Labour today sets out how it will make £192 million of savings in the DEFRA budget as part of its plan to cut the deficit every year and balance the books as soon as possible in the next Parliament.

In the ninth interim report from Labour’s Zero-Based Review (ZBR) of every pound spent by government, Chris Leslie MP, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and Maria Eagle MP, Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, outline Labour plans to:

·              Save an estimated £24.5 million a year and £122.5 million in the next parliament by ending the Government’s inhumane and ineffective badger culls.

·              Establish strategies for increasing the income of DEFRA’s arms-length bodies, including moves towards fuller cost recovery at Natural England, which could save in the region of £40 million in the next parliament.

·              Review the cost of other DEFRA agencies as part of a plan to get a better deal for taxpayers and raise the proportion of regulatory costs which are recovered from the industries under supervision.

·              Increase by £2 million a year the income from environmental protection and abstraction charges saving £10 million in the next parliament.

·              Take preventative measures to improve water quality by supporting best practice in the farming and water industries and saving £4 million a year and £20 million in the next parliament in environmental protection spending. This involves freeing up £150m for spending on environmental protection and rural development in 2018-20 by re-allocating payments made under the Common Agricultural Policy.

The ZBR report on DEFRA also highlights a series of wasteful and short-sighted measures under this government, including their failure on flooding and climate change:

·         Failing to maintain to the appropriate standard three-quarters of existing flood defences, triggering an increase in emergency spending and storing up further costs for the future.

·         Cutting the number of departmental officials working on climate change adaptation from 38 to just six.

Labour will cut the deficit every year, and get the current budget into surplus – and national debt falling – as soon as possible in the next parliament.

Maria Eagle, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said:

“The Tory-led management of Defra has been characterised by waste, storing up costs for the future and incompetence. 

“Millions of pounds have been wasted on a badger cull which experts advise will make no meaningful contribution to eradicating bovine TB. 

“This Tory-led Government never should have pressed ahead with these ineffective and inhumane badger culls when they knew from the start that this policy had the potential to make the problem of bovine TB worse.

“Instead of ignoring the overwhelming evidence the Government must work with scientists, wildlife groups and farmers to develop an alternative strategy to get the problem of Bovine TB under control.”

Chris Leslie MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said:

“David Cameron’s government is set to break its promise to balance the books and get the national debt falling.

“The next Labour government will get the deficit and debt down, but we will do so in a fairer way and by examining every pound of spending.

“Labour’s interim Zero-Based Review has identified an initial £192 million savings in the DEFRA budget as we find efficiencies in departmental spending in the next parliament in order to get the deficit down. This document shows that Labour is taking tough decisions when it comes to finding savings.

“It will help us protect and enhance the natural environment and deliver on Labour’s priorities for Defra by managing the departmental budget more effectively and ensuring we get the best value for the money we spend, whilst getting the deficit down.”

Labour’s Zero-Based Review of public spending is a root and branch review of every pound the government spends from the bottom up.  

The ZBR was launched by Ed Miliband and Ed Balls last year. The final phase of the ZBR will be completed in Labour’s first year in office.