To ask the Secretary of State for Education, 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 Environmental Principles were introduced in the Environment Act 2021 and came into force on 1 November 2023. The purpose of the environmental principles is to guide Ministers and policymakers towards opportunities to prevent environmental damage and enhance the environment.

The Environmental Principles Policy Statement is a statutory document. The Environment Act requires a Minister of the Crown to have ‘due regard’ to this policy statement when making policy. The duty applies to all policy across government (not just environmental policy) subject to limited exemptions laid out in section 19 (3) of the Environment Act for the armed forces, defence or national security, taxation, spending or the allocation of resources within government.

Policymaking is typically undertaken by government departments making policy on behalf of Ministers of the Crown. Some of the department’s arm’s length bodies may also develop policy for Ministers. In those instances, their policymaking would be in scope of this duty. However, in most cases these arm’s length bodies are not developing or making government policy and would therefore be out of scope of the duty. The duty does not require the department to maintain a comprehensive list of policies within scope of the duty. Each arm’s length body is responsible for determining whether the policies it develops are in scope of the duty and for providing appropriate advice to Ministers.

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