This week marks one year since Malcolm Beatty was appointed to the Office of Environmental Protection (OEP) as its main NI representative. The body was established to scrutinise what government departments and other public authorities do in relation to the environment.
The OEP was initially set up in November 2021 to cover England, but its powers were extended to NI last year and Beatty was appointed to its board as a non-executive director.
“We are here to see what the government is doing in relation to the environment,” Beatty explained during an interview with the Irish Farmers Journal.
“Before Brexit, the European Commission had oversight of what government departments did. After we left the EU, it was recognised that there needs to be something to hold the government to account on its environmental performance,” he said.
Beatty is a retired civil servant who spent most of his career in what is now DAERA. He held roles including Chief Executive of the Forest Service and NI Chief Plant Health Officer.
The OEP has 70 staff across England and NI, including scientists, lawyers and investigators. There are 13 NI-based staff, although Beatty is keen to stress that the organisation operates as one entity.
“If we have a NI-related issue, the whole of the OEP could be working on it. Similarly, if there is an English issue, all our people based here could be working on it as well,” he said.
Investigations
A key part of the OEP’s role is to investigate complaints about public bodies failing to comply with environmental law.
“We don’t investigate every complaint. We only take the most serious ones. If there is an issue that we think we need to investigate, then we will do that,” Beatty said.
He gives the example of an ongoing investigation about the exact role for various public bodies who have responsibility for water quality in England: “We are testing if the law is clear about who has responsibility for what and whether each of the parties understand that,” he said.
At present the OEP have no formal investigations ongoing in NI. “We certainly have complaints. We are filtering those out, checking what the issues are and deciding what may lead to an investigation,” he said.
Planning rules
Beatty suggests a future NI-based investigation could look at the “operational protocol”, which is used by planning authorities for assessing ammonia emissions from proposed buildings, such as new livestock sheds.
The guidance has led to major delays in the planning system for NI farmers, although DAERA has said it wants to develop a new operational protocol.
“Just to give an NI-type example, that is the sort of thing we might get at. Is this thing working properly? What’s wrong with it? Why is it not working the way it was intended?” Beatty said.
When the OEP completes an investigation, it does not have the power to issue fines directly, although it can take public authorities to court.
Malcolm Beatty pictured at the OEP office in Belfast.
“We have teeth, but court is the last resort. If we can get the public authority to do what it should be doing before that, then job done,” Beatty said.
OEP gives
advice on NI ammonia strategy
One recent NI-based activity by the OEP was its response to DAERA’s public consultation on a draft ammonia strategy for NI.
But if the OEP was set up to replace the role of the European Commission, why did it take part in a DAERA consultation? The European Commission did not get involved in these exercises when we were in the EU.
“Although we came about that way, we are constituted in a totally different way. We take our remit from the Environment Act, which says we have four things to do. One of them is to advise government on its legislation and strategy,” Malcolm Beatty responds.
The OEP’s views on the draft ammonia strategy is mainly focused on high-level issues around how DAERA’s plan is structured and implemented.
It does not give an opinion on the finer details of the strategy, such as the controversial proposal to ban the use of splash plates on all NI farms by 2026. “On the technical stuff, there are others better placed to get into that than ourselves,” Beatty said.
He describes DAERA’s target for a 30% drop in ammonia emissions from NI agriculture by 2030 as “very, very challenging” and appears unconvinced about how the proposals will be delivered.
The OEP has also raised concerns about how the ammonia proposals tie in with all other environmental strategies in NI, such as the existing Nutrient Action Programme and the upcoming Carbon Action Plan.
“My own view is that farmers would be better off if they could see the whole picture. How these strategies and programmes join up is really important for the people that need to make it work,” Beatty said.
‘We are absolutely not against farming’
Some will see the OEP as just another green body that is pressing DAERA on environmental policy. There is already a long list of environmental campaign groups and charities, known as non-government organisations (NGOs), who have a significant presence in NI. I ask Malcolm Beatty if is there a risk that farmers’ voices are getting drowned out during debates on the environment?
“We have an independent role, and we work always on the basis of evidence. That marks us differently to the NGOs. We are solely interested in what public bodies do,” he responds.
“We have no interaction with farmers directly, although we talk to farmers as stakeholders to hear their views and that helps shape our opinion. We are here to give a voice on how the department’s strategies and policies are likely to impact on the environment,” he said.
Beatty points out there are many pressing environmental issues facing NI, from ammonia emissions, to water quality and biodiversity loss. He is clear that farming will have to change to address these challenges.
“We are absolutely not against farming. We need to eat, we recognise that. We also recognise that people need to work. But we have to find a way of doing this that is responsible and sustainable,” he said.
“A lot of knowledge has arrived in the last 20 years and we need to find how this all joins together. Everyone is learning how to deal with these big issues of our time. We have to find solutions,” Beatty said.
Climate Change
left to CCC
Climate change is one area of environmental policy that the OEP does not get involved in. Instead, that falls under the remit of the Climate Change Committee (CCC), which has a presence across the UK.
