OEP CEO: seize the moment to help the environment

Natalie Prosser, chief executive of the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP), urged all those gathered at British Water’s annual Spring Reception in the House of Lords last week to seize the opportunity offered by this time of change to galvanise improvements for the water environment.

She celebrated the “clear and present sense of opportunity and a will to do better” arising from actions including the Water Special Measures Act, recent court rulings such as the Pickering case, and the Independent Water Commission. But she challenged whether all of this would “translate into the rate and degree of change needed” without concerted action.

Prosser shared an overview of where we are today, based on OEP work. This included: 

• The OEP assessment of the old Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP). She said this makes “pretty sobering reading” in finding the Government “largely off track” to deliver, including on water outcomes.

• The Water Framework Directive review - this found the legislation to be “broadly sound” but implemented ineffectively. 

• The Bathing Water Regulations review – these rules are followed but outdated.

• Two live investigations – one into Defra and its regulators regarding combine sewer overflow regulation and the other on the Farming Rules for Water. 

Prosser called for actions in the forthcoming refreshed EIP to be front loaded; and for transparent delivery plans, not just ambition. “Getting stuff done” she said, was key to success, along with long-term legally binding apex targets, active review and clarity on regulatory roles.