The Office for Environmental Protection has called on the Government to take urgent action on progressing the environmental targets set out in the 25-year Environmental Improvement Plan and statutory targets set for the environment.

The Government has agreed to accelerate publishing its response to the Office for Environmental Protection’s (OEP) annual assessment report, following pressure from the Environmental Audit Committee.

A new report from the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) says there are positive early signs that a key legal obligation, designed to put the environment at the heart of government policy making, is being supported by government, but more still needs to be done.

The government has welcomed the Office for Environmental Protection’s (OEP) review of the implementation of the current Bathing Water Regulations 2013 in England, saying that the OEP recommendations are aligned with the government’s proposed reforms to the Bathing Water Regulations 2013. The OEP published its review in November 2024.

The protection and restoration of nature, clean water and managing the impacts of nutrients are priorities for The Office for Environmental Protection has set out its plans for the next two years – the protection and restoration of nature, clean water and managing the impacts of nutrients are priorities in the OEP’s Corporate Plan for 2024/25 to 2025/26.

 Deeply concerning’ failures to properly implement regulations designed to protect rivers, lakes and coastal waters in England mean key targets for improvement will be missed, a 180 page detailed and highly critical report by the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has found.

Government remains largely off track to meets its environmental ambitions and must speed up and scale up its efforts in order to achieve them, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has found in its annual progress report published today.

The Government was defeated on two key votes in the House of Lords last night in its attempt to change existing legislation on nutrient neutrality for housing developments which protect river water quality and to give itself powers to further amend protections without proper scrutiny.

The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has identified possible failures to comply with environmental law by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Environment Agency and Ofwat in relation to the regulation of combined sewer overflows (CSOs).  

Proposed changes to the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill will reduce the level of environmental protection provided for in law and amount to a regression, the Office for Environmental Protection is warning.