Panel Debate by Aldersgate Group and DEFRA

On Wednesday 19th September I attended a panel debate organised by the Aldersgate Group and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to discuss the future of environmental regulation. The event was sponsored by Microsoft.

The discussion focussed on the DEFRA led review entitled “Smarter Environmental Regulation Review”: http://archive.defra.gov.uk/corporate/about/how/documents/serr-tor-120704.pdf

The plan is that by the end of September there will be a report to Ministers on options for rationalising guidance and data with a further report in December on longer term options for regulatory reform.

There was an interesting discussion on the scale and complexity of environmental regulation with reference being made to there being nearly 1000 pieces of legislation, 2000 guidance documents, 250 reporting requirements!