Time to streamline the endless consultation process?
SOURCE: CIWM, FEBRUARY 2008
For those of us in England & Wales, the new Environmental Permitting Regulations come into effect on 6th April. Heralded as a streamlining and simplification of the regulatory regimes, the reforms merge the systems of WML and PPC into a single permitting system.
As with so many initiatives, the regulations come at the end of a lengthy process of consultation. This gives the impression of democracy in action, but it’s always interesting to note the response rate from consultees.
The new “Environmental Permitting Programme” will only deliver the estimated net benefits (of £76M spread over the coming decade) if everyone is ready for it and prepared for the changeover. To assist local authorities, DEFRA produced an updated guidance manual in June 2007, on which they consulted with the 410 local authorities in England & Wales and around 200 other stakeholders. How many responded to the consultation? Just nine!
There was a separate consultation asking organisations and the general public about “your role in our environmental permitting decision making”. How many individuals were moved to respond? Just one!
Many people think that the consultation process itself has become far too flabby and is itself in need of serious streamlining. Were that to happen, then no doubt the various guesstimates about assumed savings would be even higher than they already are.
AUTHOR: VINCENT BROWN
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