Nitrogen Reduction, Recycling and Reuse (Environment and Climate Change Committee Report)

Lord Roborough Excerpts

Tuesday 6th January 2026 Grand Committee

[Lord Roborough (Con)]

My Lords, I thank the Environment and Climate Change Committee for its excellent work in producing this report. I thank its members for their contributions to this debate, as well as those who submitted valuable evidence to help assess ways in which we can reduce nitrogen pollution.

I am pleased to highlight that the 2023 data shows that we met our commitment to reduce annual emissions of nitrogen oxide by 55%, based on 2005 levels, under the Gothenburg protocol to the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution.

Before I continue, I draw the Committee’s attention to my registered interests as a dairy and livestock farmer and as an investor in the soil-testing company Agricarbon and the nature finance companies Karner and Cecil.

This report’s recommendations affect a range of sectors, including agriculture, wastewater and transport, which are identified as the main contributors to nitrogen pollution in England. To take into account the holistic nature of this issue, we welcome the report’s recommendation for a cross-departmental, circular approach to nitrogen pollution; this will help deliver better outcomes for farmers, public health, nature, wildlife and the climate. We also agree that, at present, there is a lack of a clear policy direction from the Government to give businesses the certainty they need. We strongly endorse the report’s recommendation to simplify the regulatory system.

The Government’s response does not reject any of the report’s conclusions, but it does not fully agree with each of them. As Conservatives, we welcome the Government’s emphasis on the need for value for money and on streamlining different outputs where possible, such as by merging the recommended nitrogen strategy into the upcoming circular economy strategy for England. However, I express concern about the approach towards the agricultural sector in particular. Throughout their response to the report, the Government highlight their existing commitment to increase over three years funding for the Environment Agency to conduct farm inspections, with a target of 6,000 by 2029. Although we recognise that farms must adhere to the rules, we are concerned that this approach uses a stick rather than offering a carrot to hard-working farmers. The Government must ensure that these inspections are led by advice—for example, in increasing farmers’ awareness of the potential profitability benefits of regenerative farming practices; improving soil structure and fertility; and supporting yields while reducing reliance on manufactured fertiliser.

I pay tribute to my noble friend Lord Leicester for his pioneering role in regenerative farming in this country—perhaps the new Norfolk system. I should also draw attention to another of my interests: I am an investor in SLC Agrícola, a Brazilian farming company on 2 million acres that is, surprisingly, already regenerative. It is very much its own scale and access to technology, as well as the best advice, that enables it to be so.

When it comes to incentivising transitions to greener practices, we should recognise that farmers already use nitrogen fertiliser judiciously and that its use has fallen by 50% since 1990, as highlighted in the evidence given by Tom Bradshaw. Moreover, we are still awaiting details on the reformed sustainable farming incentive offer. Can the Minister confirm whether the Government are considering compensating farmers for reductions in fertiliser use through the SFIs that are yet to be published? Can she also indicate the role of existing and new market-based nutrient neutrality schemes in helping to meet these targets, while also providing financial incentives to land managers?

Industry contacts have informed me that the inclusion of support for nature-based solutions in the Water (Special Measures) Act has already had tangible benefits in activity levels. What further contribution to nitrogen reductions can be achieved through the implementation of the Cunliffe review? As the Minister has already been asked when we should expect the White Paper on water strategy, I will not ask again, but, if there is any more information on its timing and legislation on the back of that, it would be helpful.

The committee’s report rightly expresses concern about the low levels of understanding of farm regulations and identifies the

“lack of a trusted source”

for guidance amid the number of sources available. The Government have agreed with this conclusion, but their response goes on to list a number of sources: the catchment-sensitive farming scheme; a planned new nutrient management tool; the amended farming rules for water statutory guidance; and the catalogue of compliance that is currently under review. This demonstrates the existing problem. Will the Government commit to creating a simplified source for these schemes that ensures that farmers are made aware of their existence and are promptly kept updated of any changes?

To tackle ammonia emissions, the Government have said that they are considering an extension of environmental permitting for dairy and intensive beef farms, but concerns have recently been raised that some farmers may not be able to afford the investments necessary to remain compliant. We hold our farmers to higher standards than those against whom they are competing overseas; that carries greater costs, undermining competitiveness. What concrete actions are the Government planning to support profitability for our farmers while they bear these higher costs? Will the same environmental standards be extended to imported food products in order to protect British farmers from unfair competition?

