The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

His Majesty's Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture,

fisheries Fishery can mean either the Big business, enterprise of Animal husbandry#Aquaculture, raising or Fishing, harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place (wikt:AKA, a.k.a. fishing ground). Com ...

and rural communities in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Concordats A concordat is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 st Edi ...

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 the United Kingdom on agricultural, fisheries and environmental matters in 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 The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is a department of His Majesty's Government. The department was formed during a machinery of government change on 14 July 2016, following Theresa May's appointment as Prime ...

following Theresa May's appointment as Prime Minister in July 2016.

Creation

The department was formed in June 2001, under the leadership of Margaret Beckett, when the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) was merged with part of the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) and with a small part of the Home Office. It 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 (BERR), to create the Department of Energy and Climate Change, then headed by Ed Miliband.

Ministers

The Defra Ministers are as follows: The

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

is Tamara Finkelstein, who replaced

Clare Moriarty Dame Clare Moriarty DCB (born 6 April 1963) is the Chief Executive of Citizens Advice and former British civil servant, who served as Permanent Secretary of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs between 2015 and 2019 and as ...

in 2019. Shadow ministers portfolios can differ from government departments therefore overlap.

Responsibilities

Defra is responsible for British Government policy in the following areas * Adaptation to global warming * Agriculture * Air quality * Animal health and animal welfare *

Biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity' ...

* Conservation * Chemical substances and

pesticide Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...

s *

Fisheries Fishery can mean either the Big business, enterprise of Animal husbandry#Aquaculture, raising or Fishing, harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place (wikt:AKA, a.k.a. fishing ground). Com ...

* Flooding *

Food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...

* Forestry *

Hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

* Inland waterways * Land management *

Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

policy * National parks * Noise * Plant health * Rural development *

Sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

Trade and the environment
* Waste management * Water management Some policies apply to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

alone due to

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territori ...

, while others are not devolved and therefore apply to the

as a whole.

Executive agencies

The department's

executive agencies An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or ...

are: * Animal and Plant Health Agency (formerly the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency, formed by a merger of Animal Health and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, and later parts of the Food and Environment Research Agency. Animal Health had launched on 2 April 2007 and was formerly the State Veterinary Service) * Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science * Rural Payments Agency * Veterinary Medicines Directorate

Key delivery partners

The department's key delivery partners are: * Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board * Consumer Council for Water *

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

* Fera Science (formerly the Food and Environment Research Agency, now a company in which Defra holds a 25% stake) * Forestry Commission (a

non-ministerial government department Non-ministerial government departments (NMGDs) are a type of department of the United Kingdom government that deal with matters for which direct political oversight has been judged unnecessary or inappropriate. They are headed by senior civil se ...

including Forest Enterprise and Forest Research) * Joint Nature Conservation Committee * Marine Management Organisation (launched on 1 April 2010, incorporates the former Marine and Fisheries Agency) *

National Forest Company The National Forest is an environmental project in central England run by The National Forest Company. From the 1990s, of north Leicestershire, south Derbyshire and southeast Staffordshire have been planted in an attempt to blend ancient woodl ...

* Natural England (launched on 11 October 2006, formerly English Nature and elements of the Countryside Agency and the

Rural Development Service The Rural Development Service (RDS) was formerly part of the UK Government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It ceased to exist on 1 October 2006 following the creation of Natural England. History The RDS was create ...

) * Ofwat (a

formally known as the Water Services Regulation Authority) *

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...

* Sea Fish Industry Authority A full list of departmental delivery and public bodies may be found on the Defra website.

Defra in the English regions

Countryside Stewardship Scheme sign - geograph

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: *

* Internal drainage boards *

Local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

Aim and strategic priorities

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 (WWF) has called "one planet living". Under this overarching aim, Defra has five strategic priorities: * Climate change and energy. * Sustainable consumption and production, including responsibility for the

National Waste Strategy The National Waste Strategy is a policy of the Parliament of the United Kingdom as well as the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The development of national waste strategies is intended to foster a move to sustainabil ...

. * Protecting the countryside and natural resource protection. * Sustainable rural communities. * A sustainable farming and food sector including animal health and welfare. Defra Headquarters are at 2, Marsham Street, London. It is also located at Nobel House, 17, Smith Square, London.

References

External links

Defra's official website

Fera - Executive agency of DEFRA

National Collection of Plant Pathogenic Bacteria - Fera

English Nature's website

JNCC's website

Defra's wiki for formulating an environmental contract

Air Quality Expert Group

Video clips

DEFRA YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs Agricultural organisations based in England

Environment of England Ministries established in 2001 2001 establishments in the United Kingdom Forestry agencies in the United Kingdom