Two parliamentary committees have said they are content with the
appointment of Alan Lovell as the new Chair of the Environment
Agency (EA).
However, while they were content with the appointment of Mr
Lovell, they noted some significant gaps in his knowledge,
including on the decreasing enforcement rate on key issues such
as sewage discharge into waterways. The two committees welcomed
his promise to return to them with his views on how to fix these
problems.
The committees also said they were also encouraged by Mr Lovell’s
commitment only to proceed with any restructuring of the EA after
having identified any improved environmental protection that such
a restructuring would deliver.
The two committees – Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, and
the Environmental Audit Committee – gave their judgement at a
‘pre-appointment hearing’. This is a mechanism under which
parliament scrutinises preferred government appointees to
significant public positions.
The Environment Agency has an annual budget of around £1.4
billion and employs over 10,000 staff. Its remit is to protect
and improve the environment in England.
Alan Lovell, 68, is currently Chairman of the Interserve Group
Ltd, Senior Independent Director of SIG plc and Chair of
Safestyle UK plc. He has been the Chair of the Consumer Council
for Water and works with several charities.
The Chair of the EFRA Committee, Sir said:
“I welcome Mr Lovell’s appointment and the strong private sector
experience he will bring to the role.
“But there’s a huge job to be done on preventing the pumping of
raw sewage into our waterways. Polluters must pay, so I look
forward to Mr Lovell delivering clear, measurable progress in
this area”.
The Chair of the EAC Committee, Rt Hon said:
“Mr Lovell has impressive credentials following a career in
finance and business which will undoubtedly help in his new role
as Chair of the Environment Agency with over 10,000 staff working
from sites all over the country.
“He demonstrated a better understanding of some aspects of the
EA’s work than others. He will now have ample opportunity to get
to grips with the full range of the EA’s role and activities. We
were encouraged by his enthusiasm to embrace innovation to
address major environmental challenges. We look forward to
engaging with him over the coming months.”
