Major reforms to environmental regulation to boost growth and protect nature

A more dynamic, streamlined approach to environmental regulation will drive economic growth and safeguard nature under the Plan for Change, with reforms announced today (Wednesday 2 April) by the Environment Secretary Steve Reed.

It comes as a new review, commissioned by Steve Reed and led by Dan Corry, finds the current system of environmental regulation is outdated, inconsistent and highly complex – delivering for neither nature nor growth. The review concludes that a "bonfire" of regulations is not the solution; rather, it makes 29 recommendations for streamlining regulation, all of which the government is actively considering.

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed said:

“Nature and the economy have both been in decline for too long. That changes today. 

“As part of the Plan for Change, I am rewiring Defra and its arms-length bodies to boost economic growth and unleash an era of building while also supporting nature to recover. 

“Dan Corry's essential report gives us a strong set of common-sense recommendations for better regulation that will get Britain building.”

Nine key measures with the greatest impact for growth and nature recovery will be fast-tracked. Work has already begun on: 

• Lead regulator: A single, lead regulator for major infrastructure projects will end the merry-go-round of developers seeking planning approvals from multiple authorities who often disagree with each other - speeding up approvals and saving businesses millions in time and resource. This could include the recently approved Lower Thames Crossing, as well as future schemes like Heathrow expansion. Pilot projects trialling the approach will begin this year.
• Revamping environmental guidance: Rapidly reviewing the existing catalogue of compliance guidance, including on protecting bats, will identify opportunities to remove duplication, ambiguity, or inconsistency.
• Streamlined permits and guidance: Speeding up work to update the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 will allow regulators to make more sensible, risk-based decisions on which activities should be exempt from environmental permits, in some cases removing them altogether for low-risk and temporary projects. This will slash red tape for businesses, putting an end to delays that can slow down the decisions needed to get spades in the ground.
• Planning permit portal: Defra will convene the environmental regulators to set out the work required to upgrade their digital systems for planning advice, including a single planning portal for all agencies. This will speed up planning applications, while building trust and transparency into the process.
• New Defra Infrastructure Board: This will accelerate the delivery of major infrastructure projects by facilitating greater collaboration and stronger oversight within Defra and its arm's-length bodies - unblocking barriers to development at an early stage.
• More autonomy: Trusted nature groups will benefit from new freedoms to carry out conservation and restoration work without needing to apply for multiple permissions at every step of a project. A pilot collaboration between Natural England and the National Trust will allow Europe's largest conservation charity to cut down on the high volume of applications for consents, permits and licences they must currently submit. This will eliminate bureaucratic hurdles, bringing their ambitious nature recovery programmes to life at scale, more quickly and easily than ever before.

• Green finance boost: A new industry-funded Nature Market Accelerator will bring much needed coherence to nature markets, boosting investment into our natural habitats and driving growth. This will give businesses greater confidence to invest, unlocking a range of environmental benefits – from improved biodiversity to better water quality.

• Strategic policy statements for regulators: Clearer guidance and measurable objectives for all Defra's regulators, starting with Natural England and the Environment Agency, will drive performance improvements and focus delivery on government priorities. Progress will be closely monitored and reported on publicly – increasing transparency and accountability so the public can be confident that regulators are supporting, not blocking, development and nature restoration.

• Rolling regulatory reform: A continuous programme of reform will be established to pinpoint rapid actions, quick wins, and longer-term areas for improvements to regulation.

Economist and former charity leader Dan Corry, who led the review, said:

“Our current system for environmental regulation lets down both nature and growth; we must focus on good outcomes and nature enhancement, not on rigidly preserving everything at any cost. 

“This review clearly shows that simply scrapping regulations isn't the answer – instead, we need modern, streamlined regulation that is easier for everyone to use. While short-term trade-offs may be needed, these reforms will ultimately deliver a win-win for both nature and economic growth in the longer run.”

Currently, nature groups, developers and farmers are forced to navigate and comply with a complex patchwork of over 3,500 regulations – many of which are out of date and duplicative – as well as multiple overlapping regulators, all while shelling out vast sums in legal costs. This rigid and archaic approach not only stunts growth but impedes large-scale nature recovery, holds up the delivery of homes and infrastructure and creates an unnecessary financial and administrative burden.

This government will no longer accept this as the status quo; regulators and regulation must work for the people of Britain, not get in the way of progress. Reforms will streamline and modernise the regulatory process to reduce bureaucracy and focus on outcomes at scale, rather than delays and paperwork. Measures which require spend will be considered in the context of the Spending Review; those requiring legislative changes will be reviewed in the round as part of the government's wider legislative priorities. Further engagement with environmental groups, homebuilders, and a range of organisations across society where necessary will take place to ensure that any changes ensure development, growth, and nature restoration work hand-in-hand. 

