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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 May 2023 to Question 183056 on Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, whether her Department has issued internal guidance on the thresholds for (a) repealing and (b) reforming retained EU law.

Defra’s default approach remains that we will retain EU law unless there is a good reason to either repeal or reform it. Due to the wide scope of policy covered by Defra’s REUL, there can be no one size fits all approach to when REUL should be repealed or reformed across the Department. Defra is committed to maintaining the UK’s high standards and ambitions including on nature recovery and environmental protection.