Table Of ContentIMO
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Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Aftairs
Departmental Report 2009
Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
by Command of Her Majesty
June 2009
Ginss99 ' £34.55
© Crown Copyright 2009
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ISBN: 9786101759922
This is part of a series of departmental reports which, along with the Main Estimates 2009-10, the document
Public Expenditure: Statistical Analyses 2009, and the Supply Estimates 2009-10: Supplementary Budgetary
Information, present the Government's outturn and planned expenditure for 2009-10 and 2010-11.
Contents fil
Foreword from the Secretary of State vii
Executive Summary Vili
1 Strategic Objectives and Departmental Structure 12
Who are we? 13
How we operate 20
The Defra Network 22
Accountability 23
Defra's Ministers 24
Defra's Management Board Pde)
2 Priorities and Objectives 26
| What do we do? 27
Priority 1: Secure a healthy natural environment for us all and 28
deal with environmental risks
Improving Biodiversity 30
Land and Soil Management 34
Water Availability and Quality 38
Marine 40
Air Quality 45
Local Environmental Quality 47
Emergency and Business Continuity Planning 48
Exotic Animal Disease 50
Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management 52
Priority 2: Promote a sustainable, low carbon and resource-efficient 60
economy
Sustainable Consumption and Production 62
Climate Change Mitigation 68
Socially and Economically Sustainable Rural Communities i
Priority 3: Ensure a thriving farming sector and a sustainable, 76
healthy and secure food supply
A Sustainable, Secure and Healthy Food Supply 78
Common Agricultural Policy Reform 80
Farming for the Future 83
Skills for Farming 84
Agriculture and Climate Change 85
Nutrient Management 87
Responsibility and Cost Sharing for Animal Health 87
Bovine Tuberculosis 89
Veterinary Science 91
Animal Welfare 94
Cross-cutting objective 1: Sustainability 100
Cross-cutting objective 2: Adaptation 108
Cross-cutting objective 3: Rurality 116
iv. Departmental Report 2009
3 Engaged and Effective Operations | 122
How do we work? 123
Evidence 124
Departmental Research 128
Better Regulation 129
Knowledge Information, Information Systems and Information 132
Technology, and Service Transformation
Value for Money (VfM) 135
Working Environment: Health and Safety 139
Working Environment: Recruitment Practice 140
PAC recommendations 141
Legal Group 142
Communication 143
4 Our Performance 146
How well have we done? 147
Current Spending Review Targets 148
PSA 28: Secure a healthy natural environment for everyone's wellbeing, 149
health and prosperity, now and in the future
DSO 1: A society that is adapting to the effects of climate change, through 151
a national programme of action and a contribution to international action
DSO 2: A healthy, resilient, productive and diverse natural environment 152
DSO 3: Sustainable, low carbon and resource efficient patterns of ve
consumption and production
DSO 4: An economy and a society that are resilient to environmental risk 158
DSO 5: Championing sustainable development 161
DSO 6: A thriving farming and food sector, with an improving net 162
environmental impact
DSO 7: A sustainable, secure and healthy food supply 167
DSO 8: Socially and economically sustainable rural communities 168
DSO 9: A respected department, delivering efficient and high quality 172
services and outcomes
Previous Spending Review Targets 173
PSA 3a: Reversing the long-term decline in the number of farmland birds 174
PSA 3b: Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) 176
PSA 9: To improve the health and welfare of kept animals, and protect Vs
society from the impact of animal diseases, through sharing the
management of risk with industry
Annex A: Better Regulation 181
Annex B: Summary of updates to information in earlier 188
Departmental Reports
Annex C: The Defra Network 190
Annex D: Defra responses to PAC recommendations 195
Annex E: SCS by payband 202
Annex F: Correspondence with Ministers and the Public 203
Annex G: Public Complaints 204
Annex H: Expenditure on Professional Services and Consultancy 205
Annex I: Core Tables 208
se
Vi Departmental Report 2009
5 555555
Foreword from the Secretary of State vii
Foreword trom the Secretary of State
It has been a year of achievement at Defra. With the Marine and
Coastal Access Bill we have made progress on protecting our seas
and opening up our coastline. We've put an end to destructive
dredging in Lyme Bay, begun a comprehensive look at the health of
England's ecosystems and created a new national park in the South
Downs. We've worked with farmers to deal with diseases like avian
influenza and Bluetongue, and having made a difficult decision on
bovine TB and badgers, we're now moving towards testing an
injectable TB vaccine. In addition, we've built more flood defences,
protecting thousands of homes, and published the Draft Floods and
Water Management Bill.
