Lords to question Defra on rural policy

In the first evidence session, the Committee will ask the witnesses from DEFRA what polices are being developed to achieve a successful rural economy, and whether it has the capacity to effectively implement these policies.

The session will begin at 9:45am in Committee Room 1 in the House of Lords. The witnesses are:

• Andrea Ledward, Director, Natural Environment - Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra)
• Sarah Severn CBE, Deputy Director, Rural Policy - Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

At 10:45, the Committee will question Lord Cameron of Dillington who chaired last year's House of Lords Select Committee inquiry into the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. The inquiry found that there is a lack of understanding in central Government about the needs of rural communities and recommended that responsibility for rural affairs should be transferred to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The Government has yet to implement any of the recommendations from the Committee's report and the Committee will ask Lord Cameron how rural proofing can be improved.

Topics likely to be covered across both sessions include:

• Areas of disagreement between the Government and Lord Cameron's former Committee over rural policy and rural proofing
• Progress on developing the statement of priorities for rural research, and the priority given to rural research in Government generally
• The mechanisms in place to monitor and review the quality of rural proofing carried out by other Government departments
• Whether funding for rural communities will be maintained or improved when the Shared Prosperity Fund is implemented
• The significance of the loss of the Commission for Rural Communities