The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) is an independent statutory environmental body that holds Government and public authorities to account for their implementation of environmental law. Within the framework of the Environment Act 2021, the OEP will make decisions independently from Government about the prioritisation of its resources and the exercise of its functions via its strategy, the first draft of which was published on 25th January 2022. As a result, although Defra anticipates that the OEP will carefully consider the relevant conclusions and recommendations of this committee, this is for the OEP itself to do independently in planning its work and finalising its strategy.