Policy paper

Government response to the OEP review: environmental inspections and their implementation in England

The government's response to the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) report on environmental inspections and their implementation in England.

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Published: 16 December 2025

Applies to England

Documents

Government response to the OEP review: environmental inspections and their implementation in England

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Government response to the OEP review: environmental inspections and their implementation in England

Ref: ISBN 978-1-5286-5980-2

PDF, 209 KB, 12 pages

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Details

On 10 July 2025, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) published Environmental inspections in England - case studies on selected laws and their implementation.

The government is required to respond to the OEP’s report under section 29 of the Environment Act.

The OEP’s report contains 8 recommendations. These highlight the importance of transparency, consistency and evidence-based practice in inspection regimes. We have set out our response to each recommendation.

Published 16 December 2025