Investigation could restrict autumn slurry spreading

• Rules for water under scrutiny

• Manure ‘mustn’t be excessive’

• Deadline for government reply

Autumn manure spreading could be under threat following an investigation into pollution guidance by the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP).

The government’s Farming Rules for Water (FRfW) aim to reduce and prevent water pollution by requiring farmers to plan manure and fertiliser applications so they don’t exceed soil and crop requirements.

Court case

Defra guidance in 2022 set out criteria that the Environment Agency should consider when assessing whether to take enforcement action.

But the Office for Environmental Protection believes the guidance may be inadequate

The government’s interpretation the rules has also been the subject of two complaints received by the OEP from the environmental charities WWF-UK and ClientEarth.

The OEP launched an investigation into the statutory guidance before Christmas. It followed a court case earlier in 2024 – and the outcome could have big implications.

Inconsistent

OEP chief regulatory officer Helen Venn said: “The OEP believes that the statutory guidance may be unlawful as some of the wording is not consistent with the regulations themselves.

She added: “This guidance is likely to be relied upon by farmers and may therefore lead to breaches of the regulations when applying manure or fertiliser to the land.

The OEP investigation aims to clarify whether Defra failed to comply with environmental law by issuing and continuing to make public the statutory guidance to its regulator on its enforcement of the Farming Rules for Water.

Alongside launching the investigation, the OEP issued an information notice setting out the details of these possible failures to Defra secretary Steve Reed. The OEP says it is waiting to see a formal response to the notice before deciding next steps.

“We are aware that a great deal of work is now underway to address concerns about water quality, including most notably the Water Commission recently announced by Defra,” it said.

“We hope that clarifying the law around this guidance will make an important contribution as part of that bigger picture.”

Pollution watchdog outlines potential guidance failures

The potential failures by Defra relate to Regs 4 and 15 of the Reduction and Prevention of Agricultural Diffuse Pollution (England) Regulations 2018, known as the Farming Rules for Water.

Compliance

The statutory investigation is being carried out under section 33 of the Environment Act 2021. It will consider whether the government has failed to comply with the Farming Rules for Water.

An information notice describes the alleged failures to comply with environmental law – and explains why the OEP believes this is serious and requests details relating to the allegations.

Defra secretary Steve Reed must respond in writing to the information notice by 13 January. The OEP says it will use this to understand the facts of the situation and inform future decisions.

Enforcement

Public bodies, including the Secretary of State, have a statutory duty to cooperate with OEP and provide it with such reasonable assistance as it requests.  An investigation may lead to enforcement action.