The Climate Change Environment and Rural Affairs Committee (‘the Committee’) carried out an inquiry into environmental governance and principles. This work built on the Committee’s report (PDF 242KB) published in June 2018 in which it made recommendations to both the UK and Welsh Government on environmental governance and principles post-Brexit.

The Committee sought views on:

• Gaps in environmental governance structures and principles post-Brexit in Wales and whether the Welsh Government’s analysis (within the consultation) correctly and comprehensively identifies the deficiencies;
• The Welsh Government’s consultation proposals and questions regarding the environmental principles, and the function/constitution/scope of the proposed governance body; and
• The value and practicality of a UK joined approach given the UK Government’s Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs’s (DEFRA) proposal that new governance structures in England could exercise functions more widely across the UK.

Output

The Committee published its report: Environmental governance and principles post-Brexit (PDF 3756KB) on 2 October 2019. The Welsh Government responded (PDF 399KB) on 29 November 2019.

On 13 December 2019 the Committee wrote (PDF 250KB) to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs to ask her to clarify a number of issues in relation to her response to the Committee’s report.  The Minister responded (PDF 1022KB) on 20 January 2020.

Following the Minister’s appearance before the Committee on 12 November 2020, and following the publication of the Minister’s written statement on the Environmental Governance Stakeholder Task Group Report, the Chair wrote (PDF 210KB) to the Minister (on 23 November 2020) to follow up on a number of matters in relation to interim arrangements for environmental governance following the end of the implementation period. The Minister responded (PDF 518KB) on 8 December 2020.