• News
• Publications
• Articles
• Events
• Research

• Current Releases
• Archive

You are in: news

"Abolish MAFF; removeregions from DETR" – former New Labour adviser

24 January 2001

The Government is being urged to abolish MAFF, keep the environmental and transport link in the DETR and move its regional and local government functions to a new Department of Constitutional Affairs. The recommendations were made in a paper written for an ippr seminar by Stephen Tindale, former Special Advisor to Michael Meacher, who left Government in 1999 to work for Greenpeace.

Speaking at the ippr today, Stephen Tindale said that MAFF responsibilities are currently contradictory and should be split, with countryside and fisheries protection going to DETR and sponsorship of agriculture going to DTI. His report also rejected the idea of a Department for Rural Affairs as ‘largely political posturing’ aimed at the Countryside Alliance ‘which would quickly marginalize rural issues.’

The other major reform he recommended is the merging of the Scottish and Welsh Offices with the regional and local government functions of DETR to form a new Department of Constitutional Affairs.

The report argues that environment and transport should remain in the same department and rejects the option of splitting DETR completely to create a stand-alone Department for Transport. This could be damaging to integrated transport policy and would leave behind a rump environmental protection department with no influence across Whitehall.

Moving the regulatory functions from MAFF and DTI to the DETR would strengthen the Department sufficiently for the removal of its local government function, resulting in a serious department for a heavy weight Minister to run.

Stephen Tindale said, “The environmental agenda has gained a great deal from having the Deputy Prime Minister as its advocate across Government. Splitting environment and transport again would be a mistake and be seen as a downgrading of green policy by the Government.”

For more information contact: Apricot Hulse, ippr Press Office: 020 7470 6120 / 0777 396 0391