Government to strengthen Parliamentary scrutiny of green watchdog guidance
As the Environment Bill started its Report stage in the House of Lords last week, environment minister, Rebecca Pow, made a statement to the House asserting the independence of the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) “given the significant interest from the members of both Houses”.
Pow said the government had introduced an amendment for Lords Report to enable additional Parliamentary scrutiny of any draft guidance issued to the OEP: the secretary of state will be required to lay a draft of any guidance before Parliament and respond to any resolutions or recommendations made by either House and Parliamentary committees before producing the final guidance. This will supersede and strengthen a provision requiring the secretary of state to lay before Parliament and publish any guidance.
Pow said the government feels a guidance power is necessary given the OEP will have “unprecedented remit” extending to environmental protection, improvement of the natural environment, and enforcement action against all public authorities. She said: "The OEP must be impartial and independent, but not unaccountable.” She also pledged the guidance power would not be used to intervene or direct the OEP in decision-making about specific cases.
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