Further, will the Environment Agency or its successors provide assistance to farmers and recommendations to planning officers in relation to planning applications for the infrastructure that is needed to reduce pollution? Too many necessary infrastructure developments are held up in the planning system; I have experience of this myself, I am afraid. As the noble Baroness, Lady Batters, highlighted in her excellent report, farming profitability is on its knees, and loading more regulation and cost on to the industry is potentially disastrous.

Later this year, the Government are due to announce a new farming road map for 2050. Could the Minister commit that they will listen to stakeholders in advance of policies being announced so that businesses can plan ahead effectively, as the first step of rebuilding trust? I am sure that, across this Committee, we want to help businesses to reduce, recycle and reuse, but the Government must allow for businesses’ financial models to be sustainable in the first place. By 2030, the Government hope to deliver a 73% reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions against a 2005 baseline level, and to reduce ammonia emissions by 16% by 2030 compared with 2005 levels. Will they commit to keeping this target under review to ensure that a focus on fixed end-point targets does not create viability issues for businesses or excessive costs for consumers?

We challenge the Government to seek to understand how private businesses work in the farming industry as well as in the wider economy. Businesses are being crippled by increasing costs of employment through national insurance contributions and minimum wages, through less flexibility in employment through the Employment Rights Act and through the unique challenges to the farming industry from the unreliability of environmental land management schemes under this Government. Creating greater investment and compliance burdens through regulation undermines our farming industry. Compliance with statutory requirements must be incentivised and guided by the appropriate timelines and easily accessible information, not just enforced by an empowered arm’s-length body. I look forward to engaging constructively with the Government on this matter and I am very grateful for other noble Lords’ contributions to this debate.

Flooding Interventions

Lord Roborough Excerpts

Tuesday 6th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

The noble Lord is right that Flood Re was set up for a certain period of time. I am doing this from memory, and I shall tell the House if I am wrong, but I think it was due to run through to 2036.

We are looking at possible alternative arrangements. Clearly, the last thing we want to do is take away households’ ability to have insurance. We do not want to go back to how it used to be—people being completely uninsurable or having excess limits of, say, £10,000. That is not the future we see for insurance. The noble Lord is right that it has been set up as an intermediate system, and we are looking at ways to move forward.

[Lord Roborough (Con)]

My Lords, the Environmental Audit Committee’s fourth report on flood resilience in England in October 2025 highlighted that Defra’s flood budget is increasingly a thin blue line protecting the nation’s transport, energy, housing and utilities from escalating flood impacts, yet it remains siloed, with no cross-government accountability for measurable outcomes or value for money. Will the Minister clarify what work the department is doing beyond using standard HM Treasury guidance to ensure value for money in flood investments?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

As I mentioned earlier, we have invested a record amount of money in addressing flooding. We have also reviewed the way funding is applied and how communities, businesses and so on can apply for it. The new programme we have set up has four metrics, and if I briefly go through those, it will help to answer the noble Lord’s question.

There are two outcome metrics and two output metrics. The first outcome metric is around economic benefits. It captures all the damage that has been avoided to properties, infrastructure, agriculture and a range of other areas, as well as the positive economic benefits of such things as natural flood management, which we are very keen to invest in. The second is around the risk to properties. The Environment Agency is developing a way of reporting on the reduction in flood risk due to the investments made through the national flood and coastal investment programme. I think that is due to report in April.

The first output metric is around how properties benefit from the new investment. That is made up of three parts: whether it is large reductions in, small reductions in, or prevented increases in any size of flood risk. The last metric is around asset condition, which initially remains the percentage of Environment Agency high-consequence assets at target condition. So we have a whole new system of managing exactly those outcomes and investments.

Biodiversity and the Countryside

Lord Roborough Excerpts

Thursday 13th November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Roborough (Con)]

My Lords, I am most grateful to my noble friend Lord Grayling for securing this important debate on the impact of this Government’s policies on biodiversity and the countryside. The scorecard is looking pretty grim, as many noble Lords have pointed out in this fascinating debate, and I will address further some of those points.

Before I do so, I refer your Lordships’ House to my registered interests as a quasi-regenerative farmer with Countryside Stewardship, landscape recovery and sustainable farming incentive schemes, as an owner of woodland and developer of new forests under the Woodland Carbon Code, as a peatland restorer under the Peatland Carbon Code and as an investor in natural capital-related businesses.

Most of us in this debate bear the scars of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Creating a new system via the environmental delivery plans to protect and compensate for damage to nature in development simply confuses the issue when we, in government, put in place protections and market structures that ensure that nature overall should benefit from development through our landmark Environment Act 2021.

