Spending Round 2019: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

Table 2.16: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs settlement includes:

• a 3.3% increase in real terms to the department’s resource budget from 2019-20 to 2020-21;

• £432 million of Brexit funding to deliver a safe and ambitious departure from the European Union (EU), while setting global standards in protecting and harnessing value from the natural environment. This includes an additional £20 million to support delivery of Defra’s replacement for the CAP in England, which will prioritise environmental outcomes;

• funding to deliver the government’s commitment to pass on to the next generation a natural environment protected and enhanced for the future, including:

  • more than £30 million increase in funding for air quality;

  • an additional £30 million for terrestrial and marine biodiversity measures, to support the maintenance and restoration of vital habitats for wildlife, progress nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation, and deliver the 25 Year Environment Plan. This will also help deliver commitments made on the Blue Belt, implement the Ivory Act and enhance the UK’s global leadership on biodiversity; and

  • an additional £8 million for animal health to tackle anti-microbial resistance and bovine tuberculosis.

The government will maintain the commitment to provide the same cash total in funds for farm support until the end of the Parliament. The government will confirm the exact funding available in due course.