Lack of Wales post-Brexit environment watchdog criticised by Senedd members

Before Brexit the European Commission could decide to investigate breaches of green laws

The lack of a post-Brexit environmental watchdog to hold the Welsh government's feet to the fire on issues like sewage spills has been criticised by senior Senedd members.

They said it would be an "unforgivable failure" not to have arrangements in place by the next Senedd election.

Wales is the only part of the UK yet to set up a permanent body to scrutinise its government's environmental record.

The Welsh government said it was preparing the necessary legislation.

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In a highly critical report, the Senedd's Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee branded efforts to replace EU-era measures on environmental governance as "inadequate".

Before Brexit people could complain free of charge to the European Commission, which could decide to investigate on their behalf, about whether governments and their public bodies were abiding by green laws.

Examples from Wales included a complaint about the handling of agricultural pollution in rivers, and harmful levels of air pollution from Aberthaw coal-fired power station in the Vale of Glamorgan.

The UK government established an independent Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) in 2021 to carry out a similar role in England and Northern Ireland, while the Scottish Government set up an organisation called Environmental Standards Scotland in the same year.

Earlier this month an OEP investigation suggested the UK government and water regulators may have broken the law by failing to stem the extent of sewage spills into rivers.

Thursday's report points out that "it is now seven years since the EU referendum" and yet Wales is still some way off setting up its own version of the OEP.

Furthermore it said the Welsh government "has not engaged in discussions with the English and Scottish bodies to learn lessons" from their establishment and that "this should happen immediately".

'Wales missing out'

In February, over 300 organisations under the banner of Climate Cymru wrote an open letter to the First Minister, Mark Drakeford, calling on him to introduce a "Nature Positive Bill" which would include plans for a new body to "oversee and enforce the delivery of environmental targets and protections".

While there are no plans to introduce such a bill this year, the government has committed to publishing a White Paper - an outline of its proposals - before the end of 2023.

It has appointed an "interim environmental protection assessor" - Dr Nerys Llewellyn-Jones - on a part-time basis, to look into complaints from the public and publish thematic reports with recommendations for the government.

But the committee criticised a lack of capacity and resources offered to the role, with Dr Llewellyn-Jones "still waiting on the minister for climate change to provide money for extra staff, despite previous promises".

In two years, only one report had been submitted to the Welsh government they said, concluding that the interim measures were "inadequate" and "Wales is missing out".

What do ministers' say?

A Welsh government spokeswoman said they would "bring forward legislation during this Senedd term to establish an environmental governance body for Wales."

"The bill will contain biodiversity targets and nature restoration targets as well as post-EU environmental governance arrangements," she added.

"An Interim Environmental Protection Assessor for Wales (IEPAW) has been established, championing environmental protections and carrying out an important role in reviewing the framework of environmental law."