Written questions by Thornberry.

Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2024 to Question 9618 on Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Ministers' Private Offices, how much was spent on (a) new furniture and fittings and (b) other refurbishment of Ministerial offices in his Department between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024; and on what items this was spent.

Between 4 July 2022 and 4 July 2024 approximately £5,700 (inclusive of VAT) was spent on renovation and improvements to Ministerial Offices. Incurred costs were: Reupholstery of 14 leather-seated meeting chairs - @ £3,450.002x Floor standing lamps - @ £2,194.20 for two.2 x mounted mirrors - @ £59.90 for two.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many government procurement cards were held by staff within (a) his core Department and (b) executive agencies of his Department at the end of calendar years (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.

The table below sets out the number of cardholders at the end of each calendar year, by organisation. 20222023Core Department235292Animal and Plant Health Agency6463Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science266357Rural Payments Agency1111Veterinary Medicines Directorate1514

Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department spent on government procurement card purchases (a) above and (b) below £500 net of refunded payments in (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023.

(a) Published departmental transaction level data on government procurementcard (GPC) purchases for transactions over £500 in accordance with policy are at the following link: https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/710cd410-0724-4aac-b891-e48e9ec50d66/defra-government-procurement-card-spend-transactions-over-500 The guiding policy setting out the requirement to publish GPC transactions over £500 remains in place. Guidance is available to all government departments on gov.uk at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5e8b402686650c18ce2cb541/Procurement_Cards_-_Pan_Government_Policy_V4_06042020.pdf The policy clearly sets out the standard that departments must publish to which coverstransaction date, transaction reference, merchant name and the amount spent. (b) The following table sets out the core department’s expenditure using government procurement cards for transactions under £500 for each of the calendar years stated. 20222023Value of Transactions under £500£356,046£388,007