The UK’s environmental regulations are falling short of their targets, raising new concerns about the impact on agricultural productivity and economic growth.
The warning follows a new report from the government’s spending watchdog, the National Audit Office (NAO), which concludes that the current regulatory system is not working well enough to meet long-term environmental goals.
Farm leaders said the findings highlight the need for a more balanced approach. The NFU said environmental regulation needed to be more closely aligned with policies that support productive agriculture.
NFU vice chair Rachel Harross said: “Government environmental regulation and ambition must be aligned with policies that support profitable, productive and resilient farming businesses.”
He added: “Implementation of a regulatory framework must be practical and flexible, but it must also be innovation-led, evidence-based and commensurate with all risks, to minimize costs and burdens for farmers and growers.”
The NAO report highlighted the significant challenges facing Defra, the Environment Agency and Natural England, which are responsible for implementing the reform programme, which includes 149 recommendations.
It said skills shortages, fragmented IT systems and a lack of a clear strategic approach were slowing progress across the regulatory system.
The magnitude of the challenge is further compounded by the amount of regulation. With more than 3,000 laws to manage, the report said, “there is also the potential for legal challenge, creating an overly cautious and risk-averse culture at Defra and the regulator.”
The NAO warned that this was limiting innovation and slowing the adoption of new approaches that could improve outcomes and reduce costs.
Defra is working to upgrade its IT systems and received an additional £300m of target funding by 2029 in its latest spending review, but the watchdog said progress on reforms was too slow.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said data gaps were also undermining effective regulation, noting: “Defra does not have a single database or dataset for farms that can be used to share risk insights across government.”
NAO director Gareth Davies said the recent review had set out a clear direction, but warned that delivering on it would be critical. “Defra and regulators are working to improve the way we regulate, including in response to the recent major review,” he said, adding that success would depend on taking a fully strategic approach and sticking to set course.
Mr Harros said the risks in the sector were high, stressing that “the importance of investing in the future of British agriculture has never been more important”.
The report now puts fresh pressure on Defra and its agencies to accelerate reform, as farmers warn that poorly designed regulations risk undermining both environmental objectives and domestic food production.
