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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much the Rural Payments Agency has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years.

Rural Payments Agency employees can be reimbursed the cost of purchasing some equipment to help make sure they have the right equipment to work safely from home in line with the department’s working from home policy.

The Rural Payments Agency is unable to respond with how much has been spent specifically to facilitate home working as the information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Heads of departments have agreed that 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the Civil Service.