Correspondence: Environmental audit in the 2019
Parliament
The Government is to give its view on whether the Environment Act
is working as Parliament intended by November 2026, the Environment Secretary has
confirmed.
In response to a recommendation in the predecessor Environmental
Audit Committee's report, ‘Environmental audit in the 2019
Parliament', the Government has indicated it plans to issue a
memorandum to commence the post-legislative review of the
Environment Act by 9 November 2026, the fifth anniversary of the
date the Act received Royal Assent.
In his letter to EAC Chair MP, the Environment Secretary
draws attention to the current review of the 2023 Environmental
Improvement Plan, and indicates that “new ambitious plans [are
being developed] to protect and restore our natural
environment”.
Environmental Audit Committee Chair, MP, said:
“Through the Environment Act, a framework to introduce ambitious
targets was established to protect the natural environment and
its inhabitants. There is understandable concern that progress
towards many of these targets is currently off track: if they are
not met the future for nature in England is bleak.
“That is why Parliament must be given the opportunity to ensure
the policy and legislation levers are adequate to allow our
fragile environment to recover and flourish and to deliver the
improvements which Parliament intended. I therefore welcome the
Government's positive response to the predecessor Committee's
recommendation on post-legislative scrutiny of the Environment
Act, and confirmation by the Secretary of State that the
Government will cooperate with Parliament's five-year review of
the Act.”
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