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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department's planned timetable is for responding to the Office for Environmental Protection’s report entitled Progress in improving the natural environment in England 2022/2023, published in January 2024.

Under the Environment Act 2021, we are required to respond to the Office for Environmental Protection’s (OEP) reports on progress in implementing the Environmental Improvement Plan no later than 12 months after the OEP report was laid in Parliament. As the OEP’s report was laid on 17 January 2024, we have until 16 January 2025 to respond.

We will carefully review the OEP’s findings and respond in due course.