Former Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs permanent secretary Dame Helen Ghosh has won the backing of MPs to serve as the next chair of the Office for Environmental Protection.
Members of parliament’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and Environmental Audit Committee approved Ghosh’s appointment as OEP chair following a joint hearing on Tuesday.
The OEP's remit includes advising the government on environmental law, scrutiny of government policy and receiving complaints from whistleblowers about the activities of government departments and other public bodies. It has the power to take legal action in cases that are serious enough.
Following MPs’ approval, Ghosh will succeed former OEP chair Dame Glenys Stacey, who finished her term in January. OEP board member Julie Hill has served as interim chair since then.
In a report outlining their decision, MPs said Ghosh – who was Defra perm sec from 2005 to 2010 and Home Office perm sec from 2010-12 – must do more to enhance the OEP’s relationship with core interest groups.
“It is essential that Dame Helen continues to reinforce her and the OEP’s independence from government, given our concerns about the timing and nature of the recruitment process,” they said. “Dame Helen must also continue to build and improve relationships with key external stakeholders such as environmental groups and farmers, and further increase public awareness of the organisation.”
In November, the Environmental Audit Committee wrote to the government to express concern that Defra’s advertisement for the next OEP chair placed “too much emphasis” on promoting infrastructure development.
At the time, they said the situation risked “impinging on the independence” of the OEP chair to “constructively criticise government policy if they felt it ran contrary to the protection of the environment.
EAC chair Toby Perkins said MPs had been impressed with Ghosh’s “unflappability and commitment to the environment” at their pre-appointment hearing.
He also described her post-government work – which includes serving as National Trust director general and master of Oxford University’s Balliol College – as “impressive”.
“Our questions about the need to build relations with stakeholders and her answers demonstrate that this will rightly be a priority in the early days of her appointment,” he said.
“We were convinced that she was an appointable candidate and we look forward to working closely with her to ensure the government takes the actions needed to get back on track with the Environment Act targets.”
Ghosh is due to start in post in June. Her pay for serving as OEP chair will be £56,784 for a time commitment of up to two days a week.
Her appointment is expected to be for four years.