Caroline Lucas MP, who is a member of the Environmental Audit Committee, has emailed to say:

“Thank you for your email and comments about the Environmental Audit Committee’s wildlife crime inquiry. I am sorry that you did not feel the investigation was sufficiently rigorous and am happy to pass on your feedback to the Chair. I appreciate you getting in touch and sharing your concerns.”

In a recent Environmental Information Regulations request to Natural England, I included a question about statements by Natural England’s Director of Regulation, Janette Ward, to the Environmental Audit Committee.

They replied (Access to information request – RFI 1710):

Janette Ward’s reply should have stated that “As part of the agreement there is a management scheme which is designed to remove drainage on the moor which has been achieved through a procedure that is called moor gripping”. As such this statement is not at odds with the agreement or consent.

So that’s ok then, Ms Ward gave a misleading and incorrect reply to the Environmental Audit Committee and they didn’t notice.