26 October 2010, 12:43 PM
  • The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has had its total budget cut by 30%

The recent cut which comes as part of a series of key budget decisions means that DEFRA’s allowance will drop from roughly £3bn this year to about £700m by the end of the four-year spending period, in 2015 .

The decision has come as quite a shock to most since other Government departments have had significantly smaller cuts. The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), for example, faces annual cuts of five percent.

Chancellor George Osborne said, “This is the great national challenge of our generation: after years of waste, debt and irresponsibility, to get Britain to live within its means. It is a time to rethink how government spends our money.

“We didn’t choose the terrible economic situation we inherited. But we can work to put it right, to deal with our debts, to set our country on a brighter economic course, and show that we are all in this together,” he continues.