Recently released correspondence has raised new questions about Environment Secretary Steve Barclay’s role in a temporary pause on the issuance of environmental permits for new waste incineration facilities in England.
The newly released letter shows Recycling Minister Robbie Moore proposed a similar ban until March 2025, the current pause is only until May 2024, to Chief Executive Environment Agency Philip Duffy in February.
It is unclear whether Barclay had formally recused himself from the decision-making process at the point the letter was sent. Ministers are not allowed to use their cabinet positions to benefit their interests in their constituency.
Moore sent the letter on the evening of 27 February and gave Duffy 24 hours to respond. On the same day, the Planning Inspectorate publicly confirmed that the Wisbech plant in the Environment Secretary’s constituency had permission to be built.
In the letter, Moore said the ban would apply to “proposed developments that do not yet have an Environmental Permit for waste incineration, regardless of whether they hold planning permission from the relevant planning authority”.
Last month (March), the BBC reported that civil service officials had raised concerns about Steve Barclay’s role in approving an energy-from-waste (EfW) facility in his constituency. Barclay has vocally opposed the waste incinerator since plans were first submitted to the government in 2019.
We must make sure we have the right waste management infrastructure to meet these goals, and are rightly considering the need for more waste incineration facilities.
The government said Barclay had recused himself from the decision on the EfW facility in his North East Cambridgeshire constituency and Junior Minister Mark Spencer is responsible for any decision. Barclay has previously apologised for not “formally” stepping back sooner from the Wisbech EfW facility decision.
The UK’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) announced a temporary pause on the issuance of environmental permits for new waste incineration facilities in England last week.
The directive, issued by Sir Mark Spencer MP, the minister responsible for waste incineration, temporarily halted environmental permits for facilities focused primarily on energy recovery through waste incineration, including EfW and Advanced Thermal Treatment plants.
Labour said Moore’s letter raised concerns that Barclay had abused his position and “colluded” with junior ministers to cover it up. Shadow Environment Secretary Steve Reed, who previously questioned if the Environment Secretary had breached the ministerial code over his role in the decision, said the public needed to know “who did Barclay try to persuade, when and was it rushed through to avoid scrutiny?”
Defra declined to confirm when the Environment Secretary recused himself. However, a spokesperson said: “We are committed to reducing waste, improving recycling and meeting our net zero ambitions by sending less waste for incineration.
“We must make sure we have the right waste management infrastructure to meet these goals, and are rightly considering the need for more waste incineration facilities. While this work is ongoing, we have temporarily paused granting permits for new waste incineration facilities.”
