18th Report - Scrutiny of the Draft Environment (Principles and Governance) Bill
- HC No.
- HC 1951
- Published
- 25 Apr 2019
- Items
- 0
- Government response
- Government response published 24 October 2019. Read the government's response ↗
Select committee: Environmental Audit Committee
Draft Environment (Principles and Governance) Bill inquiry
Closed
Opened 28 Nov 2018
Closed 28 Nov 2018
Environmental Audit Committee Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Inquiry scope (the committee's words)
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and the Environmental Audit Committee launch a joint call for written evidence for pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Environment (Principles and Governance) Bill. The Chairs look forward to receiving evidence for the draft clauses of the bill, the policy paper, statement of impacts, the memorandum from Defra to the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee and the information paper on the policy statement on Environmental Principles. The Committees invite all interested parties to address the following questions and any other aspect of the draft legislation in writing by the end of January, in no more than 3,000 words.
Where it stands
The inquiry is closed, opened 28 November 2018.
The committee has published 1 report, most recently 18th Report - Scrutiny of the Draft Environment (Principles and Governance) Bill on 25 April 2019.
The government's response
Published 24 October 2019.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says it has "agreed with many of the Committee's recommendations" on the draft Environment Bill and has made changes in the Bill introduced, while declining some proposals on the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP).
- It has strengthened the ministerial duty on the environmental principles policy statement from 'have regard' to 'have due regard', but intends "to continue to focus the duty on policy-making by Ministers" rather than extend it to all public bodies.
- It agrees that the OEP should have climate change within its enforcement remit and has removed the former exclusion.
- On OEP funding, it agrees to a five year indicative budget ring-fenced by HM Treasury, but "do[es] not agree that a separate Supply Estimate is needed".
- It says non-executive OEP members will be appointed by the Secretary of State, with the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee invited to hold a pre-appointment hearing for the Chair; it does not accept binding enforcement notices.
Reports
All reportsEvidence
- 3 oral evidence sessionsLatest 20 March 2019
Recent activity
- Letter from the Secretary of State to the Chair on the Environment Bill, 28 October 20194 November 2019, Correspondence
- 1st Special Report - Scrutiny of the Draft Environment (Principles and Governance) Bill: Government Response to the Committee’s Eighteenth Report of Session 2017–1924 October 2019, Report published
- Letter from the Secretary of State to the Chair on the Environment Bill, 15 October 201924 October 2019, Correspondence
Reports
Oral evidence sessions
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Correspondence
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