OEP mulls enforcement action against Defra

The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) is considering enforcement action against the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) after it failed to set statutory targets as part of its Environment Act commitments.

Defra missed the 31 October statutory deadline to set targets that would frame the government’s vision to bring about a step change in environmental protection.

Glenys Stacey, chair of the OEP, called government’s failure to meet the deadline “deeply regrettable”.

Earlier this year a government consultation on what the targets should cover received 180,000 stakeholder responses – with Defra blaming the overwhelming response as a reason for missing the deadline.

The statutory, legally enforceable, long-term targets are intended to set goals for industry, government and other stakeholders to protect, restore and enhance water, land and air quality as well as enhance biodiversity.

“Long term statutory environmental targets are needed urgently,” Stacey said. “With government committed to halt species decline by 2030, and given other environmental pressures, it is not just important that government settles targets urgently now, they must also be the right targets, as stretching as possible.”

The OEP’s enforcement policy sets out that it would aim to resolve non-compliance through “co-operation, dialogue and agreement” with public authorities. Stacey added that use of enforcement powers was “under active review” and the Office would pursue enforcement should it be deemed necessary.

Thérèse Coffey, in her first week since returning to Defra as secretary of state, was forced to admit the department’s failure, which was a requirement as part of the Environment Act that passed into law last year.

In a letter to the OEP chair, Coffey wrote that Defra would “continue to work at pace in order to lay draft statutory instruments as soon as practicable”.

The introduction of the Environment Act saw government make a case for a system of environmental governance based on statutory principles and long-term targets, as well as its Environmental Improvement Plan – all of which would be underpinned by the OEP.

“With government’s newly stated commitment to act at pace, we are focused on doing all we can to make sure these targets are agreed at the first opportunity, that they are sufficiently ambitious and cover the right ground,” Stacey said.

The statutory targets are intended to feed into the next iteration of the Environmental Improvement Plan, due in January 2023. Therefore a delay in setting targets may delay that plan.

In a letter to former Defra secretary of state Ranil Jayawardena on 6 October, Stacey stressed that failing to meet the deadline would undermine the environmental governance framework and that it would “likely erode trust at such a sensitive time” as well as delaying crucial environmental protections being implemented.

She underlined the need for targets to be ambitious, especially, she said, “given that the push for growth will inevitably put new pressures on the environment.”