Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Artificial Intelligence

This Government is committed to adopting artificial intelligence in a way that is transparent, responsible and accountable to the public.

The department uses AI-enabled services and tools where they can support the productivity of officials and improve the quality and efficiency of public services. This includes access to secure, enterprise-grade generative AI tools that have been assured to appropriate security standards and approved for official use. Officials are instructed to use only approved tools for official business and not enter personal, sensitive or restricted information into AI systems unless the tool and use case have been specifically approved.

In line with the cross-government approach, information about algorithmic and AI tools used by government departments to support decisions that affect members of the public, or that have a significant influence on a decision-making process with public effect, is published through the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS). Published records are available on GOV.UK.

Defra officials are currently permitted to access Microsoft Copilot through the department’s enterprise arrangements. Approved tools are configured so that departmental data is held securely and is not used to train publicly available AI models.

AI services may be accessed through direct contracts, framework or reseller arrangements, or as features within existing enterprise software. Relevant contractual information is published on Contracts Finder and, where applicable, Find a Tender.