Environment plan delayed by Stormont stalemate

Stormont's stalemate means publication of NI's first Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) must be deferred, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs has told the UK's environment watchdog.

It was expected that an environmental strategy would be published that would then be adopted as a plan.

The department missed a statutory deadline for an EIP in July.

It has since told the watchdog publication would be inappropriate.

In a letter to the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) in September Katrina Godfrey, permanent secretary at the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) said the matter had been given "very careful consideration".

However, it had been concluded, she said, that "it is not at this time appropriate for officials, acting in the absence of democratically elected ministers, to decide to introduce what would clearly be a new, major policy which carries with it new major public expenditure commitments".

Daera has said it will continue to update its environment strategy so that it is ready in the event of the return of an executive

That conclusion would be kept under review, Ms Godfrey added, with a formal review in three months' time if the absence of ministers continued.

She said the impact of the deferral would be mitigated by providing the OEP with "a work programme that sets out the actions Daera will take to improve our natural environment within the resources available to us at this time".

That work programme will also be made public.

The draft environment strategy will also continue to be updated "so that it is ready for executive consideration as soon as we have ministers in place".

The chief executive of the OEP, Natalie Prosser, said she was "disappointed" that the plan had been deferred and added that it was "imperative" that the deferral did not impact on "the much-needed environmental protection and improvement in Northern Ireland".

She said that, while she appreciated the "complexity of the situation and difficult position that officials find themselves in", there would be further discussion with teams at Daera.