P-06-1368 The Welsh Govt should take steps to save the Environmental Information Regulations in relation to Wales - Correspondence from the petitioner to the Committee, 03 January, 2024

The students of the pro bono Environment Project at Cardiff University's School of Law and Politics are very grateful for the time and effort the Chair, Members and Clerks of  your Committee, the Chair of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee, and the Minster for Climate Change, have all put into responding to the petition.

On the specifics of the petition, as earlier indicated, the threat to the 2004 Regulations from the REUL Bill, as originally introduced in Westminster, disappeared during the stages of that Bill's amendment, but only after the petition was opened. 

However, despite the  purpose of the petition being 'overtaken by events', the students have been able to see first-hand what an extremely useful mechanism for public interaction with the Senedd the Petition Committee system represents.  

The students continue to work on the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and hope to be able to submit further work to the Welsh Government in 2024. 

As freedom of access to environmental information is a key pillar of good environmental governance, as underpinned by the Aarhus Convention, the students are currently working towards submitting their further work as part of the forthcoming consultation on the White Paper on Environmental Governance in Wales, which is understood to be due this month (January).

Yours sincerely

Guy Linley-Adams