Bronwyn Hill
Permanent Secretary of the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
What were your biggest policy and delivery challenges in 2013? How did you handle them?
As the Department responsible for the natural environment, food and farming, we always have to be ready for events, and 2013 was no exception.
The New Year began with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland telling us that they had discovered horsemeat in beef products. The “horsemeat scandal” dominated the media for months, and saw one of the most extensive testing programmes ever – in this country and across Europe – as well as criminal investigations. Tackling these situations at speed in the glare of the media puts enormous pressure on people, and I’m proud of the way Defra, our network and our stakeholders pulled together.
For Defra, 2013 was also the year for reform in Europe. Ministers and officials spent many hours, late into the night, influencing the outcome of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) reform. As CAP accounts for 40% of the European budget, this is high on the agenda for the PM and chancellor as well as for farmers, environmental NGOs and rural communities.
A more radical reform has been to the Common Fisheries Policy. Thanks to extensive UK lobbying and influence, we secured a legally-binding commitment to fishing at sustainable levels, an end to “fish discards”, and decentralisation of decision-making from the EU to member states.
On the domestic front, we got agreement with the insurance industry on a scheme to ensure that flood risk insurance will continue to be available for households at high risk of flooding. This innovative deal will form part of a package of reforms to the water industry set out in the Water Bill, now before Parliament.
Our strategy for dealing with bovine TB was published for consultation in July, setting out a 25-year package of measures to eradicate the disease. The badger cull pilots are controversial, but I’ve been impressed at how our policy, operational and media teams have worked together on delivery and on “myth busting” through social media.
On the operational front, our Rural Payments Agency continues to deliver real improvements for the single payment scheme – paying out more than 97% five weeks ahead of schedule, and getting £1.6bn out to farmers who rely on it, particularly in a tough year.
Where have you made the most progress in implementing the Civil Service Reform Plan, and what are your reform priorities for 2014?
Our top priority for 2013 was our “5 a year” campaign, to get people to take up the offer of five days of learning and development activity. Our campaign saw awareness levels reach the mid-90s, and was rolled out across the civil service.
We had a series of new ‘Question Time’ events to enable people to talk to me and the senior team directly about their concerns and ideas. We used this to highlight the importance of development conversations, the priorities in the Capability Plan, and the tools on offer.
We are making the most of Twitter too, and want to be an exemplar. I am proud to say that our communications team won “UK Best Use of Twitter” at the UK Social Media Communications Awards, beating competition from nominees across the public and private sector.
We continue to prioritise engagement and to increase people’s pride in Defra. I was delighted to see our People Survey response rate hit 87% this year, with improvements in ratings across the board – though there is always more we need to do here, and it will be a continuing priority in 2014.
What are your key challenges in the last full year of the Parliament, and how will you tackle them?
Delivery of Defra’s 10 point plan for growth and our Business Plan priorities for improving the environment, safeguarding animal and plant health and for rural communities. We are also working on a programme called “One Business” to improve integration and efficiency for the medium term across our wider network.
What would you most like Santa to bring you this year? And what should he take away?
What would I like from Santa? A magic wand: every permanent secretary should have one. And what would I like him to take away? The rubbish for recycling, of course.