Thousands of jobs to go at Defra and EA

More than a quarter of the 30,000 people employed across Defra and its network of bodies and agencies including the Environment Agency could lose their jobs as a result of the cuts the department is making under the Spending Review.

Speaking at a press briefing today (October 20), Helen Ghosh, permanent secretary at the department, revealed that as many as 8,000 job cuts could be expected as Defra looks to achieve a £174 million cut in administration costs over the next four years.

 

WRAP will be taking a cut but will still be able to do their job

 
Lord Henley, waste and recycling minister 

Commenting on the scale of job losses across Defra, Ms Ghosh said: “Including non-departmental public bodies, the total staff cuts will be somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000 jobs across the whole network including the Environment Agency, out of 30,000.”

The Environment Agency, which is the key regulator for the waste industry in England and Wales, is already facing considerable uncertainty over its future shape and role, after the Cabinet Office last week said it planned to “substantially reform” the body (see letsrecycle.com story).

WRAP 

However, Defra refused to reveal exactly how the cuts in its budget would impact on the Waste and Resources Action Programme's (WRAP) funding, with waste and recycling minister Lord Henley only confirming that the organisation would face cuts.

WRAP receives almost two-thirds of its £91 million budget from Defra, and has already said it expects to have its budget cut as a result of today's Spending Review settlement (see letsrecycle.com story).

The cuts were confirmed today by Lord Henley, who said: “WRAP will be taking a cut but will still be able to do their job. We have discussed it with them and they will manage.”

He was unable to elaborate further, however, telling letsrecycle.com, “there's no specific detail at this stage, but we're satisfied they can live with them,” and adding that he could not say when the cuts would be announced.

Commenting on the situation, a WRAP spokesman said: “WRAP has been in close contact with Defra over today's announcement and expects to get clarity on the implications for WRAP's budget in the next few weeks. We are already in discussion with Defra about our plans for WRAP's next Business Plan 2011-2014.”