My noble friend Lord Grayling and others mentioned the biodiversity net gain market, created in the Environment Act and underpinned by the mitigation hierarchy. The BNG industry report from July this year highlights 21,000 acres now dedicated to biodiversity net gain after only 15 months of operation, and forecasts a £3 billion market size by 2035. Should the Government accept our amendment to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, as mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Grender, this would allow those BNG markets to continue to develop, with greater experience building among those buying these units as well as selling them, proving that nature does not need to get in the way of growth.

Earlier this year, the Government conducted a consultation on its functioning. Can the Minister tell us when the Government will respond? We would welcome any changes that make the system easier to use for smaller developers and that allow the market to function more effectively for nature and growth. I agree with my noble friends that this need not mean exempting small developments.

What nature needs as much as our rural community is consistency. Habitats need to be left alone in order to thrive; farmers need to be able to plan ahead to make good decisions for their businesses and the right decisions for land use. This Government have halved inheritance tax reliefs under APR and BPR, destabilising that long-term planning. They have smashed delinked payments, brought SFI applications to an end and forced the farming community to wait until a date—which we hope we will hear shortly—in 2026 before any information or payments will be available for new schemes.

While the one-year extension to Countryside Stewardship mid-tier schemes, due to end this year, is most welcome, it was late. The net result is anecdotal evidence that many farmers have ploughed up or cultivated land that had been managed under these environmental schemes, in order to have some confidence that their businesses would survive. Can the Minister confirm that the beneficiaries of this extension will be able to apply for the new SFIs to be launched next year, rather than having to wait another year and potentially being closed out again?

This Government, and indeed previous Governments, are not providing the answers that biodiversity and the countryside need. The Government must incentivise private investment in nature recovery and other natural capital markets. Farms are businesses, not just producing food but sequestering carbon, protecting and enhancing nature and looking after our landscapes.

The Minister accepted the importance of water companies investing in nature-based solutions in the Water (Special Measures) Act, and at Third Reading of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, her colleague made helpful and clear commitments about the role of private land managers in delivering environmental goods in these EDPs. I hope that this is part of a progression towards functioning natural capital markets that will replace the burden on taxpayers with investment by the private sector. That could be the underpinning of a more prosperous future for the countryside, delivering even more biodiversity and nature restoration, which we are debating today. The £3 billion forecast for BNG alone is larger than Defra’s farming budget.

Businesses, as the noble Baroness, Lady Willis of Summertown, mentioned, are also good citizens that see the value in protecting all our futures. That is why many are already buying voluntary carbon units and investing in carbon insetting in their supply chains to reduce their overall carbon footprints. They are also evaluating what they can do under the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures’ recommendations to improve the natural environment and their reporting. While I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Willis, that it would be welcome to see this become more widely used in the UK, I would also be cautious about the reporting obligations and costs that this might place on smaller and medium-sized businesses.

Can the Minister inform your Lordships what the result has been of the consultation on including woodland carbon units in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme? The consultation closed 15 months ago. This could be a valuable step towards incentivising much more tree planting, a healthier rural economy and greater biodiversity. The noble Baroness, Lady Young, has already mentioned the disappointing performance of tree planting in the UK versus, frankly, unambitious tree-planting targets. Steps such as this could incentivise much larger-scale planting.

My noble friend Lord Grayling made important points about the restrictions we still operate under in our coastal waters. The Government chose, unnecessarily, to allow our European friends to continue to have access to 40% of our fishing rights, when we could have recovered them all in June next year. The one-off coastal recovery fund of £360 million is a pretty disappointing attempt to buy off our coastal communities, when the full value of our fishing rights would have delivered an extra £600 million a year of revenue. In addition to responding to my noble friends’ questions, can the Minister be clear that the Government have the power to revisit the policy on marine protected areas without consulting and deferring to our European friends?

Lastly, I agree with my noble friends Lord Harlech and Lady Shephard and the noble Lord, Lord Carrington, that farmers need to be allowed to make a return on their land and to help prevent food security being undermined by the loss of the best and most versatile land to energy production. I look forward to the Minister’s response.

River Pollution

Lord Roborough Excerpts

Monday 10th November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

I can give my noble friend an update on where we are on Camber Sands and Southern Water at the moment. The pollution incident is really worrying, and it is disappointing that it has happened. We are pleased that Southern Water has now taken responsibility for this plastic pollution incident. The Environment Agency is currently conducting a thorough investigation. It is also looking at what regulatory action should be taken and is working with Rother District Council on the clean-up operation. It is absolutely unacceptable that something like this should happen. For too long, these serious pollution events have not been taken seriously. It is absolutely right that the Environment Agency is looking thoroughly at this incident so we can understand exactly what has happened in order to try and prevent it happening again in the future. We need swifter penalties to clamp down on polluters. We have given £104 billion in private investment to help cut exactly this kind of pollution incident.

