Memorandum submitted by the Environment
Agency
INTRODUCTION
The Environment Agency welcomes this opportunity
to input into the framing of the EFRA Committee inquiry on Defra
Science. We recommend the following areas for investigation:
3. Success of collaboration on science within
the Defra Network.
4. Integration of policy and reviews into science
objectives and plans.
5. Implementation of Defra Capability Review.
1. Delivery of Evidence and Innovation Strategy
2005-08
The Committee should consider the extent that
the evidence element of the strategy has delivered on its ambitions
for the environmental evidence base. For example, has it delivered
requirements to support UK and international policy?
With regard to the innovation element, the Committee
should address the extent that it is driving the "innovation
for the environment" agenda. In particular, how well does
it work with other innovation drivers such as the Technology Strategy
Board?
2. Ways of working with other UK Science
Funders
The Committee should consider how Defra ensures
efficient delivery and coordinates its work with other funders
of environmental science. For example, how well does Defra work
with Research Councils in the UK as main contributors to the research
funding base?
Defra, the EA and other members of the Defra
Network contribute to the Environmental Research Funders Forum
and to various projects and programmes. However there is no overall
strategy. What steps Defra is taking to drive cohesion?
The Committee should also consider how Defra
connects with the third sector in the delivery of sound science
with high public interest, for example on climate change.
3. Collaboration within the Defra Network
The Committee should examine how Defra operates
as a parenting body to deliver a joined up science agenda, covering
successes and areas for development.
Areas to consider:
— How Defra operates as a parent body in
working with agencies on specific projects.
— Defra and its agencies have different
approaches to peer review and evidence based decision-making.
What are the implications for how the quality of science is assessed?
— How can communications across the Defra
network work better to meet the expectations of operating authorities?
— How can the outcomes and wider benefits
of science be realised across the Defra network?
4. Integration of policy and reviews into
science objectives and plans
The Committee should examine how changes in
policy and the outputs of reviews are integrated into the planning
and implementation of science within Defra teams and agencies.
5. Implementation of Defra Capability Review
The successful implementation of the current
Defra Capability review is key to facing the challenges of the
future. The Committee should investigate how Defra intends to
apply the recommendations of this review and what the future map
of environmental science capability in the UK will look like.
How the Review will improve lines of communication
across the Defra Network and other funders of science is also
key.
CONCLUSION
Clarity of delivery and the implications of
the Defra Capability Review are key issues of interest. We recommend
that the inquiry has a strong forward looking element, considering
how robust Defra and its agencies will be in working together
to meet the science challenges of the future.
March 2008
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