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Defra publishes Departmental report 08/09

   

INFORMATION BULLETIN

Ref: 133/09
Date: 12 June 2009

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has published its annual report today for 08/09. Environment Secretary Hilary Benn noted the successes of the Department and said that Defra’s work now lies at the heart of the changes we have  to build a sustainable future.

Mr Benn said:

“It has been a year of achievement at Defra. With the Marine and Coastal Access Bill we are making progress towards 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 reached a decision to create 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 our new responsibility for coordinating food policy across government we are working to keep supply chains secure and the agricultural sector productive. 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 RDPE and overseen a further improvement in the performance of the single payment scheme.

He went on to note:

“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.”

Find the report here: www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/index.htm

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Page published: 12 June 2009