Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs


The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Concordats set out agreed frameworks for co operation, between it and the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive, which have devolved responsibilities for these matters in their respective nations.
Defra also leads for Britain at the EU on agricultural, fisheries and environment matters and in other international negotiations on sustainable development and climate change, although a new Department of Energy and Climate Change was created on 3 October 2008 to take over the last responsibility; later transferred to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy following Theresa May's appointment as Prime Minister in July 2016.

Creation

It was formed in June 2001, under the leadership of Margaret Beckett, when the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was merged with part of the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions and with a small part of the Home Office.
The department was created after the perceived failure of MAFF, to deal adequately with an outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease. The department had about 9,000 core personnel,.
In October 2008, the climate team at Defra was merged with the energy team from the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, to create the Department of Energy and Climate Change, then headed by Ed Miliband.

Ministers

The Defra Ministers are as follows:
MinisterRankPortfolio
The Rt Hon. George Eustice MPSecretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsStrategy and overall responsibility for departmental policy; Budget and finances; Legislative programme; Emergencies; EU and international relations; Environment Agency and Natural England.
The Rt Hon. The Lord Goldsmith of Richmond ParkMinister of State for the Pacific, Environment and Conservation Climate change, Environment and Conservation, Biodiversity; Oceans; Oceania; Blue Belt.
The Hon. Rebecca Pow MPParliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Environment and Rural OpportunitiesDomestic natural environment; 25 Year Environment Plan; Environment Bill; Climate change adaptation, co-ordination of DEFRA input to net zero, land use; Floods and water; Resource and environmental management ; Commercial projects including Covent Garden Market and waste PFI projects; Lead for Environment Agency and Natural England; Commons Minister for rural affairs, landscape, and adaptation.
The Rt Hon. The Lord Gardiner of KimbleParliamentary Under Secretary of State for Rural Affairs & BiosecurityAll DEFRA parliamentary business in the House of Lords; Animal health and traceability; Bee health and National Pollinator Strategy; Biosecurity, including endemic and exotic plant and animal disease, invasive alien species and Kew Gardens; Landscape, including national parks, AONBs and access; Rural ambassador and rural affairs, covering rural life opportunities, broadband and mobile.
The Hon. Victoria Prentis MPParliamentary Under Secretary of State for Agriculture, Fisheries and FoodFood and farming, including CAP ; Brexit readiness; fisheries; bovine TB policy; trade; science and innovation; pesticides; better regulation; lead for Rural Payments Agency , the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board , Cefas, Marine Management Organisation ; Commons Minister for biosecurity, plant health and animal disease.

The Permanent Secretary is Tamara Finkelstein, who replaced Clare Moriarty in 2019.
Shadow ministers portfolios can differ from government departments therefore overlap.

Responsibilities

Defra is responsible for British Government policy in the following areas
Some policies apply to England alone due to devolution, while others are not devolved and therefore apply to Britain as a whole.

Executive agencies

The department's executive agencies are:
The department's key delivery partners are:
A full list of departmental delivery and public bodies may be found on the Defra website.

Defra in the English regions

Policies for environment, food and rural affairs are delivered in the regions by Defra's executive agencies and delivery bodies, in particular Natural England, the Rural Payments Agency, Animal Health and the Marine Management Organisation.
Defra provides grant aid to the following flood and coastal erosion risk management operating 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 the World Wide Fund for Nature has called "one planet living".
Under this overarching aim, Defra has five strategic priorities:
In response to growing concerns about the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union and the effect it would have specifically on access to food for the British Public, Defra have put "a smooth and orderly exit from the European Union" as a priority.

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