Open consultation

Industrial emissions: modernising environmental permitting

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Published: 26 August 2025

Applies to England

Summary

Seeking views on regulatory reforms to the environmental permitting framework for industrial emissions.

This consultation is being held on another website.

This consultation closes at
11:59pm on 21 October 2025

Consultation description

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is seeking views on proposed reforms to environmental permitting for industry.

The proposed reforms will support the government’s missions and priorities on growth, clean energy, health, the circular economy and environmental improvement.

There are proposals about:

• enabling innovation and encouraging new technologies and techniques
• agile standards – a rapid, predictable and integrated approach to standard setting
• proportionate regulation and coherence in the environmental permitting framework
• regulator effectiveness and efficiency
• creating a transparent environmental permitting framework

Defra will use your feedback to develop policy related to the proposals. We will hold another consultation on the detail of this policy.

Published 26 August 2025