MPs have backed Lisa Tennant as the proposed next chair of the Environment Agency after examining her experience and plans for overseeing England’s main environmental regulator.
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and the Environmental Audit Committee endorsed the government’s preferred candidate following a joint pre-appointment hearing on 11 November. Their decision was published on 13 November.
The endorsement is an important stage in the selection process, but it is not the final appointment. The Environment Secretary must still decide whether to proceed. If appointed, Tennant is expected to begin a four-year term on 1 January 2027, succeeding Alan Lovell, whose term ends on 31 December.
The proposed role involves a commitment of three days a week and annual pay of £100,000. If appointed, Tennant is likely to be invited to give further evidence to both committees once established in the role.
Scrutiny of the regulator
At the hearing, MPs examined Tennant’s independence and her ability to help the agency’s board scrutinise its executive team. They also asked about the agency’s response to river pollution and waste crime, its capacity to monitor water companies and the way it publishes compliance information.
Other subjects included the appropriate level of inspections and enforcement, air pollution, persistent chemicals known as PFAS, climate adaptation and engagement with farmers and rural communities. The committees concluded that Tennant had demonstrated the personal independence and professional competence needed for the chair’s role.
The agency has responsibilities that extend beyond the water industry. In England it regulates major industry and waste, has functions covering water quality and resources, and manages flood risks from main rivers, reservoirs, estuaries and the sea. Other forms of flooding, including surface water flooding, are the responsibility of lead local flood authorities.
Its non-executive board oversees how the organisation carries out its duties and operates. That role is different from managing each inspection or enforcement case: the board’s task is to scrutinise performance and hold the executive to account for the organisation’s work.
Water regulation may change
The appointment process comes while the government is proposing a major change to water regulation. Its plan is to abolish Ofwat and bring relevant water-system functions from Ofwat, the Environment Agency, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and Natural England into a new regulator.
The proposal concerns relevant water functions, not the wholesale merger of every responsibility held by those organisations. The existing regulators retain their legal powers and responsibilities until a new body is established. The creation of the new water industry regulator is expected to require primary legislation.
For the Environment Agency, the proposed changes raise questions about how water oversight would be organised alongside its other environmental duties. MPs asked Tennant about the potential reform as part of their assessment; the endorsement does not itself enact the merger or settle the detail of a future transfer of functions.
The scrutiny of water-company monitoring and compliance data also goes to how the regulator checks performance. Inspections and enforcement are separate activities: an inspection can establish evidence about compliance, while any enforcement response depends on the circumstances and powers available.
Experience and the selection process
Tennant currently chairs the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Scotland’s principal environmental regulator, and has held that role since 2024. She also chairs the NHS Pension Board for England and Wales and Scotland’s Regional Energy Strategic Board at the National Energy System Operator.
Her previous work includes a board role at the Consumer Council for Water and an advisory role with Forestry and Land Scotland. If appointed to the Environment Agency post, she would step down from the Scottish regulator’s chairmanship.
The recruitment campaign attracted 25 applications. Seven candidates were invited to interview and three were judged appointable before the government selected its preferred candidate. Earlier in the process, the chairs of both committees had raised concerns about the absence of an explicit environmental expertise requirement in the job specification.
Pre-appointment hearings give MPs an opportunity to test a preferred candidate’s suitability before a formal decision is made. The committees can endorse a candidate or raise concerns, but they cannot prevent a minister from offering the post. Their backing now leaves the final decision with the Environment Secretary.
