Ag lawyers warn Gove’s ‘green watchdog’ cannot win confidence of farmers

Mr Holland also raised concerns about how the Environment Bill would ‘dovetail’ with the Agriculture Bill, particularly with regard to regulatory baselines which will apply to the post-Brexit public money for public goods scheme.

“It is vitally important that the contents of the proposed Environment Bill reflect the direction of Government policy contained in Defra’s Health and Harmony consultation in 2018,” he said.

“While baseline data will be used to measure the success of environmental schemes, it is not clear how the data will be collected or used, or how those baselines will be established.

“It is fundamental to the agriculture sector that the Government is clear on the evaluation methods that will be used and supported at farm level.”

Other legal experts giving evidence to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee raised similar concerns about a lack of independence during pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill last Wednesday (January 30).

Power

David Wolfe QC, from Matrix Chambers, told the committee Ministers should not have the power to appoint the body’s chair or members.

“What is the need to have the Secretary of State involved in any of the appointments?” Mr Wolfe asked.

“There are plenty of other ways of appointing people. If it was to be truly independent, there should not be more than Government advisory input.”

Mr Wolfe also suggested if Government had the power to set the watchdog’s budget, Ministers could use ‘soft hints’ about cutting future funding to influence its decisions.