Today's announcement is the latest step in Environment Secretary Steve Reed's drive, under the Plan for Change, to reform and rewire Defra and its arm's-length bodies to unleash economic growth and protect the environment.

Planning reforms and a new Nature Restoration Fund will unlock much needed housing delivery and infrastructure whilst supporting nature recovery at scale. It will help developers meet their environmental obligations more efficiently, making it easier to build vital infrastructure like wind farms, railways, and roads, gigafactories and data centres.  

More widely, in recognition of nature's decline in Britain, this Government has launched a rapid review to deliver on our legally binding environment targets, including halting the decline of species by 2030.

ENDS

Notes for Editors

An embargoed copy of ‘Delivering economic growth and nature recovery: An independent review of Defra's regulatory landscape' is available upon request.

Economist Dan Corry, who led the review, previously served as Head of the No10 Policy Unit under former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He was also an adviser in several government departments where he was involved in regulatory reform.   

The government has already begun to implement the following recommendations: 

• Recommendation 2: Publish new Strategic Policy Statements for all regulators, starting with the Environment Agency (EA) and Natural England (NE), with the aim of restating the Government's priorities and mandating regulators to use constrained discretion to deliver the desired outcomes, taking account of the place-based dynamics, within the law.
• Recommendation 3: Establish a Defra Infrastructure Board to accelerate the delivery of significant projects.
• Recommendation 5: Support better cooperation between regulators and appoint a lead regulator for all major projects in which multiple regulators have an interest.
• Recommendation 11: Scope a rolling programme of reform for specific regulations, being clear what can be done rapidly, where the quickest wins are and what will take longer. This review suggests areas of focus, but the department needs to work rapidly to scope them and establish the programme.
• Recommendation 13: The work to update the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 to allow regulators more flexibility to take sensible, risk-based decisions should be accelerated due to the important role it plays in supporting net-zero and circular economy priorities.
• Recommendation 15: Allow trusted nature conservation and environmental partners and other organisations with good track records greater autonomy, through memoranda of understanding (MOUs) and wider deployment of ‘class licences' enabling them to move fast on restoring nature without applying to regulators for multiple permissions.
• Recommendation 16: Defra should rapidly review and rewrite its existing catalogue of compliance guidance to ensure it is fit for purpose, removing any duplication, ambiguity, and inconsistency. The aim of the review should be a streamlined, clear, and up to date catalogue, signposted for each sector so that it is easy to navigate.
• Recommendation 21: Defra should explore launching a Nature Market Accelerator to bring much needed coherence to nature markets and accelerate investment. This should be small, focused and industry funded to provide independent assurance on the governance and standardised processes needed to guide and protect the interests of suppliers of nature-based projects; investors in biodiversity and ecosystem services; and other intermediaries and third parties involved in trading.
• Recommendation 27: Defra needs to build on the early progress being made to deliver a permitting portal which will show the progress applications and increase transparency, by continuing to accelerate this work and ensuring consistency of approach across regulators, with a clear business case relating to the economic growth benefits from the investment. Staged delivery should be put in place across 2025 and 2026.

The review is part of wider work to position Defra as a key economic growth department with regulatory reform to: 

• Boost private sector investment into the water sector, leveraging £104 billion in private expenditure to speed up the delivery of infrastructure to tackle water scarcity, unlock housebuilding and enable economic growth as part of the Plan for Change.
• Transform regional economies across the country through the development of a circular economy by reusing more existing materials, driving down waste across key sectors such as construction and packaging, reducing import costs for businesses and cutting carbon emissions.
• Develop pragmatic solutions that are needed to build the homes and infrastructure this country needs, while protecting and improving environmental outcomes.
• Strengthen economic resilience in communities that need better flood defences.
• Drive rural economic growth by cutting red tape for farmers and boosting Britain's food security.

QUOTE PACK:

Chief Executive of Natural England, Marian Spain said:

"Sustainable development and nature recovery can and must work together,  with urgent action needed to restore our depleted nature and build desperately needed homes and infrastructure.

"We are already working with the government to support growth, recognising the huge opportunities to be unlocked through better strategic planning which considers environmental improvement and economic development together. 

"We are delighted to have been able to help shape the recommendations in this review. It echoes our ambitions to deliver outcome-focused regulation which empowers people to make the right choices for nature and for people." 

Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, Philip Duffy said:

“I welcome the publication of this review and appreciate the extensive consultation with the Environment Agency throughout the process. Environmental protection and sustainable development can and should go hand in hand, without requiring excessive bureaucracy. 

“We will now work with Defra to take forward the review's recommendations, which include important building blocks for a less fragmented regulatory system that maintains high standards, but is more digital, transparent, innovative, and efficient.  

"Our approach will deliver better protections for the environment and better outcomes for the economy.”