Our governance

Decision-making, executive and managerial bodies for Defra.

Roles and structure of our boards and committees, expenses and hospitality information and our annual report and accounts.

Defra Board

The Defra Board provides strategic, corporate leadership to the department and has particular responsibility for monitoring performance and delivery. It meets once a quarter.

The membership consists of:

Ministers

Senior officials

Non-executives

Board meetings

Meeting notes from earlier meetings can be found on the National Archives website.

Defra Audit and Risk Assurance Committee

The Defra Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) is a sub-committee of the Defra Board. It is an advisory body with no executive powers or responsibilities.

It supports and advises the Defra Board and the Principal Accounting Officer (the Permanent Secretary) on issues of risk, control and governance.

Members

  • Nick Folland (ARAC Chair)
  • Paul Dillon-Robinson (RPA ARAC Chair, ex-officio)
  • Elizabeth Peers (APHA ARAC Chair, ex-officio)
  • Catherine Dougmore (NE ARAC Chair, ex-officio)
  • John Lelliott (EA ARAC Chair, ex-officio)

Executive Committee (ExCo)

The Executive Committee (ExCo) is a sub-committee of the board, it:

  • is responsible for building a culture that supports integrated ways of working that will deliver the group’s strategic objectives
  • ensures strategic allocation and management of resources across Defra group to align with priorities
  • may take decisions in line with the current group operating model on matters that affect more than one organisation in the group, where this can add most value, or where a decision would set a precedent for the future
  • ensures effective leadership and maintains oversight of the strategic direction of Defra group
  • is the senior decision-making body for the core department

Members

  • Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary
  • Nick Joicey, Second Permanent Secretary and Group Chief Operating Officer
  • David Hill, Director General for Strategy and Water
  • Sarah Homer, Director General Portfolio Delivery
  • Emily Miles, Director General for Food, Biosecurity and Trade
  • Sally Randall, Director General for Environment
  • Gideon Henderson, Chief Scientific Adviser and Director General for Science and Analysis
  • Nicola Bettesworth, Group HR Director
  • Christian Cubitt, Group Communications Director
  • Iain King, Chief Financial Officer

Delivery Committee

The Delivery Committee is a sub-committee of the Defra Board. It:

  • encourages us to focus on outcomes
  • helps us understand how to achieve our goals
  • encourages us to complete projects and other activities that will achieve our goals
  • oversees Defra Group operational performance, where that activity is important for achieving outcomes
  • monitors and manages significant risks
  • addresses organisational barriers to completing projects, including resource, time, scope, risk and pace
  • makes strategic choices about priorities, sequencing and pace

Members

  • Tamara Finkelstein, Permanent Secretary
  • Nick Joicey, Second Permanent Secretary and Group Chief Operating Officer
  • Heather Hancock, Lead Non-Executive Director
  • Emily Miles, Director General for Food, Biosecurity and Trade
  • Sally Randall, Director General for Environment
  • Gideon Henderson, Chief Scientific Adviser and Director General for Science and Analysis
  • Sarah Homer, Director General Portfolio Delivery
  • Iain King, Chief Financial Officer
  • David Hill, Director General for Strategy and Water
  • Paul Caldwell, Chief Executive of the Rural Payments Agency
  • Chris Hobley, Strategy Director
  • Steve Vine, Portfolio Director
  • Chris Howes, Chief Digital and Information Officer

Investment Committee

The Investment Committee is a sub-committee of the Executive Committee. It:

  • assures and approves Tier 1 and Tier 2 project business cases, specifically focusing on those which breach delegated authority limits
  • will consider new project proposals submitted by senior responsible officers (SROs) against HMT Green Book
  • appraisal and evaluation principles at initiation stage with a focus on assurance of affordability, capacity, capability, deliverability, strategic alignment and interdependencies
  • will decide when the ‘Red Team’ assurance process should be commissioned to ensure that investment decisions are assessed against the Accounting Officer tests
  • will scrutinise post-investment appraisals from projects
  • provides approvals for all consultancy spend over £100,000

Nominations Committee

The Nominations Committee is chaired by a non-executive director (NED).

The committee aims are to:

  • ensure that there are satisfactory systems for identifying and developing leadership and high potential
  • scrutinises the incentives and succession planning for the board and the senior leadership of the department

Expenses and hospitality

In the interests of transparency, we regularly publish summaries of meetings, and details of expenses and hospitality.

Annual report and accounts

Defra’s annual reports and accounts

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