from Defra as the sponsoring department.

In 2022/23, Defra provided £7,108,583 of baseline funding and £4,364,366 of additional funding to the OEP to support establishment costs.

In 2023/24, Defra increased baseline funding to £8,130,755 and provided £1,100,000 of additional funding.

The OEP’s activity in Northern Ireland is funded separately by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.