Cap on staff fetters green watchdog, environmentalists claim

Environmentalists have warned that the current cap on headcount for the post-Brexit environmental watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP), “unreasonably fetters its discretion.” The claim came in a report on alleged political failures in the five years since the UK left the European Union.

In its report, the Green Alliance said “Brexit has led to weakened protections for the environment and public health,” despite politicians’ promises of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve them.

Among its recommendations, the alliance said Defra should remove the cap on the number of OEP employees that is a condition of its funding. It said the cap “does not reflect the environment secretary’s duty to protect the OEP’s independence.” It also called on Defra to publish its findings from its high-level review of the implementation of the environmental principles duty, in order to “increase transparency and provide clarity on when the duty is being applied.”