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 his Department’s publication entitled Defra: spending over £500, January 2025, published on 21 March 2025, what the Environment Agency purchased from VAT: GB 695449381 on 14 January 2025.

On 14 January 2025, the Environment Agency purchased training for qualifying staff who hold a professional qualification provided by the Institute of Asset Management. The training was provided by Asset Management Consulting Limited, described on the publication as VAT: GB 695449381. The description comes from the supplier.

The Cabinet Office has recently announced measures to ensure public expenditure offers maximum value to the taxpayer. This is to correct the lack of respect for public money by the previous government, which allowed this type of spend to be entirely unchecked and unmonitored, including for the time that he was a minister in that department.

The policy detail can be found here:

Government-branded merchandise and away days banned - GOV.UK