The Office for Environmental Protection has submitted advice to the Defra Secretary of State on reviewing and updating Government’s Environmental Improvement Plan.

Steve Reed, Secretary of State Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has announced a review of the EIP with the intention of developing ‘ambitious new plans to save nature’. He has formally requested advice from the OEP to help inform this review.

Dame Glenys Stacey, Chair of the OEP said:

“In our most recent report on progress against the EIP, we found Government was largely off track to meet its environmental ambitions. We called on Government to speed up, to scale up, and to make sure its actions stacked up.

“We welcome this review as an opportunity to ensure that the EIP is truly this Government’s central strategic plan to achieve its environmental ambitions and commitments, and for it to be transparent about how it is to be done.

“Government has been clear about its ambitions for house building and clean energy. As it develops its plans for such large scale initiatives, and as it reviews the EIP, it must take the opportunity to align them to nature, rather than work against it, to enhance nature rather than further deplete it. Getting this right will mean tackling deeply concerning negative environmental trends, and that will also provide benefits across Government’s other key priorities.”

Building on recommendations already provided through the OEP’s EIP progress reports and other work, the OEP’s advice aims to help inform an effective prioritisation of actions that will have the most impact across goal areas and targets. The advice also reiterates the need for transparent delivery planning and for each step within the EIP to be explicitly linked to specific targets or commitments.

It identifies five priority actions that will deliver benefits across EIP goal areas, the new Government’s environmental priority areas and contribute to meeting a number of targets:

1. Get nature friendly farming right

"The engagement of farmers and landowners is essential to government achieving Environment Act targets and its other environmental ambitions. ...we identify limited capacity for reducing water pollution, supporting your priority of cleaning up rivers and lakes, without both changes to the current schemes and changes to the regulatory approach."

2. Maximise contribution from protected wildlife sites

"….the current framework is not working well enough. Levels of legal protection not only need to be maintained but enhanced and enforced. Further steps should be taken urgently to correct underinvestment in site designation and management…"

3. Speed up action in marine environments

“Government is unlikely even to meet its limited commitment this year to ban all damaging activities in Marine Protected Areas. The latest data from OSPAR confirm the UK will more than likely not have met marine good environmental status, a legal requirement. This lack of progress highlights the need to more rapidly deliver current steps to achieve targets and commitments. Remaining Marine Protected Area byelaws need to be urgently put in place. Government needs to implement a new UK Marine Strategy that focuses action on those descriptors not at good environmental status to maximise progress and minimise the delay in achieving that overall objective.”

4. Set out clear mechanisms for reconciling competing demands for use of land and seas

“The way land and sea are used is one of the biggest drivers of biodiversity loss. Environmental pressures will become more acute with the need to develop clean energy infrastructure and housing, while delivering your priorities of food security and protecting communities from flooding. We await further progress on mechanisms such as Local Nature Recovery Strategies, a Land Use Framework, and detailed catchment and marine spatial plans….We encourage you to be bold.”

5. Develop a circular economy framework

“Progress in this area has been too slow. Government has an opportunity through an update of the Resources and Waste Strategy to establish the framework for a circular economy. This would deliver economic benefits and improve environmental outcomes across many areas, including nature recovery, but it requires the efforts to go beyond waste.”

The advice also calls for action to ensure successful delivery of the plan, including mobilising funding, including private investment, regulating more effectively and harnessing support from stakeholders.

“We look forward to providing further independent advice or expanding on the points made in this submission as we continue to work with Defra on this important review,” added Dame Glenys.

Implementing commitments effectively

The letter also states that the OEP very much welcome the recent announcement of a fundamental and comprehensive review of water in the round and confirmation that the OEP recommendations will inform it.

“Much rides on getting the approach to water right for the longer term. Meanwhile, we have produced relevant reports on how key regulations governing water quality are working in practice, with specific recommendations on improving this”, the letter continues.

Dame Glenys also refers to the fact that the OEP is also finalising studies into the effective implementation of laws relating to bathing waters, and (more broadly) on protected wildlife sites and environmental inspections. The OEP Chair confirms that it will be publishing reports on these issues in the coming months.

Click here to read the letter from the OEP to Steve Reed in full