[Lord Roborough (Con)]

My Lords, the Water (Special Measures) Act, the Cunliffe review and now the Planning and Infrastructure Bill all offer the potential for the mobilisation of greater private capital in dealing with non-sewage pollution in our rivers. Can the Minister inform the House what progress is being made with private sector investment? How big a contribution is planned and how much will therefore be saved for the benefit of the taxpayer? I refer the House to my registered interest as a land and river owner.

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

As part of dealing with any major area that requires investment and funding, we will of course consider how private investment can support what the Government are trying to achieve. We believe that it is important for us all to pull together to make the right kind of progress.

Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund

Lord Roborough Excerpts

Monday 27th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Roborough (Con)]

My Lords, this Government’s deal with the EU allows Europe to retain around 40% of the fishing rights in our exclusive economic zone and territorial waters for a further 12 years. This undermines the substantial expansion of the private tax-paying fishing sector that should have been possible. The fishing and coastal growth fund from taxpayers’ money’ is poor compensation and unfairly distributed, particularly as regards Scotland. Can the Minister explain how this can be in tune with the Government’s pro-growth agenda?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Baroness Hayman of Ullock) (Lab)]

The funding is being allocated using the Barnett formula, which is the normal mechanism used by HM Treasury to determine funding for the devolved Governments. That is the mechanism used and, while allocations are not directly linked to the size of each nation’s fishing industry—the noble Lord mentioned the Scottish fishing industry—devolved Governments have full flexibility to target this funding to best meet the needs of their coastal and fishing communities, so there is an opportunity. This is extra funding on top of other funding that has been granted, so it is providing a support to coastal and fishing communities.

Waste Crime

Lord Roborough Excerpts

Wednesday 15th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

Clearly, the lack of convictions has been a problem, which returns me to my answer to the noble Baroness, Lady McIntosh. This is the fundamental reason why we have increased the Environment Agency’s budget for front-line criminal enforcement: so that we can actually start to do this. The purpose for having that specific funding is to exactly address the issue the noble Baroness raises.

[Lord Roborough (Con)]

My Lords, Clause 9 of the Crime and Policing Bill grants Ministers the discretionary power to issue guidance to local authorities on fly-tipping enforcement. As we all know, fly-tipping is a serious problem, blighting communities, impacting everyone’s quality of life and polluting our natural environment. Can the Minister give the House a timeline for the issuing of new guidance and explain why Clause 9 will not come into effect on Royal Assent? I refer the House to my registered interest as a landowner.

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

The noble Lord is absolutely right to raise the issue of fly-tipping. A lot of people think it is just a mattress dumped in a hedge, but it can be incredibly serious and expensive and challenging for landowners to clear up. In specific answer to his question, following Royal Assent the intention is to consult. We will consult, as required by Clause 9, prior to publishing any statutory guidance. We want to make sure that any guidance that we produce and publish is as useful as it can be, and we want to hear the views of local authorities and others to ensure that it is going to be effective. Once we have had the responses and the opportunity to analyse them, we will then publish it as soon as practical—as soon as we can. The clause will be commenced ahead of the guidance being finalised.

Deforestation

Lord Roborough Excerpts

Wednesday 17th September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

Electricity generators—and that does include Drax—receive subsidies only for the electricity they generate from biomass which has demonstrated compliance with the Government’s sustainability criteria. We have strengthened the sustainability criteria for large-scale biomass generation by increasing the proportion of biomass that must be obtained from a sustainable source from 70% to 100%, excluding core material from primary forest and old growth areas, and by tightening greenhouse gas emission requirements in line with European best practice.

[Lord Roborough (Con)]

My Lords, I refer the House to my registered interests, in particular as a forest developer and owner. According to the latest data, this country imports 73% of its forest products, despite having one of the best tree-growing climates globally, and yet we continue to miss the Government’s planting targets. What steps are the Government taking to accelerate the rate of tree planting in the UK to restore our natural environment, reduce our net carbon emissions and reduce that level of imports?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

We absolutely agree that forests in the UK are part of our critical natural infrastructure. To complement the international efforts I have referred to, we are taking significant steps to protect and expand domestic forests. Key achievements include setting a legally binding target to increase tree cover to 16.5% of England’s land area by 2050. Tree planting in England is at the highest level on record in over 20 years. In 2024-25, the total area of tree canopy established, and the number of trees planted, was over 7,000 hectares, or over 10 million trees. We are also creating three new national forests. The first was announced in March, the Western Forest, which will see 20 million trees planted across the west of England in the coming years.

