Memorandum submitted by the Environment
Agency (Appendix 18)
SUMMARY
The Environment Agency is the leading public
body responsible for protecting and improving the environment
in England and Wales. This memorandum sets out our position on
the Draft Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill and in
particular proposals to create a new Integrated Agency for the
delivery of aspects of the Government's rural policy.
Our key points are:
— We welcome the proposal to create
the new Integrated Agency (IA) as an important partner to help
us protect and enhance the environment.
— The final name for the IA must communicate
its role to the public and its partners and avoid confusion with
the Environment Agency. We suggest English Landscape and Nature
(ELAN).
— It is vital that the IA has a clear
and distinctive set of purposes which do not unnecessarily overlap
or cause confusion with those of the Environment Agency.
— We believe statutory guidance should
be given to the IA. This guidance and the management statement
to be issued should set out the relationship between the IA and
the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,
the framework within which the IA will operate and other guidance
relevant to the exercise of its functions. It should also set
out its relationship with the Environment Agency and other statutory
bodies. This transparency and accountability will benefit the
organisations concerned, stakeholders and customers alike.
— The management statement should be
kept under review and should set out the government's priorities,
including the use of incentive payments to protect and enhance
natural resources. We would expect to be statutory consultees
on any statutory guidance and also consulted on the management
statement.
— We stress that powers delegated by
the Secretary of State to and between Defra family bodies must
only be delegated by mutual consent as provided for in the Bill.
We would expect resources to follow delegated functions.
— We welcome the plans for the new
Inland Waterways Advisory Council, but believe it should have
a primary duty to further sustainable development.
— We welcome the proposals to strengthen
species and habitat arrangements. We would also recommend our
flood defence byelaws be extended to include conservation powers
and that in line with proposed amendments for other legislation,
the period within which proceedings for the enforcement of byelaws
may start be extended to a maximum period of two years from the
time the offence was committed.
— We welcome proposals for the Broads
Authority to operate a Boat Safety Scheme and associated measures
to bring the Broads in line with those operated by other navigation
authorities such as the Environment Agency.
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Environment Agency is the leading
public body responsible for protecting and improving the environment
in England and Wales. We advise Government on sustainable development,
work with the prospective organisations which will make up the
IA and have a central role in delivering the Government's Rural
Strategy. We therefore have a direct interest in the Draft Bill
and wish to ensure that the legislation is drafted and implemented
to deliver the necessary environmental protection as efficiently
and effectively as possible.
1.2 We already work closely with the constituent
bodies of the IA. For example, we work in close partnership with
English Nature on delivering enhanced protection for wildlife
sites of EU importance as the competent authority for Habitats
Regulations. We work with the Rural Development Service on the
targeting and design of agri-environment schemes and advice to
farmers. We work with all three bodies as part of the Land Use
Planning Group on land use research and EU policy.
1.3 In the future, the Water Framework Directive,
for which the Environment Agency is the competent authority, sustainable
flood risk management and sustainable farming will all be key
issues on which the IA and Environment Agency will need to work
together.
1.4 Of the above challenges, the biggest
is to tackle diffuse pollution from agriculture on a catchment-wide
basis. Tackling this challenge is central to meeting our obligations
under the Water Framework Directive. We are currently trialling
with English Nature and the Rural Development Service, catchment
management projects which will bring together the range of measures
available, together with specialist officers who can co-ordinate
effort round catchments most at risk and provide advice to farmers.
2. MAIN POINTS
2.1 We welcome the proposal to create the
new Integrated Agency (IA). The draft Bill proposes to unite in
a single organisation the responsibility for enhancing biodiversity
and our landscapes in both rural and urban areas, promoting access,
recreation and public well-being, and thereby contributing to
integrated natural resource management. The IA will be a valuable
partner to complement our role in environmental protection and
the improvement of soil, air and water.
2.2 The name for the new Agency must communicate
its role clearly and distinctively to the public and its partners
but avoid confusion with the Environment Agency. The new name
must reflect the IA's roles and responsibilities, so that the
public and those that work with it understand what it does. Our
suggestion for such a name is English Landscape and Nature
(ELAN) reflecting the principal functions of the new body.