With the creation of the Department of Energy and Climate Change and changed
economic circumstances, our priorities are more than ever about providing practical
help to individuals, communities and businesses. With our new responsibility for
coordinating food policy across government we are working to keep supply chains
secure and we've established the Council of Food Policy Advisers. We've been tracking
the impact of the recession on rural communities, and working with Regional
Development Agencies and others to provide support where it is needed. We've also
made help available to farmers through the Rural Development Programme for England
and overseen a further improvement in the performance of the single payment scheme.
Defra's task to help us all live within our environmental means, and protecting our
environment remains a priority, even in tough times; it is one of the most precious
economic resources we have. The next 12 months will be critical, not only because the
world will be striving to reach an agreement on climate change at Copenhagen in
December, but also because we have the chance now to create a more sustainable and
greener society. This will mean being resource efficient, improving our resilience to a
changing climate, creating an agriculture sector that is both sustainable and productive,
and developing the skills, training and innovation that all of this requires.
Finally, | would like to thank the staff at Defra and all of our agencies for their hard
work, commitment and professionalism. It is a privilege to work alongside them.
eq
Rt Hon. Hilary Benn MP
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
‘Vili Departmental Report 2009
Executive Summary
There can be no doubt that 2008/09 has been a challenging year in many ways. In
the current economic climate, we are putting much of our focus on the economic and
social issues being faced by our customers and those we seek to
influence. However, one of the advantages of a Departmental
Report is that it allows us to take a more considered view over the
whole year. This shows that 2008/09 has been a year of strategic
and operational success for Defra across the wide range of
objectives that we have.
The achievement of those objectives and ability to quickly realign
our resources to changing circumstances has been greatly helped
by the success of our Renew Defra programme, which ended
on schedule at the end of September 2008. Defra is now an
organisation in which staff and resources work to a programme
and project structure with the in-built flexibility to adapt quickly to changing priorities.
Our portfolio management approach helps to prioritise the right activities, our flexible
staff resourcing system helps to ensure we have the right resource at the right time,
and our policy cycle framework helps to ensure we deliver the right results. These
changes have taken considerable effort and so | was delighted that Defra colleagues
were rewarded for their commitment to these changes with the very positive picture of
progress reported in our 2009 Capability Review.
In the current economic circumstances, some might be forgiven for thinking that
the environment is a luxury we cannot afford. As Chapter 1 shows, our evidence-
based strategy illustrates that not only would this be a mistake in the long term
but it would also be a mistake in the short term. There is a powerful link between
economic efficiency and sustainability. For example, Defra is helping households and
businesses save money through the promotion of efficient use of resources, sustainable
consumption and production and effective management of our waste. Our ‘Real Help’
campaign supports businesses in reducing their waste and energy use within this
economic downturn and the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target provides consumer
financial benefits for reducing carbon in households. An environmentally sustainable
world is good for the economy and is essential for food, water, and energy security. This
is reflected in Defra's purpose: ‘to secure a healthy environment in which we and future
generations can prosper’.
So at the same time as dealing with the current economic challenges, it is important
that we maintain a clear focus on our longer term priorities and objectives. Chapter 2
demonstrates the many ways in which Defra and our delivery partners are working to
realise our strategic objectives. Here are some highlights.