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

Lord Roborough Excerpts

Committee stage
Wednesday 17th September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Roborough (Con)]

My Lords, I will speak briefly to several amendments in this group concerning environmental delivery plans.

I start by thanking my noble friend Lord Lucas, both for introducing this group and for tabling Amendment 242B. This amendment seeks to ensure that the EDP process has time to bed in within uncontroversial areas, and that its further development is not rushed. As we have learned, EDPs are themselves controversial, so we are of course sympathetic to this amendment and to other noble Lords’ words on nutrient neutrality. Elsewhere, we have offered amendments that could immediately release 160,000 units of housing stock from Natural England advice, which is blocking those developments. Can EDPs deliver that? Can they release 160,000 units from this Natural England advice once the Act commences?

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, for tabling Amendments 271 and 272. These seek to ensure that, when preparing an EDP, Natural England must have regard to all the plans listed in Clause 58(2)(a) to (c) rather than only those it considers to be relevant. These are serious points, and I hope the Minister will reflect carefully on them in response. In light of these amendments, are the Government minded to clarify how Natural England is to weigh these existing plans?

I am also grateful to my noble friend Lord Lansley for Amendment 344, which would require plan-making authorities to notify Natural England when they allocate potential sites for development where an EDP would be needed. This strikes me as a completely sound and practical amendment which would help to ensure co-ordination between local planning and Natural England’s role.

I turn briefly on my noble friend Lord Swire’s amendment, kindly introduced by my noble friend Lady Coffey. I have to say that I am impressed by my noble friend’s ingenuity in returning to one of his favourite topics. I am not convinced that Natural England has the bandwidth for the existing initiatives in the Bill without adding further burdens to them.

To conclude, we look forward to hearing the Minister outline the Government’s own amendments in this group. They appear to be minor and technical, and we are grateful for the drafting corrections, particularly Amendment 346E. Clause 58 already sets out matters to which Natural England must have regard when preparing an EDP. This amendment would extend that duty to the amendment and revocation of EDPs by both Natural England and the Secretary of State. It would also add further matters to which they must have regard. It would be helpful to understand how these additional considerations are expected to operate in practice. We would welcome this clarification, and I hope the Minister can reassure the House that the Government’s approach will match the scale of the responsibilities being placed on Natural England.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Baroness Hayman of Ullock) (Lab)]

My Lords, before I respond to the debate, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, for her comments. I also remind noble Lords that our civil servants across all departments work extremely hard. They bring valuable support to Ministers, and it really is not appropriate to question their intellectual ability during a debate.

As we set out in Committee on Monday, the Government remain firmly of the view that, when it comes to development in the environment, we can do better than the status quo, which too often sees both sustainable housebuilding and nature recovery stall. Instead of environmental protections being seen as barriers to growth, we are determined to unlock a win-win for the economy and for nature, and that is why Part 3 is important.

Following the introduction of this Bill, we have taken seriously the concerns expressed by those who were not yet convinced that the provisions in Part 3 provided the necessary certainty that the nature restoration fund will deliver in practice the potential environmental benefits that it offers. So, with a view to ensuring that everyone has confidence that the nature restoration fund delivers those improved outcomes for nature that are at the core of the model, we have continued to engage with expert stakeholders. Having done so, the Government have developed a comprehensive set of amendments for consideration. Taken together, we are confident that the package will provide reassurance that the nature restoration fund will restore, not harm, nature, while at the same time ensuring that housebuilders benefit from the same streamlined process to discharge their environmental obligations and get Britain building.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Roborough (Con)]

My Lords, this group of amendments is aimed at strengthening the natural recovery framework model and addressing the overall improvement test. I do not intend to take up more time than is necessary, so I will not address each amendment in this group individually. However, I will speak to my Amendment 291, which stands also in the name of my noble friend Lord Blencathra.

Amendment 291 seeks to provide a power for the Secretary of State to reject an environmental delivery plan where they consider it is not in the public interest. We believe that this is a crucial safeguard. While we recognise the need for local responsibility and innovation within the NRF model, it is important that national priorities and the wider public good remain central. This amendment seeks to ensure that where an EDP does not sufficiently deliver the environmental improvements that are expected, or where it conflicts with other essential national interests, the Secretary of State can act decisively. It seeks to provide a necessary balance between local ambition and national accountability. While we are opposed to the entire EDP bureaucratic scheme, if the Government insist on pursuing it, it must be meaningful and measurable. The framework must be rooted in real outcomes, not vague intentions.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Roborough (Con)]

My Lords, I shall start by introducing my Amendment 346DF and, in the interests of brevity, will avoid detailed comments on the other amendments in the group.

