Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish the Framework Document to be agreed between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Office for Environmental Protection.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Good progress continues to be made in agreeing the Framework Document between Defra and the OEP. We aim for it to be published in Spring 2023.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to publish the Common Framework document that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will agree with the Office for Environmental Protection.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are committed to working collaboratively with the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) to finalise the Defra-OEP framework agreement. We are currently in the final stages of negotiations. The purpose of the Framework Document is to set out the broad governance framework within which the OEP and Defra operate. It will reflect the parties' core responsibilities and will describe the governance and accountability framework that applies between the parties, including how the day-to-day relationship works in practice. This will include detail on governance and financial matters, whilst also respecting the provisions in the Environment Act for OEP independence.
Asked by: Lord Anderson of Ipswich (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made with the implementation of the duty of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to have regard to the need to protect the independence of the Office for Environmental Protection as set out in Schedule 1 of the Environment Act 2022.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has been provided with safeguards to ensure its operational independence from the Government, including a specific duty on the Secretary of State to have regard to the need to protect the OEP’s independence.
The indicative five-year budget for the OEP has been protected by Defra within this spending review period. This ensures the OEP has sufficient funds to carry out its statutory functions and gives the OEP greater certainty of its finances with which to plan its future activities.
The OEP board has set out its strategy and continue to operate independently of Government.