Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (IMG EFRA) Communique: 16 September 2024

Date published: 1 October 2024

The meeting was chaired by Steve Reed MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The attending ministers were:

• (from the UK Government) Steve Reed MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Mary Creagh MP, Minister for Nature and Baroness Hayman, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at Defra.
• (from the Scottish Government) Mairi Gougeon MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, and Jim Fairlie MSP, Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity
• (from the Welsh Government) Huw Irranca-Davies MS, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs
• (from the Northern Ireland Executive) Andrew Muir MLA, Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs

The group agreed to establish stronger intergovernmental relations based on the principles of honesty, trust and respect. To implement this, the ministers discussed and agreed new and ambitious Terms of Reference (Annex A) to guide ways of working and decision-making at ministerial and official levels across EFRA sectors. They agreed to publish the Terms of Reference externally to support transparency and public scrutiny.

The group discussed the critical role nature plays in supporting healthy societies, resilient economies and thriving businesses. All 4 governments agreed there is a shared ambition of rebalancing the demand placed on the goods and services provided by the natural world and to protect its capacity to supply them.

The Ministers recognised that communities and businesses across the UK are vital to the economy and are the users and protectors of our shared natural resources. The group agreed to collaborate where a natural capital approach can be applied to policy and regulatory actions, while taking into account devolved legislative frameworks governing approaches to sustainability and environment. This will make sure businesses and communities are supported and properly valued in their efforts to improve our food security, enhance our biosecurity, accelerate progress towards net zero, protect nature and increase the UK’s biodiversity.

The Ministers acknowledged that achieving ambitious outcomes will require concerted, coordinated action at national and local government levels. It will also require closer collaboration with delivery bodies, experts and stakeholders across the UK. Ministers therefore agreed to a programme of enhanced collaboration to enable the 4 governments to achieve more impactful outcomes and make more efficient use of resources and expertise.

The group discussed several potential areas where enhanced collaboration would be beneficial, including but not limited to:

• enhancing joint scientific research and local field trials to identify solutions that can be applied across wider geographical regions, starting with tackling pollution of culturally and economically important water bodies and sharing respective flood resilience strategies
• reducing waste and pollution, and creating value for businesses and consumers by moving to a circular economy through initiatives such as Deposit Return Schemes introduced across the 4 nations and Extended Producer Responsibility measures
• improving food security and environmental land management by increasing the exchange of data and insights of farming support schemes
• enhancing biosecurity and reducing barriers to trade by resetting our relationship with the EU, including addressing matters arising under the Border Target Operating Model and seeking to negotiate a veterinary/Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement with the EU
• halting and reversing biodiversity loss by 2030, by working together on specific domestic policy measures that will support implementation of respective national action plans, contributing to meeting the goals and targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework
• scaling up private investment in nature recovery across the EFRA sectors through the development and operation of nature markets frameworks

The group also recognised the importance of working together to tackle bovine TB. The Ministers then considered an update from the Agriculture Market Monitoring Group, which comprises officials from each of the 4 governments, and is responsible for monitoring and undertaking analyses of issues affecting agriculture markets across the UK. Key issues discussed included an overview of the prices, production and trade of the main agricultural sectors over the last 18 months, and a review of the issues anticipated to impact on the sectors in the coming months. Ministers discussed the importance of providing sufficient ring-fenced multi-annual funding to support the agriculture, rural and marine sectors across the UK, and to provide them with long-term clarity as soon as possible, noting that the UK Government will consider the funding settlement for future years at the next Spending Review.

The group then received an update from the Joint Nature and Conservation Committee, which worked with all 4 governments to produce the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP). Key parts of the NBSAP have been published in August and the group discussed next steps for its full publication. The group agreed to fulfil a strategic role in the delivery by overseeing the production of the seventh National Report ahead of COP17.

Finally, the group agreed a schedule of meetings for 2024 and 2025 to facilitate engagement and oversee the areas of enhanced collaboration. The next meeting will take place in November.