A Short Guide to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs September 2015 Overview Flood risk The Rural Payments Animal & Plant management IT programme Health Agency | About this guide This Short Guide summarises what the | Contact details Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) does, how much it costs, recent and planned changes and what to look out for across its main business areas and services. If you would like to know more about the NAO’s work on the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, please contact Simon Helps Peter Morland Director Director [email protected] [email protected] 020 7798 5317 0191 269 1841 If you are interested in the NAO’s work and support The National Audit Office scrutinises public spending for Parliament and is independent of government. The Comptroller and Auditor General for Parliament more widely, please contact (C&AG), Sir Amyas Morse KCB, is an Officer of the House of Commons and leads the NAO, which employs some 810 people. The C&AG Adrian Jenner certifies the accounts of all government departments and many other Director of Parliamentary Relations public sector bodies. He has statutory authority to examine and report [email protected] to Parliament on whether departments and the bodies they fund have used their resources efficiently, effectively, and with economy. Our 020 7798 7461 studies evaluate the value for money of public spending, nationally and locally. Our recommendations and reports on good practice For full iPad interactivity, please view this PDF help government improve public services, and our work led to Interactive in iBooks or GoodReader audited savings of £1.15 billion in 2014. © National Audit Office Design & Production by NAO Communications – DP Ref: 10702-001 Overview Flood risk The Rural Payments Animal & Plant management IT programme Health Agency Key facts 1 in 6 16.7% the number of homes reduction in resources at risk of fl ooding what the Department was About the from coastal, river and required to achieve under Department for surface water Environment, Food the 2010 spending review & Rural Affairs Department spending Spending £642 million 23,000 disallowance penalties reductions the number of staff employed the Department has incurred by Defra, its agencies and NDPBs from the EU since 2005 Staff and pay Staff attitudes and engagement Major programmes 100 £1 billion and developments the number of properties the amount the Department the Department has ended estimates it will cost in the next leases or vacated as part of decade if it does not manage to Key themes from their cost reduction exercise control Bovine TB NAO reports Appendix Overview Flood risk The Rural Payments Animal & Plant management IT programme Health Agency Defra develops and implements policy on the environment, food and rural issues. It has responsibility Key facts for protecting biodiversity, the countryside and the marine environment, and for supporting the growth of a sustainable green economy, including rural communities, and British farming and 1/2 About the food production. Department for The Department also has responsibilities to prepare and manage risk from animal and plant diseases, Environment, Food & Rural Affairs floods and other environmental emergencies. It is also responsible for negotiating EU agricultural, marine and environmental policy on behalf of the UK. The Department largely devolves the delivery of Department its policies to 34 arm’s-length bodies. spending Summary of Defra’s strategic priorities and aims Spending Defra strategic priority is being delivered by our focus in this reductions short guide Staff and pay A world leading food and The EU Common Agricultural Policy will farming industry provide more than £15 billion of funding over 7 years to farmers and rural Staff attitudes communities. The Rural Payments IT Rural Payments programme has been set up to deliver IT programme and engagement this funding. A thriving rural economy, Major programmes contributing to national and developments prosperity and wellbeing Key themes from NAO reports A nation protected against The Department has merged two of its Animal and natural threats and hazards, bodies responsible for animal and plant Plant Health with strong response and health to form one large body. Flood Agency Appendix recovery capabilities risk management activities are in place to protect communities and manage the impact of flooding on rural and A cleaner, healthier urban environments. Flood risk environment which benefits management people and the economy Overview Flood risk The Rural Payments Animal & Plant management IT programme Health Agency The Defra network Executive agencies Non-departmental public bodies Others Larger ones named 2/2 Core Defra APHA EA NFC WRAP Animal and Plant Environment Agency National Forest Waste & Resources Health Agency Company Action Programme FERA1 NE CCW Covent Garden Market Authority Food and Natural