Defra cuts 15% of staff as MPs warn of expertise drain

Defra has reduced its workforce by about 15% in the past year and is on track to cut about 21% of staff by 2029, as MPs warned that farmers are increasingly concerned about a loss of expertise inside the department.

Appearing before the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) select committee in Parliament on Tuesday 3 March, Defra permanent secretary Paul Kissack confirmed the scale of the reductions.

“I think the overall reduction we’ve seen since March 2024 is now about 15%,” he told MPs.

He said the department was moving from about 7,300 staff in March 2024 to a projected 5,800 by March 2029 – “so that’s a reduction of about 21%, 1,500 people”.

See also: Muddy boots training to give Defra staff better farming insight

The cuts follow a 10% administrative savings target set out in the Spending Review, with Defra required to find efficiencies while delivering major reforms, including the EU reset and water policy reforms.

Terry Jermy, Labour MP for South West Norfolk, said farmers had raised concerns about the departure of “very experienced and competent staff” and the impact on delivery.

He added that farmers were reporting a visible decline in knowledge on the ground.

“Farmers are very honest people, and they tell me repeatedly how, when a Defra official turns up, it’s the farmer normally that tells them what they need to be doing – which is of huge concern to me,” Mr Jermy said.

Concerns were also raised about the departure of “very experienced and competent staff” and the impact on delivery.

Mr Kissack said the department had protected key expertise during its voluntary exit scheme.

“We turned down 240 people who applied for the voluntary exit scheme for those kind of reasons,” he said.

There was a particular emphasis on recruiting people with data and artificial intelligence skills.

Staff morale down

However, he admitted morale has slipped. The latest Civil Service people survey results were “really disappointing for Defra”.

“We went backwards in terms of the overall staff engagement scores in 2025,” he said, adding the department is now “about five percentage points behind the Civil Service benchmark”.

Mr Kissack said the department’s priority was to increase headcount in areas under pressure.

While Defra insists it can meet its statutory responsibilities, MPs questioned whether deep cuts combined with falling engagement risk are further eroding confidence among farmers already wary of the department’s direction.