Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Climate Change
(asked on 20th April 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what changes have been made to the Defra Futures Unit since 2025; whether the unit has been abolished, renamed, merged or transferred; what arrangements are now in place within Defra for horizon scanning, futures analysis and climate-related risk assessment; and which teams or senior responsible owners are now accountable for those functions.
Answered by
Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra’s Futures Team closed as a central function in March 2025. It was not renamed or transferred.
Since then, horizon scanning and futures analysis have been undertaken by evidence and analytical teams across the Department, supported by work within Defra’s arm’s length bodies.
Accountability for climate related risk assessment sits with Defra’s climate adaptation teams, which lead the Climate Change Risk Assessment and the National Adaptation Programme.