Since returning to Defra last year, I have made it a personal priority to articulate the purpose of the department with greater clarity and confidence.
Defra is an economic department. The systems we look after – water, food, land use, nature itself – are foundational to our economic way of life. We are the ultimate department of economic infrastructure, upon which all else depends.
We are also a national security department. We oversee critical national infrastructure systems and a large number of national security risks including biosecurity, flood resilience, chemical regulation and the security of our food and water systems. In a world that is growing more geopolitically and climactically volatile, Defra’s role within the national security community is only going to increase.
And we are a science powerhouse, with the fifth-largest R&D budget in government, 5,000 scientists across the group, and a commitment to invest over a billion pounds in a new National Biosecurity Centre.
Telling that story is important. But we also need to ensure that, across all our work, we are relentlessly focused on the real-world outcomes we are here to deliver for the British people. I recently agreed with ministers a new outcomes framework for the department – 20 outcomes which will drive our work, with priorities around reforming the water system, restoring nature while supporting housing and other developments, backing British farming, and resetting trading relations with the EU.
All of this implies a renewed ambition for Defra. And stepping up to achieve those ambitions requires the right mindset. Over my many years in Whitehall I’ve too often seen a tendency towards a kind of institutional pessimism: a quiet sense that the constraints are too great, the system too slow and meaningful change too hard. I understand where it comes from. But it is wrong, and we must push against it.
Defra has around 30,000 people including our arm’s-length bodies; a strong financial settlement; committed ministers; stakeholders who want to work with us; and legislative powers which allow us to take decisive action. Our people are talented, expert, and motivated. Together this is an extraordinary set of resources.
It is also why I want to attract the very best leaders to work alongside me to help shape the department's direction and culture. I am currently recruiting two new director generals. The first is a director general for strategy and change, to help shape Defra's long-term direction and drive the organisational shifts required to get there. The second is a group chief operating officer, accountable for corporate services across the full Defra group, including finance, digital, HR, property and commercial functions, as well as oversight of the new £1bn National Biosecurity Centre. Both are roles where strong leadership will translate directly into outcomes that matter for the country.
I returned to Defra because it sits at the centre of some of the biggest questions facing us today. There is no more important department in Whitehall. If we achieve our ambitions, the benefits will be felt across the country for many years to come.
Paul Kissack is the permanent secretary of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs