SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Perceptions of progress since the Agency's
formation
(a) The overall
perception has been that progress in creating an effective, coherent
and confident new body has not been as rapid in the 3½ years
since the Agency was formed as it ought to have been. This perception
was confirmed during our inquiry (paragraph 11).
ROLE
OF
THE
AGENCY
Developing a vision of the Agency's role
(b) If more effort
had gone into developing a coherent vision for the Agency at an
early stage, many of the problems which it has experienced in
the early stages of its existence might have been dealt with more
effectively. On the evidence we have received, the Agency appears
still to lack a "cogent ethos and strategy". This is
affecting not only the management of its staff and the effective
performance of its functions, but also the way it is perceived
both by the industries which it is responsible for regulating
and by the general public whom it serves (paragraph 16).
(c) We therefore commend the emphasis now
being placed on the production of a new Environmental Strategy.
We recommend that, as a central part of the production of this
strategy, the Board of the Agency develop a clear vision of its
role and the way in which each of its functions contributes to
that role (paragraph 17).
(d) We also recommend that the Board take
steps to disseminate that vision widely amongst the general public,
regulated industries and those with whom the Agency works, particularly
local authorities. Ensuring that these recommendations are implemented
should be the overriding priority of the new Chairman in the coming
months (paragraph 18).
Agency influence on public debate and on environment
and sustainable development policy
(e) The Agency
needs to recognise that if progress is to be made towards sustainable
development, then it will need to be more active. The matter cannot
be left solely to central government policy and voluntary initiatives
(paragraph 20).
(f) As an important advisor to Government
on environmental issues, we would like to see the Agency engage
more vigorously in public debate and raise its profile on matters
of importance where protection and enhancement of the environment
and sustainable development are concerned. Clearly, the Agency
must conduct itself in accordance with Government policy, but
it should also play an important role in influencing that policy
as it is formed. The phrase used
by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Environment Agency's fellow
NDPB, the Countryside Agency, was that it should be a 'champion'
for the countryside. The Environment Agency should become a 'champion'
of the environment, and of sustainable development (paragraph
22).
(g) We welcome the Minister's enthusiastic
support for the Agency, and we hope that it will continue, particularly
in the critical coming months as the new Chairman takes over and
the Agency develops its new environmental strategy. As the Agency
becomes, as we hope it will, a more effective and confident organisation,
we fully expect that it will start to say things which the Government
may not want to hear. The Minister's support for its right to
do so will be crucial if it is to become an effective 'champion'
for the environment and sustainable development (paragraph 23).
STRUCTURE
(h) The DETR's
review of barriers to integration must result in speedy resolution
of those barriers which can be overcome by administrative or managerial
action. We also recommend that sufficient Parliamentary time be
allocated to enable the equally speedy resolution of those areas
which require legislative remedies (paragraph 27).
(i) We recommend that the Government instigate
a review of the different approaches and philosophies of existing
environmental legislation, with a view to establishing a more
efficient and effective regulatory regime (paragraph 28).
(j) Instead of the present 'generalist'
approach, it would be preferable for the Agency to create teams
of specialists in particular fields who would be responsible for
the Agency's environmental protection duties. Such teams would
work together within a properly coordinated framework to provide
an integrated approach without diluting the available expertise.
This approach might involve the creation of a team leader, or
"lead inspector", for the process or activity concerned.
However, the Agency's attitude towards specialist inspectors has
itself been the subject of some criticism, and we are aware that
it may be necessary for the Agency to undertake a considerable
shift in the way it manages its inspectors for such a policy to
be implemented (paragraph 31).
Boundaries
(k) Our conclusion
is that the Agency's own internal boundaries are a matter for
it to determine. However, the Agency must ensure that, whatever
administrative boundaries it works to, it is able to demonstrate
sufficient flexibility to ensure that those who work on different
boundaries, particularly local and regional authorities, are able
effectively to work with them, and should invest in manpower and
information technology accordingly (paragraph 35).
MANAGEMENT
AND
STAFF
(l) It has been
clear to us throughout the course of this inquiry, both through
the written and oral evidence which we have received and through
our experiences during our visit to the South West, that the Agency's
existing staff are all personally fully committed to the improvement
of the environment and to their jobs. However, we are concerned
that their commitment is being undermined by senior management
decisions and actions in a number of areas, resulting in high
staff turnover, low morale, and a consequent decrease in the Agency's
effectiveness (paragraph 36).
Waste and IPPC inspectors
Waste
(m) We are surprised
and disappointed that, even after the considerable length of time
that has elapsed since our Sustainable Waste Management inquiry,
and despite the 'improved dialogue' with the industry of which
the Agency boasts, it has still not done enough by way of training
its staff to gain the confidence of the waste management industry.
We recommend that the Agency urgently take further steps to improve
the competency of its staff in the waste management function (paragraph
40).
Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control
(n) We recommend
that the Agency reconsider its decision to downgrade its Process
Industry Regulation/Radioactive Substances Regulation Inspector
posts (paragraph 47).
Management structures and the pay system
(o) We recommend
that the Board of the Agency look closely at its management structure,
particularly the matrix management system, with a view to making
recommendations as to how:
- 'matrix management' can be made to work effectively
without inserting layers of general managers between staff on
the ground and those who can take decisions;
- management structures can be put in place
appropriate to each function, without imposing the same structure
on all aspects of the Agency's work irrespective of the appropriateness
of that structure to the work which is being carried out;
- specialists can be
given a proper career structure which ensures that the Agency
can recruit and retain experienced inspectors across all its regulatory
functions (paragraph 62).
(p) We further
recommend that the Agency's pay system be urgently reviewed, with
a view to ensuring that it encourages staff motivation and morale
and thus Agency effectiveness (paragraph 63).
ATTITUDE
TO
REGULATION
AND
RELATIONSHIP
WITH
INDUSTRY
Availability and clarity of guidance
(q) We welcome
the Agency's commitment to openness, and we strongly encourage
it to continue to give priority to the clarity and openness of
its regulatory requirements and to seek further ways to improve
such clarity and openness (paragraph 66).
Radioactive substances
(r) We strongly
urge the Government to produce as soon as possible, in consultation
with the Agency, a clear statement of regulatory policy and practice
in the area of radioactive substances and waste (paragraph 71).
Consistency between regions
(s) Inconsistencies
in policy and practice between the different regions of the Agency
should be limited to those areas where they are a result of a
genuine need for local differences in approach (such as to reflect
the different ecological nature of river catchments in different
areas of the country, or to take account of regional sustainable
development strategies) rather than a lack of clarity of policy
or a failure effectively to communicate national policy and standard
working practices to local staff (paragraph 76).
Time taken to deal with issues
(t) If the Agency
is to retain credibility as a regulator, it must ensure that it
is, and is seen to be, operating with maximum efficiency. The
Agency must therefore take steps to deal with the problems which
lead to inefficiency and delay and put itself in a position to
respond to applications and other issues which arise during the
regulatory process within an agreed timeframe (paragraph 80).
Fees and charges
(u) If the Agency
is to maintain the confidence of those whom it regulates, it must
ensure that the justification for its charges is clear (paragraph
83).
(v) If industry is to be charged in line
with a top-level consultancy, it can reasonably expect to receive
a commensurate level of service. In particular, this means that,
as we have noted above, the Agency should provide them with swifter
responses and properly qualified, adequately experienced staff
(paragraph 85).
Incentive charging
(w) We agree that
'incentive charging' sounds good in principle, and we would support
a charging system which gave companies an added incentive to reduce
the environmental impact of their operations. However, we recognise
the advantages of the current cost-recovery basis for charging
in terms of companies only paying for the service they receive.
Any scheme of 'incentive charging' would have to be carefully
designed to ensure fairness, and it would be particularly important
that our previous Recommendation regarding the clarity of the
basis for the charges continue to be observed (paragraph 87).
Use of data on environmental performance and
the 'Hall of Shame'
(x) We are very
much in favour of the concept of 'naming and shaming', which has
an important role to play not only in ensuring that companies
take their environmental responsibilities seriously and in securing
improvements in environmental performance, but also in making
the public more aware of the environmental impact of industry.
However, it is essential that it be done on a fair, consistent
and professional basis (paragraph 93).
(y) We recommend that the Agency, in consultation
with industry, develop appropriate performance indicators which
can be used fairly and consistently to assess individual companies'
environmental performance. Tables based on these indicators should
then be published to enable the public to make their own judgements
about companies' contributions to sustainable development (paragraph
94).
Court fines
(z) If companies
are to take their environmental responsibilities seriously, public
disapproval through league tables of environmental performance
must be backed by serious financial penalties for significant
breaches of environmental law (paragraph 95).
(aa) We strongly support the Sentencing
Advisory Panel in its advice that the Court of Appeal frame a
sentencing guideline on environmental offences. We recommend that,
following publication of this guideline, the Government keep under
review the courts' sentencing for environmental offences, with
a view to taking further action if the new guideline does not
prevent the courts from continuing to fail to treat environmental
offences with the seriousness they deserve (paragraph 96).
(bb) We also support the Sentencing Advisory
Panel's recommendations to Minsters regarding sentencing for environmental
offences. We therefore recommend:
- that the Government instigate a review into
the sentencing of companies for environmental and other offences.
