Mrs Fiona James
Biography
Fiona James
Fiona James and Elen Shepard took up post as Defra Deputy Directors for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) as a jobshare in October 2019. They are jointly responsible for delivery of the current CAP, including the Basic Payment Scheme and Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE), ensuring a smooth transition to a new domestic policy. Fiona works the first half of the week and Elen the second.
Fiona and Elen started job-sharing together in 2016 and have worked together since in a number of roles including:
- Head of the Implementation Unit in Defra’s Strategy Unit;
- Head of Defra’s Food Exports Strategy
- Deputy Directors on EU Exit Preparedness for the CAP
Fiona and Elen both have a policy background and between them have worked in a number of roles related to agricultural, environmental and food policy in Defra, HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office
UKCB Board Member for Defra
The UK Co-ordinating Body Management Board includes a representative of each of the 4 departments that own UKCB:
- the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- the Welsh Government
- the Scottish Government
- the Northern Ireland Executive
The chairmanship of the Board rotates between the 4 representatives.
Previous roles in government
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UKCB Board Member for Defra