Written Evidence submitted by Mr Culley (SH0062)

What does UK Government need to do to tackle other stressors on soil health such as soil contamination?

The UK government needs to reinstate funding for the investigation, assessment and remediation of contaminated land under Part 2A of the EPA 1990. Contamination is a major stressor on soil health and the remediation of sites via the planning process alone is not sufficient to tackle the UK’s legacy of land affected by contamination. A large proportion of land affected by contamination is already in use. It is not all derelict land sat waiting to be remediated via redevelopment. It is these sites that, in addition to being a stressor on soil health, typically also carry the greatest threat to human health due to them already being in use. The withdrawal of the Contaminated Land Capital Grants Scheme has massively hampered the ability of local authorities to actively implement their contaminated land inspection strategies and to carry out their statutory duty under Part 2A to inspect their area from time to time for the purposes of identifying contaminated land. Without the reinstatement of grant funding this situation will likely continue and much of the land affected by contamination throughout the UK will continue to go unassessed and un-remediated, posing a stress on soil health as well as a potential risk to human health and the wider environment.

February 2023