Asked by: Baroness Freeman of Steventon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what data on the distribution of non-aquatic species will be used for the development of environmental delivery plans, and what steps they will take to ensure those data are robust and complete.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs), developed under the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF), will be based on the best available scientific evidence to ensure that the overall improvement test is met.
Natural England must also undertake sufficient monitoring once an EDP is in place to assure the effectiveness of conservation measures. Amendments tabled in the name of my Rt Hon friend Baroness Taylor of Stevenage OBE will require that each EDP must include the anticipated sequencing of conservation actions in relation to development, and back-up measures must be deployed if monitoring shows the plan is underperforming.
The Government recognises that EDPs will not be appropriate or necessary for every protected species, and EDPs will be introduced over time as the evidence permits. We expect it to be faster to develop EDPs in areas with well-established and tested strategic solutions, such as District Level Licensing for Great Crested Newts.
Asked by: Baroness Freeman of Steventon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how the modelling of species distributions and the impact of changes to habitats and conditions will be validated in the development of environmental delivery plans; and how long they expect the validation of those models for each species to take.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs), developed under the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF), will be based on the best available scientific evidence to ensure that the overall improvement test is met.
Natural England must also undertake sufficient monitoring once an EDP is in place to assure the effectiveness of conservation measures. Amendments tabled in the name of my Rt Hon friend Baroness Taylor of Stevenage OBE will require that each EDP must include the anticipated sequencing of conservation actions in relation to development, and back-up measures must be deployed if monitoring shows the plan is underperforming.
The Government recognises that EDPs will not be appropriate or necessary for every protected species, and EDPs will be introduced over time as the evidence permits. We expect it to be faster to develop EDPs in areas with well-established and tested strategic solutions, such as District Level Licensing for Great Crested Newts.
Asked by: Baroness Freeman of Steventon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to appoint an expert in biodiversity and nature conservation to the Food Strategy Advisory Board to support the priority of reducing the impact of farming and food production on nature, biodiversity and climate.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The membership of the Food Strategy Advisory Board was published on GOV.UK on 21 March 2025. A range of representatives from the food sector and NGOs were invited to sit on the Food Strategy Advisory Board. We kept it deliberately small, whilst reflecting the scope of the food supply chain.
While the membership of the FSAB has been announced, we are developing a plan for much wider stakeholder engagement over the coming months. That needs to include representatives from the length and breadth of food chain sectors as well as environmental NGOs, civil society organisations, academics and citizen engagement. We’ll be able to say more on this soon.
The food strategy will work to provide healthier, more easily accessible food to help people live longer, healthier lives and support the Farming Roadmap to reduce the impact of farming on nature and biodiversity.