England Consumer Council for Environment Water Research Agency RPA MMO AHDB Forestry Commission Rural Payments Marine Management Agriculture and (non-ministerial Agency Organisation Horticulture department) Development Board VMD RBG JNCC NPA Veterinary Medicines Royal Botanic Joint Nature National Park Directorate Gardens, Kew Conservation Authorities Committee CEFAS Sea Fish Industry OFWAT Authority (non-ministerial Centre for Environment, department) Fisheries and Aquatic Science Note 1 On 1 April 2015 the business and operations of FERA transferred to FERA Science Limited (FSL), a Joint Venture between Defra and Capita. The Plant Health Inspectorate, Plant Varieties and Seeds, the National Bee Unit and the GM Inspectorate, which were formerly part of FERA, are now part of the APHA. Overview Flood risk The Rural Payments Animal & Plant management IT programme Health Agency Key facts Spending by the Department’s network bodies in 2014-15 About the Rural Payments Department for Agency Environment, Food £2,829.4m & Rural Affairs Animal and Plant Health Forestry Commission Agency £214.7m £63.5m Department spending Food and Environment Sea Fish Industry £294.5m £45.7m 2 Research Agency £52.7m Authority £9.9m (£10.0m) £0.0m Spending reductions Agriculture and Centre for Environment, £0.0m Horticulture Development Fisheries and Aquaculture £0.0m Board £65.2m Staff and pay Science £48.3m £(8.5)m Department for Environment Environment, Food £890.0m Agency & Rural Affairs Staff attitudes Veterinary Medicines £1,294.5m £(1.0)m £6,300.1m and engagement Directorate £14.1m £179.6m Natural England Major programmes £26.0m £2.6m £194.4m and developments Notes 1 The bodies shown are those with £20.0m expenditure greater than £1 million. National Forest £5.1m Key themes from £10.0m Royal Botanic Gardens, Amounts on arrows represent NAO reports Company £2.3m Kew £54.3m departmental funding to the network bodies and fi gures attached to bodies Marine Management represent total gross expenditure. Appendix Consumer Council Organisation £24.1m The Department’s total expenditure for Water £5.6m includes that of its network bodies Joint Nature Conservation (including EU CAP expenditure) and Committee £10.9m expenditure on its own activities. In 2014-15, the Department received £2.4 billion in government funding. Executive agency 2 Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14. Non-ministerial department 3 Executive agencies, except the RPA, Non-departmental public body receive income from the Department on a commercial basis in addition Levy body to the net core fi nancing stated above. Departmental funding above shows as zero or net repayments of fi nancing in year. Overview Flood risk The Rural Payments Animal & Plant management IT programme Health Agency The Department receives its budget for To achieve cost savings the Department has implemented several voluntary Key facts two types of activities – capital funding for redundancy schemes across its bodies and has ended leases to or vacated assets and resource (non-capital) funding more than 100 properties. It has made savings in the cost of ICT and changes About the for items such as salaries and other to procurement should result in some large savings. The Department has also Department for day-to-day expenditure. contributed to the government’s ‘digital by default’ programme, with the Rural Environment, Food Payments IT programme and the Environment Agency’s waste registration As a result of the 2010 Spending Review, & Rural Affairs project both aiming to save money through digital delivery. the Department was required to reduce its Department non-capital spending by 16.7% from £2.4 billion Actual/planned capital and non-capital funding allocation 2009-10 to 2015-16 spending in 2010-11 to £2.0 billion by 2014-15 (although a reduction of 20.8% was achieved as outturn in £ billion 3.5 Spending 2014-15 was £1.9 billion against the £2.0 billion allocation). The 2013 Spending Round required reductions 3.0 an additional £130 million of resource savings to be found in 2014-15 and in 2015-16 the budget Staff and pay 2.5 further reduces to £1.8 billion. 2.0 As a result of the 2014 winter floods, the 2.46 Staff attitudes 2.38 and engagement Department was given an extra £270 million 1.5 2.20 1.91 1.76 (of which £140 million was additional funding 2.05 1.95 and £130 million was reallocated from within Major programmes 1.0 and developments existing budgets) to be distributed between 2013-14 and 2015-16. The funding allowed a 0.5 0.69 quick response to the emergency and also to 0.57 0.64 Key themes from 0.39 0.41 0.48 0.49 NAO reports restore flood defences that were damaged in 0 the floods. 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 Appendix Non-capital funding outturn Capital funding outturn Non-capital funding plan Capital funding plan Notes 1 The Department obtained approval from HM Treasury to use £20 million of underspend from 2013-14 in 2014-15.