The report highlights that 93% of over 14,000 businesses are complying with their environmental permits, but a small number of operators continues to cause harm. The EA has imposed fines amounting to £8.7 million on these non-compliant businesses in the last year.

The report highlights the need for a balanced approach that supports good businesses while holding poor performers accountable. Dr Nettleton calls for the EA to have “more teeth” to ensure firm action is taken against those who fail to comply with environmental law and preventing them from gaining a competitive advantage by non-compliance. 

According to the report, the EA has successfully shut down 63 illegal waste sites, bringing the total number to 344 – the lowest figure on record. Enforcement officers have also prevented nearly 34,000 tonnes of waste from being illegally exported by waste criminals.

However, the performance of some industries remains a concern. Five out of nine water and sewerage companies were rated as requiring significant improvement earlier this year, with a large rise in spills recorded.

Call for changes to the regulatory framework

The Chief Regulator is calling for fundamental changes to the regulatory framework that will affect not only the EA but also other stakeholders, including businesses, consumers, and the environment. Dr. Nettleton wants the EA to deliver a better experience for those it regulates, which includes improved digital services, customer advice, data-led decision making, and a smoother customer experience. She notes that resilient funding is required to achieve this, including increased cost recovery for implementing regulations.

The report highlights the importance of digital transformation in improving permitting performance and notes that staff will continue to work on improving permitting through digital transformation and further efficiency improvements. 

The stated ambitions of the Chief Regulator are bold and are to be welcomed. They include reforming the environmental regulation framework to provide improved environmental protections for people and the environment through quicker responses. This includes: 

• Simplifying and making the framework more agile
• Providing experts with the ability to tighten or reduce regulatory oversight in response to new evidence and data
• Supporting greater innovation and delivering better value for money by simplifying internal processes and improving cost recovery
• Enabling a more consistent interpretation and application of regulations, including from EA officers.

 One of the more challenging stated ambitions, in particular in light of the government’s pro-growth and net-zero ambitions, include ‘better support for innovation and growth through greater flexibility to remove regulatory barriers, and through reducing complexity and improving the coherence of the legislation and guidance’.

I welcome the Chief Regulator’s report and will look forward to seeing how Dr Nettleton’s ambitions help deliver much needed changes to regulation and align with the government’s ambitions for growth and its environmental commitments.

Paul Collins | Ashfords