Recommendation 14

Government needs to ensure that organisations have access to the skills and resources they require to play their part in delivering environmental goals.35 The Department told us that both scientific and project management skills are required to make progress, particularly in the Environment Agency and Natural England as key delivery bodies.36 The Treasury acknowledged the skills gap in scientific capability in the Department’s group, as a result of the reduction in financing between 2010 and 2015. But it noted that the Spending Review is a move towards rectifying the situation, and that “institutional and structural” backing from the Treasury will be forthcoming as it better integrates the environment into the way it makes spending decisions.37 The Environment Agency told us it has a particular risk of skills loss in nuclear and hazardous waste management. This is largely due to its inability to pay the market rate offered in the private sector, though it seeks to mitigate this by topping up salaries where possible and developing in-house talent.38 Natural England noted that, although it does not yet have any “real, hard gaps” in skills, it has also experienced problems in attracting and retaining staff due to salary gaps between itself and environmental non-governmental organisations.39