Make up of new EFRA Committee unveiled

The full membership of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) has been announced, with a strong contingent of new Labour MPs now on board. 

The cross-party committee, which scrutinises Defra policy, announced its new chair, Liberal Democat MP Alistair Carmichael in September, after he was elected unopposed. Conservative MP Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds), the former NPA policy adviser, also confirmed he had been elected to the committee earlier this month. 

The rest of the committee has now been confirmed, with two Conservatives, two Liberal Democrats, including the chair, and seven Labour MPs, all from the 2024 intake.

Each party has its own internal processes for naming its nominations to fill its seats on committees. Individual nominees put forward by political parties were agreed in the House of Commons, following a Committee of Selection meeting. Party seat allocations across and within committees is proportionate to the number of MPs elected to the House of Commons at the general election.  

NPA senior policy Tom Haynes goes into more detail into each of the committee members on the NPA’s website. He said the committee chair has been meeting each of the new members and the committee now needs to finalise its work programme for the next year or so.

“There are so many areas of work for the committee to consider inquiries on, ranging from pollution and the actions of our water companies to reforms on packaging and waste regulations. However, we are encouraging the committee to consider the matters of food security and biosecurity,” he said.

“The committee staff are now in the process of organising a series of visits for the committee to get out and about in the new year with the theme of farm to fork, so watch this space.”

Details of meetings and the Committee’s forward programme will be announced in due course.