Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which policies under each arms length body reporting to their Department fall within the scope of the Environmental principles policy statement, published on 31 January 2023.

The Environment Act 2021 places a legal duty on Ministers of the Crown to have ‘due regard’ to the environmental principles policy statement (EPPS) when making policy. The duty does not require us to maintain a comprehensive list of policies within its scope.

The duty applies to all policies made from 1 November 2023, whether developed by a central department or an arm’s length body, which are:

• made by Ministers of the Crown; and
• not covered by the exemptions for the armed forces, defence or national security, taxation, spending or the allocation of resources within government.

The environmental principles policy statement provides further information on what is considered policy in scope of the duty. Examples include strategies and frameworks.