My amendment is, by its nature, probing. It would require the Secretary of State to report on the potential benefits of removing distance from the biodiversity metric when measuring the biodiversity value of registered off-site biodiversity gain under paragraph 4 of Schedule 7A to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. This is important because the current system rightly places a heavy weighting on proximity. My amendment does not necessarily fit so well in this group, but there was no sense in having a separate group for just one focused amendment with a specific request. It simply poses the question to the Government: if proximity carries limited weight in designing EDPs, why should it continue to carry so much weight in the BNG market? This risks handicapping the private market for these services versus EDPs.

Currently, developers pay far less for BNG and nutrient neutrality units when further afield than when local, which translates to lower prices per unit and lower incentives for landowners to develop BNG units. We on these Benches remain convinced that the proximity of the offsetting actions’ location to where the damage is being done remains an important principle, which we will defend. However, if the Government were to insist that this is not the case in the EDPs, this amendment would seek to protect the ability of private developers of BNG units to compete. There is an argument, which holds weight, that if mitigation actions cannot be done locally, further afield may be acceptable. But in that case, it holds that the choice should be made based on guidance and availability, not price.

I turn to the arguments raised in this group of amendments, which we support. We are proud of the work done in the Environment Act 2021 to enshrine the mitigation hierarchy in law through biodiversity net gain. It has taken some time to implement but now works better every day. Developers are increasingly comfortable with it. Supply of BNG units is increasing, providing valuable income to landowners and funding for environmental NGOs. Given that, it is hard to understand where the problem is in planning that Part 3 is trying to fix. Perhaps most importantly, nature restoration is already happening at increasing scale around the country through the current system. Why undermine it? By not protecting the mitigation hierarchy within the application to the nature restoration fund and the design of EDPs, the Bill continues to represent a regression in environmental law in this country. It also undermines the competitiveness of BNG developers in providing solutions for housing and infrastructure developers.

In conclusion, the amendments we have discussed today reflect a common desire to protect the mitigation hierarchy and ensure it is embedded into all aspects of the NRF and EDPs. I hope the Minister will support this and offer encouragement.

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

I thank noble Lords for taking part in this debate on the mitigation hierarchy. I have listened carefully and very much recognise the concerns that are being raised. These amendments seek to add provisions that require Natural England and the Secretary of State to apply the mitigation hierarchy when considering whether to produce an EDP, and in its production and implementation. By introducing a more strategic approach to addressing the impact of development, the Bill deliberately provides an appropriate degree of flexibility to Natural England to design conservation measures to deliver improved outcomes for the environmental features that are subject to an EDP. The noble Lord, Lord Gascoigne, when he introduced his amendment, noted that the NPPF includes consideration of the mitigation hierarchy in respect of individual planning applications. I was not going to mention it, but because he did, I thought I had to.

As we have set out, the NRF is a strategic model. While I want to reassure noble Lords that the mitigation hierarchy lives in this model and is integral to the model we are trying to get across, it cannot be considered in the same way as an individual planning application. Again, I stress that the NPPF is a statutory model. You cannot just ignore it. It is part of the application process. So, we would expect Natural England to consider this throughout the process and use tools such as the ability to request planning conditions to avoid and reduce impact as key elements of an EDP. In preparing an EDP, Natural England will always be mindful of the benefits of avoiding impacts before they occur. Taking action locally which benefits the same protected feature that is being impacted by development will be the default under an EDP. This places a kind of ecological lock on the use of network measures, which can be used only in cases where it is clear that taking action elsewhere would be more beneficial to the environmental feature.

In addition, when making the EDP, the Secretary of State will have due regard to the environmental principles policy statement, in line with the Environment Act 2021. This will ensure that important principles, such as the precautionary principle and the rectification at source principle, are considered. Ultimately, the overall improvement test will require that each EDP demonstrates how the conservation measures will secure an environmental uplift that goes beyond the offsetting that is achieved under the current system.

Returning to Amendment 245, as I said, the principles are already incorporated into the existing provisions and further reinforced by the amendments we have tabled. As the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, said, Natural England can request that planning conditions be imposed on development, ensuring that impacts are minimised. As I have explained, network measures can be implemented only when doing so would lead to greater improvement. The noble Baroness asked for future information. Let us get together before Report; I will get that information for her and share it with noble Lords.

