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| Department overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 2001; 24 years ago (2001) |
| Preceding agencies | |
| Jurisdiction | Government of the United Kingdom |
| Headquarters | 2 Marsham Street, London |
| Annual budget | £2.2 billion (current) & £400 million (capital) for 2011-12[1] |
| Secretary of State responsible | |
| Department executives |
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| Child agencies | |
| Website | gov |
TheDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is aministerial department of thegovernment of the United Kingdom. It is responsible forenvironmental protection, food production and standards,agriculture,fisheries and rural communities in England.Concordats set out agreed frameworks for cooperation, between it and theScottish Government,[2]Welsh Government[3] andNorthern Ireland Executive,[4] which have devolved responsibilities for these matters in their respective nations.
Defra also leads for the United Kingdom on agricultural, fisheries and environmental matters in international negotiations on sustainable development and climate change, although a newDepartment of Energy and Climate Change was created on 3 October 2008 to take over the last responsibility; later transferred to theDepartment for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy followingTheresa May's appointment as Prime Minister in July 2016.
The department was formed in June 2001, under the leadership ofMargaret Beckett, when theMinistry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) was merged with part of theDepartment of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) and with a small part of theHome Office.
It was created after the perceived failure of MAFF to deal adequately withan outbreak ofFoot and Mouth disease. The department had about 9,000 core personnel, as of January 2008[update].[5]
In October 2008, the climate team at Defra was merged with the energy team from the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), to create theDepartment of Energy and Climate Change, then headed byEd Miliband.[6]
Defra ministers are as follows, with cabinet members in bold:[7]
| Minister | Portrait | Office | Portfolio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emma ReynoldsMP |  | Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Strategy and overall responsibility for departmental policy; water quality and security; food production and security; economic growth; international relations; senior appointments. |
| Angela EagleMP | .jpg) | Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs | Farming (including Environmental Land Management (ELMS)); food security; science and innovation (including agri-science); rural; fisheries; farmed animal welfare including bovine TB; trade; budget (deputy to Secretary of State); lead forRural Payments Agency,Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board,Marine Management Organisation,Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science andSea Fish Industry Authority |
| Mary CreaghMP |  | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature | Circular economy; planning and land use framework; domestic biodiversity; tree planting and forestry; international nature and wildlife; environmental targets and EIP; Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme; green finance; Protected Landscapes (National Landscapes and National Parks); lead forOffice for Environmental Protection,Natural England,Forestry Commission,Joint Nature Conservation Committee andKew Gardens |
| Emma HardyMP |  | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Water and Flooding | Floods and emergencies; water; clean air and noise; environmental regulation (including chemicals, contaminated land andRegistration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH)); pesticides; Net Zero, climate change and adaptation; domestic and international marine; lead forEnvironment Agency andConsumer Council for Water |
| Baroness Hayman | .jpg) | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Biosecurity, Borders and Animals | Biosecurity and plant health; borders; Northern Ireland – Windsor Framework; animal welfare;One Health; access (including rights of way and coastal paths); lead forVeterinary Medicines Directorate andAnimal and Plant Health Agency |
ThePermanent Secretary is Paul Kissack.[8]
Defra is responsible for British Government policy in the following areas:[9]
Some policies apply toEngland alone due todevolution, while others are not devolved and therefore apply to theUnited Kingdom as a whole.
The department'sexecutive agencies are:[10]
The department's key delivery partners are:[13]
A full list of departmental delivery and public bodies may be found on the Defra website.[16]
Policies for environment, food and rural affairs are delivered in the regions by Defra's executive agencies and delivery bodies, in particularNatural England, theRural Payments Agency,Animal Health and theMarine Management Organisation.
Defra provides grant aid to the following flood andcoastal erosion risk managementoperating authorities:
Defra's overarching aim is sustainable development, which is defined as "development which enables all people throughout the world to satisfy their basic needs and enjoy a better quality of life without compromising the quality of life of future generations". The Secretary of State wrote in a letter to the Prime Minister that he saw Defra's mission as enabling a move toward what theWorld Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has called "one planet living".[17]
Under this overarching aim, Defra has five strategic priorities:[18]
Defra aims toprocure a significant proportion of the goods and services it requires fromsmall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in line with government policy on the SME agenda, and has also encouraged its major contractors to engage with SMEs.[19]
Defra's headquarters are at 2,Marsham Street, London.[20] It is also located at Nobel House, 17,Smith Square, London.[21]
This article incorporates text published under the BritishOpen Government Licence:"Our ministers".GOV.UK. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Retrieved14 October 2022. This article incorporates text published under the BritishOpen Government Licence: Cabinet Office,Making Government business more accessible to SMEs: Two Years On, p. 23, published on 8 August 2013, accessed on 25 December 2024
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