Hundreds
of jobs will be lost in Whitehall as the Government draws up plans to
streamline its rural services.
The
redundancies are part of a £100m reform of the Department for Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs (Defra), which come just two years after its creation.
The
measures have been proposed by Labour peer Lord Haskins, to cut bureaucracy and
ensure funding ‘reaches those who need it in rural communities’.
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Defra
has been criticised as ‘confused’ and ‘over centralised’ by environment
secretary Margaret Beckett, who recommended the department should concentrate
on policy and leave implementation to those at local levels.