Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 22
22
In discussing the reporting obligations of the Office, the Department explained that it will report...
Conclusion
In discussing the reporting obligations of the Office, the Department explained that it will report to Ministers, who can then be held to account by Parliament. We noted that this is in contrast to the Climate Change Committee, which must report directly to Parliament.55 The Department told us that Ministers will not have power over the work programme and decision making of the Office, and will have a duty to have regard to its independence. The Office itself will also have a duty to operate objectively and impartially.56 53 Qq 89 54 Q 90 55 Qq 85–87 56 Q 87 Achieving government’s long-term environmental goals 15
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: By April 2021 6.2 The Permanent Secretary for the department has written on the 25 March 2021, to the Committee chair explaining that the government is setting up the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) in interim form from July 2021, before Royal Assent of the Environment Bill. 6.3 The interim OEP will be led by the Chair-designate, Dame Glenys Stacey, plus other non- executive directors selected through a current public appointment process and the interim Chief Executive-designate. Following the Environment Bill’s Royal Assent, this group will become the Board of the OEP as an independent legal entity. 6.4 The interim OEP will assume and build upon the functions of an interim secretariat which has operated in Defra from 1 January 2021. As well as receiving complaints about compliance with environmental law and monitoring progress under the Environment Plan, as this secretariat has been, the Interim OEP will be able to: • publish an independent assessment of progress on the Environment Plan; • develop the OEP’s strategy and enforcement policy; • take decisions on operational matters like staff recruitment, accommodation and facilities; • determine approaches for how the OEP will form and operate, establishing its character, ways of working and voice. 6.5 This ensures the OEP can use its full powers as soon as they are commenced following Royal Assent. 6.6 The OEP and the CCC have similar constitutions. Both are sponsored by, but legally separate from, government departments. The OEP will report to Parliament on its functions and its findings from monitoring environmental progress and the implementation of environmental law. This means the OEP, while accountable to Ministers, will be operationally independent and provide reports to Parliament.