Select committee: Environmental Audit Committee
1st Special Report - Scrutiny of the Draft Environment (Principles and Governance) Bill: Government Response to the Committee’s Eighteenth Report of Session 2017–19
Published 24 October 2019
Environmental Audit Committee Draft Environment (Principles and Governance) Bill inquiry Report on parliament.uk ↗
At a glance
The government's response
This document responds to 18th Report - Scrutiny of the Draft Environment (Principles and Governance) Bill.
This is 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.
What the committee recommended
This is a government response document, so it has no recommendations of its own.