ENVIRONMENTAL CODE OF PRACTICE
Central Government
Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
DEFRA brings together responsibilities from the former Ministry
of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the environmental
responsibilities of the former Department of the Environment,
Transport and the Regions (DETR) and the Home Office. Sustainable
development lies at the heart of DEFRA’s aims and departments are
responsible for agriculture, food, animal health and welfare,
fisheries, rural affairs and environmental policy. DEFRA are also
responsible for all aspects of water policy in England, including
water supply and resources, and the regulatory systems for the
water environment and the water industry, including the quality of
water in rivers, lakes and estuaries, coastal and marine waters.
DEFRA is responsible for the Environment Agency and Natural
England.
For more information visit www.defra.gov.uk/
The Department for Communities and Local Government
The DCLG has a powerful remit to promote community cohesion and
equality, as well as responsibility for housing, urban
regeneration, planning and local government.
For more information visit www.communities.gov.uk/
Department for Transport
DfT is responsible for transport policy including ports,
shipping and integrated transport. DfT is also responsible for a
number of executive agencies including the Maritime and Coastguard
Agency (MCA).
For more information visit www.dft.gov.uk/
Department for Business, Innovation & Skills
In June 2009, the Government created a new Department for
Business, Innovation and Skills whose key role will be to build
Britain’s capabilities to compete in the global economy. The
Department will be created by merging BERR and DIUS.
This will create a single department committed to building
Britain’s future economic strengths. To compete in a global economy
and create the jobs of the future Britain requires a regulatory
environment that encourages enterprise, skilled people, innovation,
and world-class science and research. The merger of BERR and DIUS
brings together the parts of the government with key expertise in
these areas.
It combines BERR’s strengths in shaping the enterprise
environment, analysing the strengths and needs of the various parts
of British industry, building strategies for industrial strength
and expertise in better regulation with DIUS’s expertise in
maintaining world class universities, expanding access to higher
education, investing in the UK’s science base and shaping skills
policy and innovation through bodies such as the Technology
Strategy Board.
It also puts the UK’s Further Education system and universities
closer to the heart of government thinking about building now for
the upturn.
The new department is the institutional realisation of the
approach to promoting UK competitiveness and productivity as set
out in the New Industries, New Jobs paper of April 2009, produced
jointly by BERR and DIUS.
For more information visit www.berr.gov.uk/
Department of Energy & Climate Change
The Department of Energy and Climate Change is responsible for
all aspects of UK energy policy, and for tackling global climate
change.
www.DECC.gov.uk
Marine Management Organisation
On 1 April 2010 The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) was
established to make a significant contribution to sustainable
development in the marine area and to promote the UK government’s
vision for clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically
diverse oceans and seas.
The MMO is a new executive non-departmental public body (NDPB)
established and given powers under the Marine and Coastal Access
Act 2009. This ground-breaking act brings together for the first
time key marine decision-making powers and delivery mechanisms.
The MMO has incorporated the work of the Marine and Fisheries
Agency (MFA) and acquired several important new roles, principally
marine-related powers and specific functions previously associated
with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the
Department for Transport (DfT).
The establishment of the MMO as a cross-government delivery
partner therefore marks a fundamental shift in planning, regulating
and licensing activity in the marine area with the emphasis on
sustainable development.
The MMO has a wide range of responsibilities, including:
- implementing a new marine planning system designed to integrate
the social requirements, economic potential and environmental
imperatives of our seas
- implementing a new marine licensing regime that is easier for
everyone to use with clearer, simpler and quicker licensing
decisions
- managing UK fishing fleet capacity and UK fisheries quotas
- working with Natural England and the Joint Nature Conservation
Committee (JNCC) to create and manage a network of marine protected
areas (marine conservation zones and European marine sites)
designed to preserve vulnerable habitats and species in UK marine
waters
- responding to marine emergencies alongside other agencies
- developing an internationally recognised centre of excellence
for marine information that supports the MMO’s decision-making
process.
For more information, visit www.marinemanagement.org.uk