During the COVID-19 pandemic, in line with government guidance we suspended all physical compliance visits to Environmental Bodies (EBs). During 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 to date we have undertaken our compliance programme through a mix of telephone, email and video conferencing. We would like to thank all EBs who have had a compliance inspection during this period for their patience, co-operation and support for this approach.
On 6 August we published an update regarding our Compliance Project Risk Model. Within this, we announced our intention to recommence compliance inspection visits to EBs and project sites, following the Government's removal of the COVID-19 restrictions.
Following this announcement, we have begun to schedule face to face compliance visits with some EBs. We will undertake additional COVID risk assessments, in conjunction with those EBs which are selected for a compliance visits, to ensure the safety of our staff and our stakeholders. We would like to reassure all EBs that any concerns they may have about face to face visits will be listened to and discussed with the aim of all parties feeling confident in the safety of the visit. In some situations, this may mean reverting back to telephone/email or video conferencing.
As we enter Autumn and Winter, we will keep all visits and our COVID guidance under review, in line with any updates from the Government. All of our COVID guidance and information can be found on the COVID-19 page of our website.