, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary
for Climate Change and Rural Affairs: In accordance with the
inter-institutional relations agreement, I can report to Members
I attended the latest meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Group for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 23 June 2025.
The meeting was chaired by Jim Fairlie MSP, Minister for
Agriculture and Connectivity of the Scottish Government, who was
accompanied by MSP, Cabinet Secretary for
Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands and MSP, Cabinet Secretary for
Climate Action and Energy also for the Scottish Government.
MLA, Minister of Agriculture,
Environment and Rural Affairs and MLA, Minister for the
Economy attended for the Northern Ireland Executive. The UK
Government was represented by MP, Secretary of State for
Environment Food and Rural Affairs, MP, Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State for Nature, Baroness , Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and MP, Minister of State for
Food Security and Rural Affairs.
The Group agreed the importance of regular meetings and the
collective commitment to engagement between governments.
We held the second deep dive of our agreed work plan, focusing on
the circular economy. The Group discussed and agreed the
necessity to preserve our precious resources, reduce carbon
emissions, and grow our economies. It was also an opportunity to
identify key priorities for all four governments such as evidence
sharing, wider collaborations and identifying products to tackle
environmental issues and make supply chains more resilient.
The Group considered preparedness and response to current
biosecurity threats and the National Audit Office's report on
‘Resilience to Animal Diseases in England'. Whilst the report and
its recommendations are England only, diseases do not respect
borders and therefore we agreed to work together on considering
any actions arising from the report.
We discussed the recent UK-EU summit, which announced a Common
Understanding agreement across several areas, and the next steps
on engagement, negotiations and implementation. I outlined the
continued importance of engaging and working with devolved
governments, as so many policy considerations within the
agreement are devolved matters. The UK Government committed to
engage with devolved governments on this issue. All parties
welcomed the removal of barriers to trade and discussed the
importance of ensuring that biosecurity measures are maintained
to adequate levels during the transition. Within the meeting we
discussed the recently announced Fisheries and Coastal Growth
Fund, and I highlighted my expectation that the Fund should be
devolved and administered by devolved governments.
We considered progress on finalising the EFRA Common Frameworks.
I reemphasised the importance of the IMG, as it sits at the top
of the Common Frameworks' governance. We discussed the link
between finalising the Common Frameworks and the ongoing review
of the UK Internal Market Act.
A communique regarding this meeting will be published on the UK
Government website at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inter-ministerial-group-for-environment-food-and-rural-affairs-communiques
