East Suffolk Council

Our Correspondence with Government

At the meeting of Full Council on 23 November 2022, councillors unanimously passed a motion to raise issues of water quality with Government and Anglian Water. As a result, in January 2023, the Chairman of East Suffolk Council wrote a letter to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Therese Coffey MP, to urge action to protect our water systems and engage with all stakeholders to work together to improve water quality. We received this reply from Defra. The chairman also wrote a letter to Anglian Water to urge action to reduce sewer discharges, improve water quality checks, equip sites with functioning monitors, improve communications with the council and reduce surface water run-off to prevent sewers from being overwhelmed.

In August 2020, the Environment Task Group commenced a series of correspondence with Central Government to articulate our vision and our asks with regards to the development of government policies and frameworks in the context of the environment and climate change. On occasions, this correspondence has been initiated jointly by the ETG along with the Greenprint Forum.

• October 2021: The ETG wrote to Defra urging the Government to use primary legislation to ensure that the principles of the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill relating to the UK reducing its contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions in line with keeping the global mean temperature rise within 1.5 degrees C compared to pre-industrial levels and to halt and reverse the loss of nature and put it back on the path to recovery by 2030. ETG letter to Defra. In January 2022 we received this reply from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.
• May 2021: The Environment Task Group and the Greenprint Forum wrote to the Rt Hon George Eustice MP Secretary of State for Defra to raise concerns on topics which can have a negative impact on biodiversity.
• December 2020: The East Suffolk Environment Task Group and Greenprint Forum wrote to Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP, the Minister of State for Business, Energy & Clean Growth at BEIS; Rt Hon George Eustice MP, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities & Local Government; and Rt Hon Grant Schapps MP, Secretary of State for Transport to continue the correspondence with Government commenced in August to press the Government to provide local councils with the correct framework, systems and resources to respond to the everchanging environment and deliver on its climate change commitments. Also copied into the letters were local MPs Therese Coffey, Peter Aldous and Dan Poulter. In December 2020 we received this response from the DfT and in February 2021 we received this response from MHCLG. In May 2021 we received this response from Defra. As we receive further responses they will be uploaded here.
• August 2020: The East Suffolk Environment Task Group and Greenprint Forum have written to Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industry Strategy (BEIS), to encourage the Government to consider the unique opportunity of bringing about lasting changes to address climate change in its Covid-19 recovery plan. Also copied into the letter were local MPs Therese Coffey, Peter Aldous and Dan Poulter. In September 2020 we received this response from BEIS and we will continue the conversation with the Government.