Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the period of time was between the conception and publication of the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023.

The Environment Act 2021 was first introduced to Parliament on 30 January 2020 and received Royal Assent on 9 November 2021. It requires that the Secretary of State prepare an Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) for significantly improving the natural environment. The Act designated the 25 Year Environment Plan (25YEP) as the first EIP. The Act requires the government to review its EIP every five years.

As committed to in the Environment Act, on 31st January 2023 the government completed the review of the 25YEP and published its second statutory Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23). Our Written Ministerial Statement laid alongside EIP23 sets out the revisions we have made and the reasons for them.