Environment Agency could merge two regions

The Environment Agency is currently divided into eight regions and two – Thames and Southern – have been put forward in an internal consultation exercise as candidates to be merged into a single large region covering much of South East England.

The Agency's Thames region has its headquarters in Reading and covers a population of 14 million. The Southern region is based in Worthing, and employs about 900 staff.

There are serious concerns within the Agency that although it has important regulatory functions, its funding will be reduced. It operates as a non-departmental public body responsible to the secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs and, in Wales, as an Assembly-sponsored public body responsible to the National Assembly for Wales.

The Agency has already shaken up its area management structure in recent years and the move to merge two regions is the most significant structural change yet proposed.

Each of the regions have a regional director – Howard Davidson heads up Thames while Toby Willison runs Southern. It is not known whether one of the pair would head up a new larger region or the job would be advertised

Southern Region covers the counties of Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and in waste terms is known for having few landfills. Water is a main issue with groundwater supplies vulnerable in times of drought.

Thames Region covers the Thames basin and includes Oxford, Reading and London. The Agency said that in the region “there is a lot of pressure…to get rid of our rubbish properly and safely. How might we recycle more rubbish, or have less waste in the first place?”

Logical

One Agency insider told letsrecycle.com: “You could see this merger as a logical move because of the pressure the Agency is under with all the cuts. Southern Region is small and this would be one of the easiest mergers to make.”

A waste industry source said: “If the merger goes ahead there could be concerns that regulators may have to travel longer distances. The industry has moved to self-regulation which has been welcomed but there is a need for the Agency to keep up its work on environmental crime and proper regulation of the sector.”