OEP Chair Dame Glenys Stacey tells Secretary of State that missing the Environmental Targets deadline is ‘deeply regrettable’

Dame Glenys Stacey, Chair of the Office for Environmental Protection, has issued a statement regarding the deadline for Environmental Targets being missed, in which she says the failure to meet the deadline is ‘deeply regrettable’. 

The announcement that the 31 October deadline would be missed was made by Thérèse Coffey on 28 October, citing the ‘volume of responses’ as the reason for the delay.

“The Secretary of State has made clear that the statutory deadline set by Parliament for environmental targets will not be met. We appreciate the particular political difficulties of recent months, but nevertheless the failure to meet the deadline is deeply regrettable. An ambitious and comprehensive set of targets is needed urgently to tackle serious and concerning trends of environmental decline and to drive improvements that will benefit us all.  With government committed to halt species decline by 2030, and given other environmental pressures, there is no time to lose.

“Earlier this year we provided detailed advice to government on how best to develop the draft targets initially proposed. We welcome the Secretary of State’s commitment to work at pace, and trust our advice will be helpful. We will continue to monitor progress and will hold government to account to ensure targets are in place quickly now.”