Defra major projects: appointment letters for senior responsible owners
Defra appointment letters for Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP)and Departmental Major Project (DMP) Senior Responsible Owners (SROs).
Documents
Details
Appointment letters are published in line with government requirements for transparency
and accountability.
Where a programme or project is a Government Major Project or a Departmental Major
Project, the senior responsible owner is personally accountable to Parliament, and this
accountability is formalised through a published appointment letter.
Guidance on the appointment and accountability of senior responsible owners is set out
in GPD‑PN 01/26: Appointing senior responsible owners in government, published by
Government Project Delivery.
Archived documents
Previously published letters of appointment are available on The National Archives website.
Updates to this page
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We have updated the details on the page to follow National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) updated guidance.
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Added a new senior responsible owners (SRO) appointment letter dated 29 January 2026 for the NO2 Programme. Removed 2 superseded versions.
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Updated SRO appointment letter for the National Biosecurity Centre Programme at Weybridge.
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The SRO letter for the UK Seafood Fund Project has been removed, as the project is no longer part of the Government Major Projects Portfolio.
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Updated the details section - added a link to The National Archives website to view previous SRO letters.
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Added the senior responsible owner (SRO) appointment letter for the Science Capability in Animal Heath (SCAH) Programme.
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Added the SRO appointment letter for the Collections and Packaging Reforms Programme.
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Made a minor change to the ‘Delegated departmental/programme authority’ section of the ‘Northern Ireland Programme: SRO appointment letter (15 August 2023).
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Added the updated Northern Ireland Programme Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) appointment letter following new SRO appointment.
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Added the SRO appointment letter for the Biosecurity, Borders and Trade Programme.
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Added the SRO appointment letter for the tNCEA Programme.
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Added the SRO appointment letter for for the NO2 Programme (14 July 2023).
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Added the SRO appointment letter for the NO2 Programme.
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Added the SRO appointment letter for the UK Seafood Fund.
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Added the SRO appointment letter for the Nature for Climate Fund programme.
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Added the SRO appointment letter for the Workplace and Facilities Management project.
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Updated the Science Capability in Animal Health Programme Senior Responsible Owner appointment letter.
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Added the SRO appointment letter for the Northern Ireland Programme.
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We have added the letter of appointment for David Kennedy, Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) for the Future Farming and Countryside Programme.
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Removed the following SRO letters, as the projects are no longer part of the Government Major Projects Portfolio: Thames estuary asset management 2100 programme, Thames Tideway Tunnel project, CAP Delivery programme, UnITy programme.
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Added SRO appointment letter for Science Capability in Animal Health programme.
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Updated the SRO letter for the Thames estuary asset management 2100 programme.
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Updated appointment letter for the Thames Tunnel.
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Added SRO appointment letter for UnITy programme.
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Updated appointment letter for the CAP Delivery programme
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Added the SRO letter in respect of CAP Delivery.
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First published.