Thursday, September 24, 2015

Rumours circulate about DEFRA's future.

Rumours have begun to circulate about the possibility of DEFRA being disbanded as part of the Government's autumn review and George Osborne's desperate attempts to effect further economies to bring down the UK's borrowing and deficit.

At the Liberal Democrats conference Baroness Parminter urged LibDems to oppose such a possibility wherein agricultural matters could be transferred to BIS. What happens then to other functions has, as yet , received no response despite enquiries ?  Given that Liz Truss ( Secretary of State, DEFRA ) has increasingly placed an emphasis on farming issues within her period of tenure I suppose this would come as no surprise to some. Farming sources have suggested they might receive greater benefit from being within BIS, a sure fire indication of the self appointed special case" status they appear to confer on themselves nowadays underscored further by Liz Truss who seems to view her very existence as a sales executive for farm produce or proponent of farmers markets!!

It does make you question whether the dire performance of DEFRA on so many fronts is a deliberate ploy or simply a consequence of them having suffered such dreadful cuts to their funding already. A greater worry is what might happen to Natural England as the seeming only representative body to the natural environment we have. Again, in recent times it's hardly covered itself in glory on some occasions, but one wonders if this is a product of having to act within applied constraints given the Government's lack of enthusiasm and support unless it "turns in a dollar" !

No comments:

Post a Comment