This review should make proposals for measures to ensure that
the penalties imposed have a proportionate effect on all firms.
It should also make proposals for measures to provide companies
with a financial incentive to take the right environmental option
rather than to cut corners to the detriment of the environment,
by ensuring that the level of the fine is always more than any
financial benefit gained from the offence, as well as reflecting
the level of environmental damage or risk involved;
- that companies be required to publish details
of convictions of environmental offences in their annual reports;
- that a higher limit be set for compensation
orders imposed by magistrates' courts in the case of environmental
and other offences
(paragraph 98).
Engagement with senior people from industry
(cc) Agency senior
officers and Board members should be more active in seeking to
meet senior people in industry to discuss environmental issues.
If the Agency is to make a serious contribution to sustainable
development, it must get involved at all levels of industry, not
merely - important though it is - in the regulation of particular
industrial processes (paragraph 102).
Measuring effectiveness
(dd) We commend the
progress which the Agency has been making in this area, and we
recommend that it continue to develop and refine indicators against
which its performance in protecting and enhancing the environment
and contributing to sustainable development across the full range
of its duties can be measured (paragraph 108).
ACCOUNTABILITY
Regional advisory committees
(ee) The REPACs have
recently been asked by the Minister for the Environment to report
annually on the Agency's performance: a trial run has already
taken place, and it is expected that all REPACs will make such
a report in the coming year. We welcome this initiative, and we
recommend that these reports be made widely available to the general
public, perhaps by means of the Agency's website (paragraph 111).
(ff) We note the suggestion that the representatives
of "air and land" could be replaced by members co-opted
by the committee itself for particular purposes, and we recommend
that further consideration be given to this suggestion (paragraph
112).
(gg) We recommend that the current structure
of 3 statutory committees in each region plus the 26 non-statutory
Area Environment Groups be reviewed, with a view to creating a
more streamlined and therefore more effective structure (paragraph
114).
(hh) Above all, it is very important that
the advisory committees, however they are structured, are and
are seen to be influential in the work of the Agency (paragraph
115).
(ii) If the right people are to be encouraged
to serve on these committees, they must be able to see that the
hard, usually unpaid work which they put in is having a positive
effect on the Agency's work. We therefore recommend that the Agency
take steps to ensure that it takes full advantage of the experience
and expertise of the Regional Environmental Protection Advisory
Committees (paragraph 116).
Cooperation with Regional Development Agencies
and Regional Chambers
(jj) We very much
welcome the role which the Agency has played in encouraging the
promotion of environmentally sustainable development by the Regional
Development Agencies (paragraph 117).
(kk) We recommend that the forthcoming Financial
Management and Policy Review examine the relationship between
the Environment Agency's advisory committees and the emerging
regional government structures, with a view to ensuring the closest
possible cooperation between these bodies (paragraph 118).
Integration of nature conservation objectives
into all aspects of the Agency's work
(ll) We welcome the
Agency's recognition that "if regional government becomes
a very serious part of political life then we will have to respond
to that".[289]
It is important that the Agency recognise that Regional Development
Agencies are here to stay. Both the Agency and the Government
must take account of the emerging regional government structures
when making decisions about the future shape of the Environment
Agency (paragraph 119).
Engagement with local communities
(mm)We welcome the Agency's
moves towards becoming more directly accountable to local communities
by means of public meetings and the new Selected Licence Application
Procedure. It is very important that where there is controversy
over a site regulated by the Agency, or a new licence application
to the Agency, that the Agency be active in meeting local concerns.
The fiasco at Castle Cement in Ribblesdale must not be repeated
elsewhere. Agency action in this area should therefore continue
and be extended, particularly to ensure that mechanisms to consult
and reassure the public are available for existing sites as well
as for the new applications to which the Selected Licence Application
Procedure applies. This should be an important part of the raising
of the Agency's public profile and the gaining of public recognition
and acceptance for the Agency which we recommend at the beginning
of this Report (paragraph 123).
OTHER
ISSUES
Funding
(nn) We recommend
that the Government look closely at the proposals put to it by
the Agency for rationalisation of its income streams, with a view
to determining how such rationalisation can be achieved. Those
changes which necessitate a legislative remedy should be addressed
by the current review of legislative barriers to integration;
those which do not should be put into effect at the earliest possible
opportunity (paragraph 127).
Integration of nature conservation objectives
into all aspects of the Agency's work
(oo) We recommend
that the Agency look more closely at the environmental arguments
in favour of change to its water level management regimes and
the powers and duties which enable it to make such change, with
a view to improving its management of these areas to the benefit
of the environment (paragraph 132).
