Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities.

It was formed in June 2001, 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. The department was created after the perceived failure of MAFF to deal adequately with an outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease. The department has about 8000 core personnel, as of January 2004.

Ministers

After the 2005 General Election, the Ministry was restructured, with one fewer Ministers of State and one further Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State; the current make-up of the department's ministers is:

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - The Rt Hon. Margaret Beckett MP
- Minister of State for Climate Change and Environment - Elliot Morley MP
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Environment, Marine and Animal Welfare- Ben Bradshaw MP
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity - Jim Knight MP
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sustainable Farming and Food - The Lord Bach of Lutterworth

Central Science Laboratory headed by the Parliamentary Secretary (Farming, Food and Sustainable Energy)
Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science - headed by the Parliamentary Secretary (Nature Conservation and Fisheries)
Countryside Agency (England)
Drinking Water Inspectorate
English Nature to be subsumed into Natural England
Environmental Stewardship
Forest Enterprise (England) headed by the Parliamentary Secretary (Nature Conservation and Fisheries)
Forest Enterprise (Scotland) headed by the Parliamentary Secretary (Nature Conservation and Fisheries)
Forest Enterprise (Wales) headed by the Parliamentary Secretary (Nature Conservation and Fisheries)
Forestry Research headed by the Parliamentary Secretary (Nature Conservation and Fisheries)
Joint Nature Conservation Committee JNCC
Pesticides Safety Directorate headed by the Minister of State (Rural Affairs and Local Environmental Quality)
Rural Development Service
Rural Payments Agency headed by the Minister of State (Rural Affairs and Local Environmental Quality)
Veterinary Laboratories Agency headed by the Parliamentary Secretary (Nature Conservation and Fisheries)
Veterinary Medicines Directorate headed by the Parliamentary Secretary (Nature Conservation and Fisheries)

DEFRA has eight regional departments: