Environmental Improvement Plan and OEP’s assessment that Government targets are not being met: Environment Secretary to take MPs’ questions
Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey appears before the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC). The two-panel session will also hear from the Chair and Chief Executive of the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP), Dame Glenys Stacey and Natalie Prosser, after last week’s evidence session with them was adjourned due to votes in the House of Commons.
Meeting details
The evidence session follows numerous recent announcements on environment policy and amid concerns expressed by the Office for Environmental Protection that the Government’s own environment targets are failing to be met.
Earlier this week the Government unveiled its Environmental Improvement Plan, which seeks to address nature decline, and its Environmental Principles Policy Statement, which aims to embed environmental protection in all government policymaking. The publications come shortly after the OEP published an assessment identifying areas where Government targets on the environment and nature are failing to be met. These issues are likely to be discussed with the Environment Secretary in some detail.
The Committee will also use the opportunity to explore Government progress in a number of areas of Committee interest, including water quality, the deposit return scheme for drinks containers, and the effects of environmental change on food security. The evidence session follows the Committee’s recent correspondence with the Environment Secretary about progress on delayed Government policy documents and consultation responses.