Written questions by Dewhirst.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2024 to Question 7017 on Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Official Cars, if he will name which specific senior officials have access to a Government car; and whether those senior officials had access to a Government car before the 2024 general election.

For security reasons specific details of allocations including make and model of vehicles are not issued. The arrangements relating to the usage of vehicles in the Government Car Service are set out in the Civil Service Management Code.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2024 to Question 7016 on Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Official Cars, whether either of the two vehicles are electric cars.

For security reasons specific details of allocations including make and model of vehicles are not issued. The arrangements relating to the usage of vehicles in the Government Car Service are set out in the Civil Service Management Code.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many slurry stores require updating to meet the previous Government’s target of six months of storage for slurry.

Defra recognises that sufficient storage is fundamental to good slurry management. The Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) (England) Regulations 2010, also known as SSAFO, set the standards for slurry storage and the Department works closely with the Environment Agency (EA) to ensure these standards are met.

Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on (a) applications and (b) approvals for the Slurry Investment Scheme.

To date, the Rural Payments Agency has received 92 applications. Of these, 37 have been approved, 1 has been rejected due to ineligibility, 55 are still being appraised. The deadline to receive full applications is June 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) his officials have held with external stakeholders since 5 July 2024.

Details of ministers’ and senior officials’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. Data for the period of July to September 2024 will be published in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's policy is on the allocation of Government Car Service cars to senior officials; what the policy was on 24 May 2024; and which senior officials have been granted access to the service since 4 July 2024.

The Government Car Service (GCS) offers vehicles to Government departments as a shared resource. Each department independently determines the allocation of these vehicles. The arrangements relating to the using of vehicles in the GCS are set out in the Civil Service Management Code. There has been no change in this policy since the general election.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 6 September 2024 to Questions 2306 and 2308 on Ministers: Official Cars, which (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have (i) been allocated a dedicated vehicle and (ii) access to use of a shared vehicle from the Government Car Service; what the (A) make, (B) model and (C) fuel type is for each car; and what the budget was for those cars in the 2024-25 financial year.

The Government Car Service offers vehicles to Government departments as a shared resource. Each department independently determines the allocation of these vehicles to its ministerial cadre/officials, as under previous administrations. Defra is currently allocated two vehicles including allocated and shared vehicles. For security reasons specific details of allocations including make and model of vehicles are not issued. The average cost to a department for a single Department Pool Car in 2024/25 financial year is £108K per annum.