(pp) We recommend above that the current structure
of 3 statutory committees in each region plus the 26 non-statutory
Area Environment Groups be reviewed, with a view to creating a
more streamlined and therefore more effective structure. Such
a restructuring may necessitate the transferal of the executive
responsibilities currently held by the Regional Flood Defence
Committees to the Environment Agency itself. Given the comments
we have made above about the importance of the role and influence
of the Agency's Advisory Committees, we do not believe that local
accountability need be diminished by any new arrangements (paragraph
134).
Funding
(pp) The Agency should
be given the flexibility in its use of funding to enable it to
combine the objectives of environmental protection
and, for example, flood defence in single projects such as that
proposed for the River Witham (paragraph 136).
Conclusion
(qq) We agree that
the introduction of a 'biodiversity check' for all the Agency's
most relevant position statements and programmes would be a good
way, in the short term, of ensuring that all the Agency's functions
are required to take account of the implications of their work
for nature conservation and biodiversity, and we so recommend.
In the long term, however, we hope that it will not be necessary
for the Agency to have to undertake such an exercise. Habitat
conservation and the preservation of biodiversity should be a
key part of the role the Agency sets out for itself in response
to our earlier recommendations. The aim, therefore, is for the
integration of these objectives into the work of all the Agency's
functions to become a matter of course (paragraph 139).
Influence on planning decisions
(rr) We recommend
that the Agency not only get involved in influencing planning
decisions by local planning authorities, but ensure that it supports
those authorities at appeals where decisions taken on the basis
of its advice are appealed against (paragraph 143).
Development in floodplains
(ss) We are concerned
about the high economic, environmental and social costs which
flooding entails, and particularly about the increasing pressure
on the Environment Agency to provide economically and environmentally
unsustainable flood defences for new development. We therefore
support all the conclusions of the Agriculture Select Committee
Report about the Agency's powers in relation to development in
floodplains, and urge local planning authorities to take full
account of the advice of the Agency where such development is
proposed. The advice of the Environment Agency, which is in the
best position to make judgements on these matters, should also
be given due weight by the Planning Inspectorate and the Secretary
of State in the event of appeals against refusal of permission
for such development (paragraph 147).
(tt) We welcome the fact that, following our
questioning on the issue, the Agency has received the advice that
it is legally permissible for the public to access the Agency's
flood maps by typing their postcode onto the Internet, and will
now be making arrangements to make the maps available in this
way. This is in line with the advice we have received from the
Data Protection Registrar, that there is no reason why the Data
Protection Act should be a barrier to such a publication scheme.
However, we are disappointed by the Government's response to the
Agriculture Select Committee's recommendations regarding the provision
of information about the degree of risk to persons and property
presented by flooding, and we recommend that the Government review
the adequacy of its response. A further step which we recommend
that the Government consider to enable the public to make informed
judgements about the risk attaching to an individual property
is that of making information about flood risk immediately obvious
on such buildings by means of a plaque attached to the front (paragraph
148).
Fly-tipping
(uu) We are dismayed
that this very serious environmental problem should have been
effectively ignored for so long. The possibility that the Landfill
Tax would encourage fly-tipping was a major concern for environmental
groups, local government and the public from before its introduction
in October 1996. Regardless of the concerns expressed at that
time, and of our observations and recommendations on the subject
in two subsequent Reports, the Government and the Environment
Agency have failed to take the necessary action to prevent the
illegal dumping of waste. In the meantime, untold damage may be
being done to our environment. We recommend that the Environment
Agency take urgent steps effectively to tackle this very serious
problem, and that the Government provide it with the necessary
funding to enable it to do so (paragraph 151).
Abstraction licensing
(vv) Whilst we welcome
the moves that have been made towards the reform of the abstraction
licensing system, we are very disappointed at how slowly this
reform has progressed since our predecessor Committee's Report
in 1996. Water abstraction is a very serious environmental issue
with important implications for the sustainable use of our water
resources. It is vital that progress be made as quickly as possible.
We will be examining the forthcoming draft Water Bill closely
to ensure that it contains the provisions necessary to implement
reform. We also recommend that the Environment Agency make the
speediest possible progress on the development and implementation
of Catchment Abstraction Management Strategies (paragraph 154).
CONCLUSION
(ww)Finally, we note the
extreme importance of the role which the Agency has to play. Environmental
protection and enhancement are at the heart of sustainable development:
as the Government recognised in its Sustainable Development Strategy,
a damaged environment impairs quality of life and, at worst, may
threaten long term economic growth. The Agency, placed as it is
at the point where business and the environment meet, should be
at the forefront of the move towards sustainable development.
We look forward to seeing an Environment Agency which takes its
place as the leading organisation in the process of attaining
that goal (paragraph 157).
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