Agenda item

The following questions were submitted by Councillor Colin Winder under Procedure Rule 10:

The council received a letter on the 1^st of October from Natural England about the levels of phosphate pollution effecting large areas of Somerset.  This pollution was causing problems within the planning system, both for agricultural development, and development for housing development.  There appeared to be a diversity of agencies responsible for areas of control, but no overall body with the legal backing to ensure total  pollution control.

The Environment Bill is at present at the committee stage in the House of Commons.  I searched this week through the list of written submissions and could find nothing from South Somerset, or the joint Somerset district councils.  The Bill proposes the formation of “An Independent Office for Environment Protection” which I would expect to control pollution and provide the overriding body to deal with cross departmental problems, which is at present missing.  It is essential to understand that Nature does not read policy documents, or abide by district or county boundaries.

My question is:-

(1)     have SSDC made representation to the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs to ensure that pollution of our rivers and streams is covered by the proposed Office for Environment Protection (OEP).

(2)     if you have not submitted a written representation to the committee on the Environment Bill can you do so?  This is a critical problem throughout the district.   

Councillor Tony Lock, as Portfolio Holder for Protecting Core Services responded:

1)    The Council had not submitted representations on the Environment Bill.

2)    The Somerset Local Planning Authorities have been proactively working together to address the phosphates issue in relation to the Somerset Levels and Moors and the impact this is having on development within the catchment. A cross-departmental meeting will be held in due course to include MHCLG, Defra, Natural England and the Environment Agency. We aim to seek assurances that the condition of the Somerset Levels and Moors is able improve over the longer term with ‘fair share’ contributions to minimising phosphate pollution, from all sources.  The Authority were working with other Somerset Councils who were similarly affected to raise the profile of the phosphates issue with local MP’s, Government Departments and the Local Enterprise Partnership to name a few.  The Chief Executive had sent a letter to the 2 local MP’s to raise concerns, therefore it was considered that the Council was communicating effectively with Government on this issue. 

Councillor Sarah Dyke, as Portfolio Holder for Environment responded:

3)    The Commons Library analysis of the Environment Bill 2019-20 explains that the role of the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) is to replace the function of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in respect of environmental laws once the UK leaves the EU.   The Environment Bill therefore proposes to create an independent body to monitor progress and establish an effective approach to environmental regulation.

The principal objective of the OEP is to contribute to the protection and improvement of the natural environment, by enforcing environmental law and monitoring progress in meeting any environmental targets.

The OEP will therefore address the failings of public authorities in relation to environmental law. This means that the Environment Agency will remain as the appointed regulator responsible for protecting and improving the environment in England and the OEP will intervene if any failings materialise and enforcement action needs to be taken.  Similarly, we understand that the OEP may take similar action on local planning authorities that fail to undertake the necessary measures in relation to Habitats Regulations Assessments.

The Somerset Local Planning Authorities are intending to lobby MPs for their support and the Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow is the Environment Minister and sits on the Public Bill Committee for the Environment Bill, which currently at Committee Stage.

Given this information we are satisfied the role of the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) as set out in the Environment Bill is fine.

Councillor Colin Winder responded that he had read the LGA response and they wanted the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) to be more local and responsible to the Local Authorities.  He said that at the moment there were so many organisations involved and the independent office was needed to monitor what was happening and organise it.  He did not feel that the responses provided aligned with the LGA view which he was happier with.  He said knowledge of rural areas was required and SSDC should have responded to the Bill.

Councillor Mike Lewis noted that Wessex Water should be included in the cross-departmental meeting, due to be held with MHCLG, Defra, Natural England and the Environment Agency.

Councillor Tony Lock said that officers would take this comment into consideration and individual Councillors were able to lobby their MP’s on this issue as well.