Dame Angela Eagle has been appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as part of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s first Cabinet reshuffle, taking responsibility for the government’s environmental, waste and resources agenda.
Eagle succeeds Emma Reynolds at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), becoming the department’s tenth secretary of state in a decade. The appointment forms part of a wider ministerial reshuffle following Burnham’s arrival in Downing Street on 20 July.
The veteran Labour MP is no stranger to the department. She previously served as a Defra minister with responsibility for food security and rural affairs before moving to the Home Office and Cabinet Office as Security Minister in June.
As Environment Secretary, Eagle will take charge of a wide-ranging brief that includes waste and recycling policy, the circular economy, packaging reforms, extended producer responsibility (EPR), Simpler Recycling, resource efficiency and environmental regulation.
Her appointment comes as the government continues to oversee the rollout of major reforms to the resources and waste sector, including the implementation of packaging EPR, the expansion of consistent household recycling collections and the development of a Circular Economy Strategy.
No immediate changes to those policies have been announced, and it remains unclear whether the change in ministerial leadership will result in any shift in priorities or delivery timetables.
The reshuffle was announced shortly after Burnham formally became Prime Minister, with a number of senior Cabinet posts changing hands while several ministers retained their positions.
Further ministerial appointments at Defra are expected to be confirmed in the coming days.