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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the (a) timetable and (b) process for the recruitment of independent experts to inform the development of new environmental targets as proposed in the Environment Bill.

The Government plans to bring forward at least one target, in each of the four priority areas, by the Environment Bill’s 31st October 2022 deadline. We want to get this right so will be engaging stakeholders about our stepped approached to target setting, including the involvement of independent experts in that process.

The target setting steps will broadly include: setting the scope of the targets; developing fully evidenced targets; public consultation on target proposals and finally drafting target legislation. We expect to publish a Target Policy Paper over the coming months which will include further details and timing about these steps.