This week marks one year since Malcolm Beatty was appointed to the Office of Environmental Protection (OEP) as its main NI representative. The body was established to scrutinise what government departments and other public authorities do in relation to the environment.
The OEP was initially set up in November 2021 to cover England, but its powers were extended to NI last year and Beatty was appointed to its board as a non-executive director.
“We are here to see what the government is doing in relation to the environment,” Beatty explained during an interview with the Irish Farmers Journal.
“Before Brexit, the European Commission had oversight of what government departments did. After we left the EU, it was recognised that there needs to be something to hold the government to account on its environmental performance,” he said.
Beatty is a retired civil servant who spent most of his career in what is now DAERA. He held roles including Chief Executive of the Forest Service and NI Chief Plant Health Officer.
The OEP has 70 staff across England and NI, including scientists, lawyers and investigators. There are 13 NI-based staff, although Beatty is keen to stress that the organisation operates as one entity.
“If we have a NI-related issue, the whole of the OEP could be working on it. Similarly, if there is an English issue, all our people based here could be working on it as well,” he said.
Investigations
A key part of the OEP’s role is to investigate complaints about public bodies failing to comply with environmental law.
“We don’t investigate every complaint. We only take the most serious ones. If there is an issue that we think we need to investigate, then we will do that,” Beatty said.
He gives the example of an ongoing investigation about the exact role for various public bodies who have responsibility for water quality in England: “We are testing if the law is clear about who has responsibility for what and whether each of the parties understand that,” he said.
At present the OEP have no formal investigations ongoing in NI. “We certainly have complaints. We are filtering those out, checking what the issues are and deciding what may lead to an investigation,” he said.
Planning rules
Beatty suggests a future NI-based investigation could look at the “operational protocol”, which is used by planning authorities for assessing ammonia emissions from proposed buildings, such as new livestock sheds.
The guidance has led to major delays in the planning system for NI farmers, although DAERA has said it wants to develop a new operational protocol.
“Just to give an NI-type example, that is the sort of thing we might get at. Is this thing working properly? What’s wrong with it? Why is it not working the way it was intended?” Beatty said.
When the OEP completes an investigation, it does not have the power to issue fines directly, although it can take public authorities to court.
Malcolm Beatty pictured at the OEP office in Belfast.
“We have teeth, but court is the last resort. If we can get the public authority to do what it should be doing before that, then job done,” Beatty said.
OEP gives
advice on NI ammonia strategy
One recent NI-based activity by the OEP was its response to DAERA’s public consultation on a draft ammonia strategy for NI.
But if the OEP was set up to replace the role of the European Commission, why did it take part in a DAERA consultation? The European Commission did not get involved in these exercises when we were in the EU.
“Although we came about that way, we are constituted in a totally different way. We take our remit from the Environment Act, which says we have four things to do. One of them is to advise government on its legislation and strategy,” Malcolm Beatty responds.
The OEP’s views on the draft ammonia strategy is mainly focused on high-level issues around how DAERA’s plan is structured and implemented.
It does not give an opinion on the finer details of the strategy, such as the controversial proposal to ban the use of splash plates on all NI farms by 2026. “On the technical stuff, there are others better placed to get into that than ourselves,” Beatty said.
He describes DAERA’s target for a 30% drop in ammonia emissions from NI agriculture by 2030 as “very, very challenging” and appears unconvinced about how the proposals will be delivered.
The OEP has also raised concerns about how the ammonia proposals tie in with all other environmental strategies in NI, such as the existing Nutrient Action Programme and the upcoming Carbon Action Plan.
“My own view is that farmers would be better off if they could see the whole picture. How these strategies and programmes join up is really important for the people that need to make it work,” Beatty said.
‘We are absolutely not against farming’
Some will see the OEP as just another green body that is pressing DAERA on environmental policy. There is already a long list of environmental campaign groups and charities, known as non-government organisations (NGOs), who have a significant presence in NI. I ask Malcolm Beatty if is there a risk that farmers’ voices are getting drowned out during debates on the environment?
“We have an independent role, and we work always on the basis of evidence. That marks us differently to the NGOs. We are solely interested in what public bodies do,” he responds.
“We have no interaction with farmers directly, although we talk to farmers as stakeholders to hear their views and that helps shape our opinion. We are here to give a voice on how the department’s strategies and policies are likely to impact on the environment,” he said.
Beatty points out there are many pressing environmental issues facing NI, from ammonia emissions, to water quality and biodiversity loss. He is clear that farming will have to change to address these challenges.
“We are absolutely not against farming. We need to eat, we recognise that. We also recognise that people need to work. But we have to find a way of doing this that is responsible and sustainable,” he said.
“A lot of knowledge has arrived in the last 20 years and we need to find how this all joins together. Everyone is learning how to deal with these big issues of our time. We have to find solutions,” Beatty said.
Climate Change
left to CCC
Climate change is one area of environmental policy that the OEP does not get involved in. Instead, that falls under the remit of the Climate Change Committee (CCC), which has a presence across the UK.
SHARING OPTIONS