Natural England will always consider the environmental principles when preparing an EDP, and the Secretary of State may make one only if it meets the overall improvement test. Therefore, the additional flexibility provided for by the nature restoration fund can be used only to deliver better outcomes for the environment.

I turn to Amendment 251 in the name of the noble Earl, Lord Russell, and Amendment 301 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Willis, who is not in her place. These amendments would require a developer to demonstrate that they have applied the mitigation hierarchy before Natural England can accept their request to use an EDP. The clear aim of the nature restoration fund is to deliver a win-win for both development and the environment. A fundamental element of delivering this is to reduce the amount of time and money spent on individual environmental assessments and refocus these efforts on strategic action to improve environmental outcomes at scale.

The EDP itself is required to consider the impact of relevant development on the environmental feature and propose appropriate measures to address and materially outweigh this impact. The plans will be underpinned by the best scientific evidence and will include actions to avoid impact, as well conservation measures to address and outweigh impact. As such, requiring developers to undertake individual assessments risks eroding the value of the EDP, adding costs to individual development, which we think would reduce the utility of relying on EDPs. Where an EDP is in place, the overall improvement test ensures that outcomes for the environment will be better than the existing system, so it is vital that we embrace the opportunity to streamline the process in order to deliver this win-win.

The noble Earl, Lord Russell, tabled Amendment 275, which seeks to require that Natural England may decide to prepare an EDP for a protected feature only if two conditions are met: first, that Natural England has followed the mitigation hierarchy; and secondly, that the EDP would contribute to a significant environmental improvement in the conservation status of the relevant environmental feature at an ecologically appropriate scale. I have just addressed the first condition, so I will focus on the second.

The existing provisions in the Bill already require the Secretary of State to consider whether the overall improvement test is met once a draft EDP has been prepared and presented. Requiring Natural England to consider that same test at an earlier stage would not be possible because neither the detail of the proposed conservation measures nor the environmental impact of the development it is intended to address would be known at that stage. We think that the correct point to apply the overall improvement test will be after the EDP is drafted, not before.

The amendment also proposes a modification to the overall improvement test to require that conservation measures significantly and measurably outweigh the environmental impact of development. This was addressed previously, so I will not repeat it here, except to say that the Bill requires that conservation measures must address the environmental impact of development and, additionally, contribute to an overall improvement in the conservation status. We have clarified that with the amendments we have tabled.

Turning to Amendment 256ZA, tabled by my noble friend Lady Young, the Government’s amendments to Part 3 make it clear that network measures may be taken forward only when Natural England can set out how the approach will make a greater contribution to the improvement of the conservation status of the feature than an on-site measure. We are clear that the flexibilities will not come at the expense of action to avoid impact, and the Bill provides powers to address such actions and secure that they are taken through the use of planning conditions. There is also the opportunity to scrutinise the proposed conservation measures, including actions proposed to avoid impact, during the consultation on each EDP. The Secretary of State will also have due regard to the environmental principles policy statement, and see that other important principles are considered.

Turning to Amendment 340, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Grender, the overall improvement test is central to the nature restoration fund. I have gone into some detail about how that is supposed to work, but the proposed requirement to apply the mitigation hierarchy rigidly would restrict an EDP’s ability to meet the overall improvement test strategically. As I said, an EDP cannot be made unless the Secretary of State is satisfied that it will meet this test. Any flexibility in applying the mitigation hierarchy should be seen through this lens. The nature restoration fund does in limited circumstances allow Natural England to propose conservation measures which benefit the environmental feature in a different location.

Turning to irreplaceable habitats, the Bill does not amend or disapply the NPPF. Therefore, the existing policies remain unchanged. An EDP could be applied to an irreplaceable habitat only where it was also a feature of a protected site. Even then, an EDP could not allow for the loss of irreplaceable habitats, as it would simply not be possible to satisfy the overall improvements test in these circumstances. Finally, it is not clear what the proposed requirement to consider enhancing biodiversity would add, as the Bill is clear that an overall improvement must be achieved in relation to the protected feature to which the EDP relates.

Finally, on Amendment 346DF, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Roborough, we have recently concluded a consultation on improving the implementation of BNG for minor, medium and brownfield development. Among the options is a proposal to streamline the BNG metric process. We might be interested to pick this up and discuss it further, because the Government are currently considering their response, and we will be publishing our outcomes in due course. New legislation requiring government to lay a report on this matter is therefore not necessary at this stage, so I hope the noble Lord will withdraw his amendment.

