The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) was one of the biggest losers of Rachel Reeves’ Spending Review, with the Chancellor imposing average annual cuts of 2.3 per cent between now and 2030.
However, they also broadly welcomed the Chancellor’s decision to boost the nature-friendly farming budget, which helps farmers manage reduce the amount of pollution from their land.
At the Spending Review on Wednesday The Treasury confirmed that Defra’s budget would be cut by an average of 2.3 per cent over the next four years.
Capital spending, which covers things like flood defences and farming grants, will decrease by 1.8 per cent annually up until 2030.
Concerns were raised that the budget cuts could impact the capacity of Defra and the regulators it funds, including the EA, which is responsible for policing water companies.
The i Paper’s Save Britain’s Rivers campaign has called for the EA’s budget to be boosted, however future funding for the regulator was not outlined as part of the Spending Review.
“Years of under-funding has whittled away DEFRA’s ability to protect the environment and enforce the law. The Environment Secretary says he is serious about improving water quality, so it is important that Labour gives him the resources he needs to honour the promises made to millions who voted for a government that pledged to clean up our rivers.”
“We continue to hear from farmers, conservation partners and local authorities that staffing levels at these bodies are a major concern, and that this is a barrier to the effective delivery of their role.
Defra has already been ordered to make major staff cuts as part of the Chancellor’s efforts to reduce day-to-day spending within departments.
Defra has said it will make savings through “technical efficiences” and reducing spend on contractors.
He said: “We could well see impacts on inspections, on water quality monitoring and on the regulators’ ability to hold polluters to account through the courts. All of this would make achieving the Government’s goal of ‘cleaning up Britain’s rivers, lakes and seas’ much harder.”
Boost for nature-friendly farming
The Chancellor pledged to spend £2bn on these schemes by 2028/29, compared to a budget of £1.8bn this year.
“This gives us hope that the government recognises the role of farmers in tackling pollution and restoring nature. Farmers want to be part of the solution, but they need clear support and long-term certainty,” Wallace said.
“Nature and wildlife aren’t nice-to-haves. They underpin our health, our economy, our communities, and the food, water and air we need to survive,” she said.
“But in a tough spending review, this outcome appears to be enough to maintain the transition to farming and food production that is more resilient to climate extremes,” she said.
However, Mike Childs, Head of Policy at Friends of the Earth, said a “modest investment in environmental farming” did not make up for the fact “Defra is still underfunded” and “farmers need more money”.
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