# Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the entire United Kingdom. Concordats set out agreed frameworks for cooperation, 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 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, as of January 2008.
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

Defra ministers are as follows, with cabinet members in bold:
On 8 and 9 July 2024, the appointments of Daniel Zeichner as Minister of State and Emma Hardy MP and and Baroness Hayman of Ullock as Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State was announced, but initially without details of specific portfolios within Defra.
| Minister | Office | Portfolio |
| Steve Reed MP | 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. |
| Daniel Zeichner MP | 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 for Rural Payments Agency, Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, Marine Management Organisation, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science and Sea Fish Industry Authority |
| Mary Creagh MP | 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 for Office for Environmental Protection, Natural England, Forestry Commission, Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Kew Gardens |
| Emma Hardy MP | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Water and Flooding | Floods and emergencies; water; clean air and noise; environmental regulation (including chemicals, contaminated land and Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH)); pesticides; Net Zero, climate change and adaptation; domestic and international marine; lead for Environment Agency and Consumer Council for Water |
| Baroness Hayman | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Lords Minister) | Biosecurity and plant health; borders; Northern Ireland – Windsor Framework; animal welfare; One Health; access (including rights of way and coastal paths); lead for Veterinary Medicines Directorate and Animal and Plant Health Agency |
The Permanent Secretary is Tamara Finkelstein, who replaced Clare Moriarty in 2019.

## 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
* Conservation
* Chemical substances and pesticides
* Fisheries
* Flooding
* Food
* Forestry
* Hunting
* Inland waterways
* Land management
* Marine policy
* National parks
* Noise
* Plant health
* Rural development
* Sustainable development
* Trade and the environment
* Waste management
* Water management
Some policies apply to England alone due to devolution, while others are not devolved and therefore apply to the United Kingdom as a whole.

## Executive agencies

The department's executive agencies 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
* 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 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
* Natural England (launched on 11 October 2006, formerly English Nature and elements of the Countryside Agency and the Rural Development Service)
* Ofwat (a non-ministerial government department formally known as the Water Services Regulation Authority)
* Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
* Sea Fish Industry Authority
A full list of departmental delivery and public bodies may be found on the Defra website.

## Defra in England

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:
* Environment Agency
* Internal drainage boards
* Local authorities

## 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.
* Protecting the countryside and natural resource protection.
* Sustainable rural communities.
* A sustainable farming and food sector including animal health and welfare.
Defra aims to procure a significant proportion of the goods and services it requires from small 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.
Defra's headquarters are at 2, Marsham Street, London. It is also located at Nobel House, 17, Smith Square, London.