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<p>Recruiting 50 new Agricultural Regulatory Inspections Officers has allowed the
Environment Agency (EA) to significantly increase its inspections from around 300
per annum to 1805 in financial year 2021-22.</p><p>From April 2021 to date the EA
has issued 3186 environmental improvement actions to farmers to bring them into compliance
with regulations and prevent pollution. The EA has verified that 871 of these actions
have been completed and it will continue to follow up the others to conclusion. Some
actions on farms, such as building a new slurry store, take more time to complete
due to raising finance, planning considerations and availability of contractors.</p><p>The
new officers have not taken any prosecutions yet and have not applied any Civil Sanctions
to Farming Rules for Water Offences. Except in cases of significant pollution, the
EA starts the regulatory journey with advice, following up with more formal enforcement
if that advice is not acted on.</p>
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