Defra saw the return of two MPs who had previously served as ministers in the department, following Rishi Sunak’s appointment to prime minister in October.
Thérèse Coffey became secretary of state, replacing Ranil Jayawardena, who resigned in October after seven weeks in the post. Dr Coffey had been a junior minister at Defra between 2016 and 2019. Mr Jayawardena said he had ‘stood aside’ knowing Mr Sunak wanted a new team in government.
Rebecca Pow returns as parliamentary under secretary of state, a role she held for almost three years before resigning in July having lost confidence in Boris Johnson’s leadership. She replaces Stephen Mann, who was in the post for 39 days before being appointed a government whip.
Proposals to support and develop glasshouse and vertical farm cropping in the UK with an additional £12.5 million for automation and robotics R&D, which Mr Jayawardena announced in October, will still go ahead, Defra told The Commercial Greenhouse Grower.
The announcement was made just three days before Jeremy Hunt took over as Chancellor and started work on new taxation and spending plans.
However, Defra added that Mr Jayawardena’s plan to appoint an industry expert to advise on the opportunities for, and barriers to, growth in controlled environment horticulture was now unlikely to go ahead.
Read more news and features from the protected crop industry in our monthly publication The Commercial Greenhouse Grower.