2.3 The IA must have clear and distinctive
purposes which do not unnecessarily overlap with those of the
Environment Agency, but which enable it to use its powers to work
with us to protect and enhance the environment. The Environment
Agency's functions include the protection and enhancement of natural
resources (air, land and water), and other statutory functions
including flood risk management, water resources management, fisheries,
conservation and navigation. We also have a statutory duty to
promote recreation and sport on or near inland and coastal waters
and have been tasked by the Minister with taking the lead in strategic
planning for water-related recreation and sport. The roles of
the new Agency should be as set out in 2.1 above, as laid down
in the draft Bill. The two bodies will need to work closely together
to protect and enhance the natural environment and contribute
to sustainable development. We believe the general purposes as
drafted in the Bill will help us to deliver this, but further
guidance will be needed to provide an effective operational framework.
Each body needs clear and distinctive primary roles, but also
a duty to contribute through its roles, to supporting the other.
2.4 Statutory guidance should be issued
to the IA which must make it clear that the IA and ourselves should
work together and that the IA should use its powers to support
the Environment Agency's work on the protection and enhancement
of natural resources. The more detailed arrangements for working
together should then be determined by the two bodies within this
high-level framework. It should support the use of incentive payments
to protect and enhance natural resources and to enhance water
quality. It could also identify further government policies which
the IA and the Environment Agency could deliver together. As we
will be responsible along with the IA for delivering a number
of Defra's environmental objectives we recommend that we are statutory
consultees on any statutory guidance which should be kept under
review.
2.5 We welcome the proposal that powers
delegated by the Secretary of State to and between Defra family
bodies will only be delegated by mutual consent. Delegation of
functions can provide flexibility in delivery. However this must
not undermine the purpose of the Environment Agency which was
specifically established to bring together protection of soil,
air and water. Delegation of any part of this could risk the benefits
of tackling the protection and enhancement of all three media
together. Powers must be delegated only by mutual consent and
where a function is appropriate to the purpose of the bodies involved,
as the draft bill provides. We also expect funding to follow the
delegation of functions.
2.6 We also welcome the proposal that the
new Inland Waterways Advisory Council will have independence from
British Waterways. We recommend that membership should be open
to a wide range of relevant interests, including environmental
interests. It should have a primary duty to further sustainable
development, to ensure that its advice to all 29 operating navigation
authorities across the country take account of the environmental
as well as economic and social issues. This will help improve
the quality of navigation for all waterway users.
2.7 We are pleased with the proposals to
strengthen species and habitat arrangements, but would also like
to see these widened to include modifications to our flood defence
byelaw powers. These modifications would enable us to grant consent
subject to conditions relating to conservation or to refuse consent
on conservation grounds. (The current provisions are limited to
"securing the efficient working of the drainage system",
which runs contrary to our statutory duties in relation to nature
conservation.) In line with the provisions set out in the draft
Bill in relation to other Acts, we would also recommend that the
period within which we may start proceedings for the enforcement
of byelaws be extended to a period within six months beginning
with the date on which sufficient evidence to warrant proceedings
came to the attention of the prosecutor, subject to a maximum
period of two years from the time the offence was committed. At
present we are restricted to commencing proceedings within six
months of the offence being committed.
2.8 We also welcome the proposals for the
Broads Authority to operate a Boat Safety Scheme which should
co-ordinate with the existing scheme operated by the Environment
Agency and British Waterways. This will improve the safety and
enjoyment of those using the Broads for recreation. The measures
would bring the Broads navigation in line with those operated
by other navigation authorities, including the Environment Agency
and British Waterways Board.
3. CONCLUSION
3.1 The Environment Agency welcomes the
Draft Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill and in particular
the creation of the new Integrated Agency.
3.2 With clarity of name, purpose and working
relationship with ourselves, we believe the new Agency can work
closely with us in delivering the Government's environmental priorities.
Environment Agency
February 2005
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