Reform UK chair of Welsh environment committee may ‘undermine scrutiny’, says thinktank

Climate campaigners question choice of James Evans for role given past criticism of green energy projects The appointment of a Reform UK member of the Senedd Cymru as the chair of a key Welsh environmental committee could “undermine the hard graft of ministerial scrutiny”, a green thinktank has warned. James Evans, a former Conservative party MS who defected to Reform UK in January last year, has been appointed chair of the Welsh climate change, environment, sustainability and rural affairs committee. The role of the committee is to examine legislation and hold the Welsh government to account by scrutinising its spending, administration and policy in relation to climate breakdown and environmental concerns. It also holds inquiries into key issues, using these to make recommendations to government. The chair’s main role is to ensure there is a fair balance of opportunities for committee members to ask questions and for expert witnesses to respond. It is the only environmental scrutiny committee in the Senedd, so who leads it “really matters because this is the principal way of holding the Welsh government to account”, said Ruth Chambers, senior fellow at the Green Alliance