On the 30th January, Defra Secretary Steve Reed issued an interim statement of the key findings from the recently concluded rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 (EIP23).

The rapid review, which launched in July 2024, aimed to ensure the EIP23 can deliver on ambitious targets to protect and restore England’s natural environment. Specifically, the review assessed EIP23 performance, including:

• progress in delivering the EIP23, since January 2023 when the EIP was last reviewed.
• environmental data and indicators of change in the natural environment
• expected delivery of existing measures against Environment Act targets

This assessment revealed a few key areas for improvement, such as implementing a clear process for prioritisation to help balance competing demands, increasing collaboration with stakeholders, and clarifying delivery and accountability planning to easily understand what/who is contributing to a particular goal or target.

The plan will be revised to:

• be clear on the role of cross cutting enablers for environmental delivery across government and wider society and how actions interface as part of a system to improve the natural environment
• highlight how protecting and enhancing our natural capital is not just for its own sake but supports wider societal outcomes including the Government’s missions for clean energy and growth
• clarify Environment Act target delivery plans and update their corresponding interim targets to cover the 5-year period from completion of the review, in line with statutory requirements
• clarify how the EIP will be delivered, including the role of government departments and bodies, environmental NGOs, businesses, farmers, landowners/managers, local government and the public
• streamline and prioritise non statutory commitments to make sure that the EIP focuses on key actions that result in meaningful delivery towards environmental improvement, contributing to statutory targets and priority outcomes

Read the full interim statement here.