Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee

The Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee scrutinises the work of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and related public bodies on environmental protection, food security, rural development and land management. The Committee takes oral evidence from ministers, officials and external witnesses as part of its investigative work. It operates as a permanent select committee with the power to examine policy and hold the executive to account across its remit. Recent inquiries have examined water sector reform following South East Water outages and the resilience of England's water infrastructure. The Committee has also investigated fairness in food supply chains through scrutiny of the Groceries Code Adjudicator and Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator frameworks. Additional focus areas have included the future shape of the veterinary profession, nature recovery and economic growth, and waste management alongside circular economy and land use policy under the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.