UK environmental regulations reform 2025

[edit] Overall regulations review

On 31 March 2025, the UK government published a policy paper 'New approach to ensure regulators and regulation support growth'. It noted feedback from businesses that the current regulatory system is overly complex and burdensome, hindering innovation and growth. The report goes on to say that decades of poorly designed and overlapping regulations have created a system that is difficult for businesses and investors to navigate. The cumulative impact of the rules, alongside over 100 regulatory bodies, has added to confusion and inefficiency. Regulatory inconsistency, driven by differing legal frameworks and unclear government direction has led to unpredictability and reduced agility amongst regulators. It concludes that reform is needed to modernise and streamline processes to avoid excessive risk aversion, which is fuelled by a fear of criticism, also preventing regulators from an adaptive approach to emerging technologies.

The policy paper endorses a comprehensive overhaul to create a system that better supports growth, innovation, and investment, with a new framework to ensure regulation not only protects consumers and promotes competition but also encourages economic expansion and international cooperation. In particular it suggests environmental, planning and health and safety regulation should be proportionate and targeted (although building safety regulation is treated separately), trusting businesses to act responsibly. The system should be predictable, providing stability and clarity to support long-term investment. Importantly, it needs to be adaptive, keeping pace with emerging technologies like AI, automation, and decarbonisation, and avoiding excessive risk aversion.

[edit] Environmental regulation review

Following the publication of 'An independent review of Defra's regulatory landscape' on 2 April 2025, Environment Secretary Steve Reed confirmed the need for a balanced approach to environmental regulation to create a dynamic, streamlined approach that protects and enhances nature while also enabling innovation, development, and economic growth. The reforms follow the Plan for Change, noting that the current regulatory system is not effectively supporting either environmental recovery or economic advancement.

To address the current imbalances, the report develops five key themes, with recommendations that aim to shift behaviours and outcomes across the board. The recommendations stop short of major institutional restructuring but advocate for reforming how regulators operate with suggestions that include giving regulators constrained discretion, focusing more on cost-effectiveness and value for money, considering reform of critical regulations such as the Habitats Regulations, and maintaining alignment with international obligations.

While some environmental groups may be concerned about the risks of weakening protections, the review stresses that its goal is to enhance nature, not compromise it. The report proposes building 'guardrails' around regulatory discretion and urges Defra to support infrastructure in suitable locations. It suggests that smarter, more flexible regulation can lead to better results for both nature and economic growth, reducing cost and improving environmental outcomes.

[edit] Recommendations

The review led by Dan Corry finds the current system of environmental regulation is outdated, inconsistent and complex, delivering for neither nature nor growth. It makes 9 recommendations for streamlining regulation:

• One lead regulator for major projects, ending conflicts and speeding up decisions.
• Cut duplication and confusion in compliance rules.
• Update permit rules to remove or simplify them for low-risk projects, reducing delays.
• Develop a single digital system for planning advice across agencies to speed up applications.
• Defra Infrastructure Board to improve coordination and remove early-stage blockers to major projects.
• More autonomy for nature groups.
• A Nature Market Accelerator to streamline nature investment and business involvement.
• Guidance with measurable targets to improve regulator performance and accountability.
• Ongoing regulatory reform to deliver quick fixes and long-term improvements in regulation.

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed, said: "Nature and the economy have both been in decline for too long. That changes today (2 April 2025). As part of the Plan for Change, I am rewiring Defra and its arms-length bodies to boost economic growth and unleash an era of building while also supporting nature to recover. Dan Corry’s essential report gives us a strong set of common-sense recommendations for better regulation that will get Britain building."

The Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) and CIEEM have responded to the reform proposals.

CIEEM is pleased to see Government recognise “that statutory consultees need to be resourced adequately, and on a sustainable basis“, however we are deeply cautious of the notion that a ‘lead regulator’ can make decisions on behalf of other regulatory bodies on matters that it may have no expertise in.

And we are perplexed by the desire to remove reference to a long-standing, industry best practice standard such as the Bat Conservation Trust’s Bat Mitigation Guidelines. We support BCT’s view that the removal of these guidelines is “alarming“, where they note that “These guidelines were developed through months of consultation with leading bat experts and government agencies. They provide a flexible, evidence-based framework to ensure developments are both practical and environmentally responsible. Good planning protects nature and enables development. Scrapping these guidelines would create confusion and increase delays, not reduce them.” And that “It is inconceivable that this guidance is just removed without any consultation or explanation.” According to ENDS, Natural England intends to publish updated bat guidance “soon“.

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