Brexit is a ‘massive opportunity’ to rethink regulation

The head of the Environment Agency has called for the UK to grasp the “opportunity” of leaving the European Union by modernising environmental laws and policies including a move towards an outcomes based approach.

Speaking at a multi-sector Whitehall and Industry Group, James Bevan highlighted imperfections in current regulatory frameworks and suggested regulators “move with the times” to reflect technological changes and how demands of businesses have altered as well as the types of risks being managed.

“Brexit is a massive opportunity to rethink how we do regulation in this country,” Bevan said, adding that the government’s efforts to remove, revise or retain EU-derived laws were welcome.

Under the Environment Act, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was due to publish new targets by 31 October but failed to do so.

The chief executive, who will leave the EA in March, set out principles to follow including that: “Good regulation is not red tape. It’s what gets you green growth and a blue planet.”

Bevan urged that regulation should be focused on the outcomes people want to see – a safe, healthy population, nature restored and sustainable inclusive growth.

He also suggested it was better to have fewer, better targeted regulations that were proportionate, risk-based and evidence-driven and business-friendly.

“Strong regulation needs strong regulators: if regulators are going to do their jobs they need the right powers, the right resources, the right laws and the right support,” Bevan said.

Both he and the previous chair of the EA Emma Howard Boyd called for the agency to have greater enforcement powers over organisations that breach rules. The new chair, Alan Lovell, voiced his support for the idea of £250 million fines if water companies fail to meet environmental expectations.

Bevan said there are laws “we don’t really need” as well as some that can be updated to achieve better outcomes and some that should be kept.

He suggested reform of the Water Framework Directive to drive better outcomes, which Bevan stressed should be reformed in order to enhance water quality and restore nature, not degrade them.

Categorisation of water body status in the directive was, Bevan said, complex and could be misleading about the real state of the water. “It can force regulators to focus time and resources on indicators that may not make much difference to the actual water quality, taking focus away from things that would,” he explained.

Bevan said he would, however, keep the Bathing Waters Directive that has driven improvements to keep coastal waters clean.

“Regulation doesn’t exist to protect us from ourselves,” he concluded. “It exists to protect the things we value – people, nature, our economy – that would otherwise be harmed. So let’s have no more regulation than we need, and let’s have the right kind. But when we need it, let’s make sure we have it.”