9th Report - Pre-appointment hearing for the Chair-designate of the Office for Environmental Protection
- HC No.
- HC 1864
- Published
- 29 Apr 2026
- Items
- 0
- Response
- No response document linked
Select Committee · Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Work of the Department and its arm’s-length bodies
Status: Open
Opened: 6 Nov 2024
1 report
Inquiry scope
A key responsibility of the EFRA Committee is to scrutinise the policy, spending and administration of Defra and its arms-length bodies. To achieve this, the Committee will hold regular evidence sessions with the Secretary of State, Defra Ministers and senior officials from both the Department and the organisations for which it is responsible. The transcripts of those sessions and related correspondence and written evidence are collected here. The Committee will also call for evidence on a regular basis and produce iterative and focused reports on this subject. Topics for scrutiny may include, but are not limited to: the effectiveness of the regulatory landscape, the capacity of Defra’s regulators to monitor the environment, enforce environmental protections, and take into account other duties, such as those for “growth”, the project management, deployment and overall delivery of government-funded projects, programmes and initiatives, services delivered and other direct responsibilities of arms-length bodies, such as environmental permits and management of protected and forested areas, the accessibility of Defra and its arms-length bodies to citizens, including engagement with local expertise and complaints procedures, relationships with local government and making devolution work for Defra’s policy areas. The Committee will also consider the effectiveness of the machinery of government when it comes to important cross-government issues such as: climate adaptation and mitigation, environmental protection, nature recovery and nature-based solutions to societal problems that are within the remit of other departments, the impact of trade policy on domestic industry and environmental targets, impacts on and opportunities for rural and remote communities; particularly the Government’s ‘rural proofing’ policy, working with local government, responding to emergency incidents such as flooding and other extreme weather events. If you have information or evidence which may be of interest to the Committee, please contact: efracom@parliament.uk .Reports
Oral evidence sessions
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| Date | Session and witnesses | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Jul 2026 |
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
David Hill · Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs,
Emily Miles · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,
Emma Bourne OBE · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,
Rt Hon Emma Reynolds MP · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
|
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| 28 Apr 2026 |
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Dame Helen Ghosh, Preferred candidate to become Chair of OEP
|
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| 10 Mar 2026 |
EFRA Committee
Dr Tony Juniper CBE · Natural England,
Marian Spain · Natural England
|
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| 3 Mar 2026 |
EFRA Committee
David Hill · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,
Emma Bourne · Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs,
Iain King · Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs,
Paul Kissack · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
|
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| 11 Nov 2025 |
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
David Hill · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,
Emily Miles · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,
Emma Reynolds MP · Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
|
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| 28 Oct 2025 |
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Alan Lovell · Environment Agency,
Philip Duffy · Environment Agency
|
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| 20 May 2025 |
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
David Hill · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,
Emily Miles · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,
Rt Hon Steve Reed MP · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
|
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| 26 Nov 2024 |
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Chris Walters · Ofwat,
David Black · Ofwat,
Helen Campbell · Ofwat
|
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| 19 Nov 2024 |
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
David Hill · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,
Emily Miles · Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs,
Rt Hon Steve Reed MP · The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
|
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Who gave evidence
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| Witness | Organisation | Sessions |
|---|---|---|
| David Hill · Director General for Strategy and Water | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 4 |
| Emily Miles · Director General for Food, Biosecurity and Trade | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 3 |
| Alan Lovell · Chair | Environment Agency | 1 |
| Chris Walters · Senior Director, Price Review | Ofwat | 1 |
| Dame Helen Ghosh, Preferred candidate to become Chair of OEP | — | 1 |
| David Black · Chief Executive | Ofwat | 1 |
| David Hill · Director General for Strategy and Water | Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs | 1 |
| Dr Tony Juniper CBE · Chair | Natural England | 1 |
| Emily Miles · Director for General for Food, Biosecurity and Trade | Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs | 1 |
| Emma Bourne · Director General for EU Reset and Trade | Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs | 1 |
| Emma Bourne OBE · Director, Resources and Waste | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 1 |
| Emma Reynolds MP · Secretary of State | Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs | 1 |
| Helen Campbell · Senior Director for Sector Performance | Ofwat | 1 |
| Iain King · Chief Financial Officer | Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs | 1 |
| Marian Spain · Chief Executive | Natural England | 1 |
| Paul Kissack · Permanent Secretary | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 1 |
| Philip Duffy · Chief Executive | Environment Agency | 1 |
| Rt Hon Emma Reynolds MP · Secretary of State | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 1 |
| Rt Hon Steve Reed MP · Secretary of State | Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 1 |
| Rt Hon Steve Reed MP · Secretary of State | The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | 1 |
Correspondence
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