Written questions by O'Brien.

Food and Rural Affairs, what the annual budget was for (a) Natural England, (b) the Environment Agency, and (c) the Office for Environmental Protection in each year since 2005.

The annual budget figures for Natural England, the Environment Agency, and the Office for Environmental Protection in each year since 2005 can be found as follows. Natural England’s actual spend data can be found in their Annual Report and Accounts, which are published here: Natural England annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK. Environment Agency’s actual spend data can be found in their Annual Report and Accounts, which are published here: Environment Agency annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK. The Office for Environmental Protection’s actual spend data can be found in their Annual Report and Accounts, which are published here: Our reports and publications | Office for Environmental Protection.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in her Department (a) did not retain employment following the completion of their probationary period and (b) had their probationary period extended in each of the last five years.

The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs. Defra’s probation policy and guidance advises managers on the steps to take to assess a new employee’s suitability for the post and to provide support to enable them to succeed. It also advises on the steps to take where performance, attendance or conduct are not satisfactory. This can include exiting the employee or extending their probation to provide further evidence for a final decision on their suitability.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in her Department are recorded as having a (a) mental health condition and (b) physical disability by grade.

Information on the number of people declaring a disability by each government department are published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Latest published data are as of 31 March 2025 and can be found at Table 29 of the statistical tables at the following web address: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-service-statistics-2025. Information for 31 March 2026 is due for publication in July 2026.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff left her Department in each of the last five years by grade.

Information on the number of civil servants leaving each Government department and organisation by responsibility level for the years 2021 to 2025 is published annually through the ‘Civil Service data browser’ as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025, an accredited official statistics publication. Information can be accessed through the Civil Service data browser for 2021 through 2025 at the following web address: https://civil-service-statistics.jdac.service.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/

Food and Rural Affairs, how many employment tribunal claims have been lodged against her Department in each of the last five years for (a) unfair dismissal and (b) claims under the Equality Act 2010.

Defra’s casework data is held for three years from the date of case closure. Over the last three years, Defra received 33 Employment Tribunal claims on the grounds of Unfair Dismissal or under the Equality Act. The 33 cases are broken down into the following: Financial Year 2022-23 = total of 9 casesFinancial Year 2023-24 = total of 11 casesFinancial Year 2024-25 = total of 7 casesFinancial Year 2025-26 = total of 6 cases to date The information requested for the older two years is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many performance reviews were undertaken for staff in (a) her Department and (b) its agencies in each of the last five years; in how many such cases performance was rated as unsatisfactory or below; how many staff left as a result of such a rating; and what proportion of full-time equivalent staff this represented.

The following table summarises the information held on the total number of performance ratings where these were available, and the number of cases where a rating was unsatisfactory or below. Please note that the policy for performance management has changed over this period. End-year performance ratings were removed for most staff in April 23. From this date performance ratings are only collected for Senior Civil Servants in APHA, RPA, VMD and Core Defra, senior leaders in NE, and all staff in EA. Additionally, NE ratings for senior leaders are collated by NE directly and are not included in the data below from April 23 onwards. The reportable data Defra holds does not include the reason for a dismissal and therefore a link to performance rating cannot be made. This limitation means that the requested information on number of staff who left because of a poor performance rating, and the proportion this represents, is not available. OrganisationFinancial YearNumber of performance ratingsNumber of cases where performance was unsatisfactory or belowCore Defra2020-20214720 2021-20225873152022-20235856 2023-2024**182 2024-2025**18410Agencies (APHA, EA, NE, RPA, VMD)2020-2021*14975292021-202217768542022-202320438442023-2024**12925402024-2025**1315429 *No ratings available for RPA.**SCS only for APHA, RPA, VMD, Core Defra, no ratings available for NE.c. These numbers are suppressed in accordance with the Defra data protection policy.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in his Department have job titles which include the words (a) equality, (b) diversity, (c) inclusion, (d) gender, (e) LGBT and (f) race.

This information is not held centrally.

Food and Rural Affairs, how many staff in the (a) Environment Agency and (b) Rural Payments Agency have job titles which include the words (i) equality, (ii) diversity, (iii) inclusion, (iv) gender, (v) LGBT and (vi) race.

This information is not held centrally.

Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department spent on communications in the last year for which data is available.

Defra spent £1,503,000 on communications activity in the 2023/2024 financial year. Defra publishes details on spend on a monthly basis on GOV.UK as part of routine Government transparency arrangements. Communications campaigns are an important part of delivering some of the Department’s policies. Communications spend allows us to reach audiences in places and ways that ensure they are more responsive and open to hearing about our work and hopefully changing their attitudes and behaviours towards positive action.