Summary
An investigation into whether the Secretary of State for Defra has failed to comply with environmental law when issuing and promulgating Statutory Guidance to the Environment Agency on enforcing the Reduction and Prevention of Agricultural Diffuse Pollution (England) Regulations 2018.
More Information
The Farming Rules for Water regulations aim to reduce and prevent water pollution from agriculture by requiring farmers to plan the application of organic manure and manufactured fertiliser so that it does not exceed the needs of the soil and crop. Defra issued Statutory Guidance in 2022 (the ‘Statutory Guidance’) setting out criteria the Environment Agency should consider when assessing whether it should take enforcement action under the Farming Rules for Water.
Section 2.2 of the Statutory Guidance contained statements which were inconsistent with regulation 4(1)(a)(i) of the Farming Rules for Water and which we believe encouraged land managers to breach their legal duties under the Farming Rules for Water. These inconsistent statements concerned planning for the application of organic manure or manufactured fertiliser to agricultural land so that the application did not exceed the needs of the soil and crop on that land.
In November 2024 Defra undertook a rapid review of the Statutory Guidance which sought stakeholder feedback by 29 November 2024. Revised Statutory Guidance was subsequently published in June 2025 (‘Amended Statutory Guidance’).
On 9 October the OEP closed its investigation and issued an investigation report in which it found that:
• Defra failed to comply with environmental law when issuing and promulgating the Statutory Guidance from its issue on 30 March 2022 until its amendment on 18 June 2025
• The Amended Statutory Guidance addresses the identified failures to comply with relevant environmental law
The OEP’s investigation report makes recommendations to Defra in relation to the Amended Statutory Guidance and the Farming Rules for Water to improve clarity to land managers and publish the overdue Post Implementation Review as soon as possible.