Agriculture Act 2020: Post-Legislative Assessment
Post-legislative assessment of the Agriculture Act 2020.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
This memorandum has been prepared by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for submission to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. It provides the committee with the department’s summary of the provisions and preliminary assessment of the implementation of the Agriculture Act 2020 in relation to England only.
It is published as part of the process set out in the document Post-legislative scrutiny - the government’s approach.
Agriculture in the UK is a devolved matter, and the majority of the Act’s provisions apply only to England. Where provisions apply in one or more of the devolved nations, implementation has primarily rested with the devolved governments of those nations acting alone, or with the Secretary of State acting by consent of the devolved governments.
Background
The Agriculture Act 2020 was drafted and introduced into Parliament by the Conservative government of 2019 to 2024. The then government intended the act to be a comprehensive piece of legislation designed to modernise and reform the agricultural sector in England, making it more sustainable, productive, and fair for all involved.
Alongside this Post Legislative Assessment, a monitoring and evaluation report examining the work of Defra’s Farming and Countryside Programme is available at Farming and Countryside Programme: Evaluation report 2025 - IS0228. The monitoring and evaluation report is separate from the Post Legislative Assessment, but provides additional detail.