Major reshuffle in Westminster – what does it mean for nature?

Over the weekend, a major reshuffle took place in Labour’s Westminster Government following the resignation of the Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner.

The former DEFRA secretary Steve Reed has been appointed as the new housing secretary, and is now in charge of delivering the Government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill as the head of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Steve Reed has previously said that he wanted to make this Labour Government the “most nature-positive government this nation has ever had“, and now, he has an opportunity to work with the environmental sector to reduce the severe impacts on the natural world that the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will have. Within his previous role he stated that the Planning Bill wasn’t a DEFRA matter, and was instead primarily the responsibility of MHCLG, so we look forward to fully engaging him on the matter of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

To replace Steve Reed as the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the previous Economic Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds has been appointed. She has stated her ambition to keep “building on the excellent work of Reed – cleaning up our rivers, backing British farming and ensuring nature’s recovery“.

CIEEM is looking forward to working with the new Defra Secretary to ensure that the UK  can achieve its target of protecting and restoring nature by 2030, and is anticipating responses from DEFRA on the consultations to BNG and the Land Use Framework carried out earlier this year.