Policy paper

24 November 2025: Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (IMG EFRA) Communiqué

Updated 21 January 2026

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The Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (IMG EFRA) met on Monday 24 November by video conference.

The meeting was chaired by Huw Irranca-Davies MS, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, Welsh Government.

The attending ministers were:

  • (from the UK Government) Emma Reynolds MP, Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs and Baroness Sue Hayman, Minister for Biosecurity, Borders and Animals, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

  • (from the Scottish Government) Gillian Martin MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy and Jim Fairlie MSP, Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity

  • (from the Northern Ireland Executive) Andrew Muir MLA, Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA)

The meeting opened with a discussion on water quality, focusing on nutrient management practices and behavioural change. This included a presentation by Dr Susannah Bolton who chaired a review of the Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021 for the Welsh Government. Ministers agreed to establish an officials’ group to enhance the sharing of research data and behavioural change evidence to support policy making and delivery across the UK.

The IMG considered an update on the EU-UK Common Understanding agreement. Devolved government ministers emphasised the importance of being consistently and meaningfully engaged throughout the negotiations by the UK Government.

Ministers also agreed the importance of maintaining effective border and biosecurity arrangements whilst the SPS Agreement is being negotiated and implemented.

Following this, ministers discussed the Fisheries and Coastal Growth Fund which was devolved following feedback from devolved governments and industry.

Ministers from the Scottish Government and DAERA voiced concerns about the methodology used to calculate the amount of funding allocated, which they felt did not take sufficient account of the sector size in Scotland and Northern Ireland. 

Defra stated that the allocation had been determined using the Barnett formula in line with HM Treasury guidance to ensure consistency with the wider devolution settlement and to give devolved governments full discretion over devolved policy areas.

Defra ministers agreed to follow up with further explanation of the funding allocation methodology.

The discussion then turned to funding needs of the EFRA sector with respect to the Autumn Statement, with devolved government ministers raising the importance of budget settlements which provided certainty and support across each nation, in particular for farm businesses, and that the previous IHT decision should be reconsidered given its implications.

The final substantive item concerned the resilience of the CO₂ supply chain for the agri-food industry. It was agreed governments should continue to work together to secure longer term resilience of supply.

Under other business there was brief discussion of the Welsh Government’s proposal for an exclusion from the UK Internal Market Act’s market access principles regarding the Deposit Return Scheme, and also forthcoming work on the UK government’s Food Strategy.

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