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

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many BAME civil servants there are at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at (1) SCS1, (2) SCS2, (3) SCS3, and (4) SCS4, grade.

I refer to the published diversity and inclusion data for the Civil Service: www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-diversity-inclusion-dashboard/civil-service-diversity-and-inclusion-dashboard.

The Civil Service is committed to diversity and inclusion and to reflecting the country that we serve, and is taking targeted action to tackle underrepresentation, especially in the Senior Civil Service (SCS). Our workforce data shows that the Civil Service as a whole is broadly representative of the UK’s working population, but there is more to be done to ensure that this diversity is reflected at all levels across departments and professions. Our diversity and inclusion dashboard provides details of the percentage of SCS from an ethnic minority background, but this data does not differentiate the SCS grades (SCS1,2,3,4). Defra is unable to provide the breakdown by SCS grades due to the risk of identifying individuals.