We have a new Minister at Defra as Lord Henley has been moved to the Home Office. Lord Taylor of Holbeach has been appointed as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State.
Lord Taylor entered the House of Lords in 2006, having been made a life peer as Baron Taylor of Holbeach, of South Holland in the County of Lincolnshire. He has been Government spokesperson for the Cabinet Office, Energy and Climate Change, and Work and Pensions since 2010. He has also served as a Whip in the House of Lords. He was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1992 for political service, and served as Chairman of the National Conservative Convention from 2000 to 2003.
His portfolio includes:
- Green economy, sustainable consumption and production
- Waste
- Climate change – adaptation
- Climate change – Defra’s interest in mitigation
- Biofuels
- Pesticides
- Chemicals
- Nanotechnology
-
Genetically Modified Organisms
- Welfare of companion and wild animals
- Dangerous Dogs
- Bee health
- Plant health
- Sponsorship of RBG Kew
- Air quality
- Local environmental quality, including noise and litter
- Science, evidence and research
- Environmental regulation
- Industrial pollution
- Global monitoring of environmental security (GMES)
- Localism and civil society
- All departmental business in the Lords
- Deputising for the Secretary of State at EU Environment Council