This has been a really important debate. It has raised a number of issues which I am aware that noble Lords would like to discuss further, and this is something we should specifically pick up in discussions ahead of Report. With these explanations, I kindly ask noble Lords not to press their amendments.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Fuller (Con)]

My Lords, on the face of it, I welcome government Amendment 245A and the amendments from the noble Baroness, Lady Young of Old Scone, because it is clearly right that the public should understand what the sequence proposed might be.

My noble friend Lord Lucas has stolen some of my thunder in identifying that some of the research can take place only at certain times of year which, if it is a particular time window, may be, say, 11 months away, and there is this temporal longevity which may happen over many seasons. It is really important that, as part of that requirement for laying out the sequencing, we get an understanding of what timescales may be needed, because my concern is what happens at the point at which an EDP is first mooted and that sequencing process starts. What assurances can the Minister give that, because the process may take several years, it will not, in effect, impose a moratorium on any development while we wait for the sequences and processes to go through? These were laid out in the helpful diagram from the noble Lord, Lord Krebs, and the bits before.

It is important that government Amendment 245A which, as I say, I welcome, should be coupled with the anticipated timescales. It might be implicit in the amendment, but it would be helpful if the noble Baroness could make it explicit that sequences and timescales are in there and whether that applies to a moratorium in the meantime.

[Lord Roborough (Con)]

My Lords, I will speak first to my two amendments in this group. Amendment 293 would require Natural England to report on environmental delivery plans more regularly than simply at the halfway and completion points of the plan. This is important, because without frequent reporting, Parliament, local authorities and indeed the public are left in the dark for too long about whether the plans are on track. More frequent updates would allow for earlier course correction where plans are falling short, helping to build public confidence through transparency and ensure that delivery does not drift between the start and the finish. Can the Minister set out why the Government are confident that the current reporting framework is sufficient when many stakeholders believe more timely scrutiny is essential?

My Amendment 295 would require environmental delivery plan reports to include assessments of their impact on local communities and the local economy, rather than focusing solely on environmental consequences. This matters because environmental improvement is not achieved in isolation. Communities are directly affected, sometimes positively, sometimes negatively, by the choices made in land use, development restrictions or habitat restoration. Understanding the economic and social consequences alongside the environmental ones is the only way to ensure that these plans are fair, balanced and capable of commanding long-term public support.

My noble friends Lord Jamieson and Lady Scott of Bybrook have repeatedly argued that local community voices matter in planning and this is no different. On these Benches, we continue to stand up for local engagement and meaningful consultation so that communities are partners and not bystanders in shaping outcomes.

Briefly, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Young of Old Scone, for her Amendment 258C and my noble friend Lord Randall of Uxbridge for his Amendment 285A. These are both vital because they strengthen the foundations on which environmental delivery plans are built. I have direct experience of this with my own farming activities and new forest development. Without accurate data on the baseline condition of the soil, flora and fauna, and water quality, it is simply impossible to be confident on progress. I would go further and suggest that this data should be published so that all stakeholders can hold Natural England to account. It is essential if plans are to be scientifically robust, deliver measurable benefits for nature and remain aligned with the environmental principles that your Lordships’ House has consistently supported. In that context, I should refer the Committee to my register of interests, which I have not done before in this respect, as a shareholder in Agricarbon.

These are constructive and necessary amendments. Taken together, they provide the checks, the evidence base and the community voice that will make environmental delivery plans more effective, more trusted and, ultimately, more deliverable.

Plastic Pollution

Lord Roborough Excerpts

Monday 15th September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

At the moment, I am not aware of Defra having had such conversations. It may be that the Department for Transport has, so I will go back to my department, ask for more information on this subject and write to the noble Lord.

[Lord Roborough (Con)]

My Lords, what efforts are the Government making to promote more switching to cost-effective, reusable or non-plastic, biodegradable packaging products to reduce the cost burden on industry and consumers of waste recycling and reduction?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

The UK works very much with other authorities, the devolved Administrations and other countries on how we can do exactly that. As I said, it is all very well to recycle, but we need to reduce the amount of plastic in the first place because, even when things are recycled, that plastic is still in the system. So, we will continue with our efforts to do just that.

Animals (Low-Welfare Activities Abroad) Act 2023

Lord Roborough Excerpts

Monday 1st September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

I would imagine that is probably an education piece.

[Lord Roborough (Con)]

My Lords, will the Minister confirm what specific criteria or evidence the Government are using to determine which activities abroad will be considered low welfare under the forthcoming regulations?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

I am determined to look at what makes the biggest difference. The whole essence of my approach to animal welfare is what makes the biggest difference, where are the most animals suffering abuse, and what can we do to try to reduce that. Those are the criteria we are looking at.