Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to part three of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, whether environmental delivery plans will be applied in a modular way, with species considered on a case-by-case basis.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Environmental Delivery Plans will only be put in place where Natural England and the Secretary of State are confident that conservation measures will be sufficient to outweigh the negative impact of development.
Where this is not the case, existing environmental obligations, including those arising under the Habitats Regulations, will remain in place.
We are working with Natural England to explore which species might benefit from strategic approaches.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Environmental Development Plans proposed in Part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will be required to follow the mitigation hierarchy.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Environmental Development Plans will provide the flexibility to diverge from project-by-project mitigation and a restrictive application of the mitigation hierarchy.
However, this will only be where Natural England consider that this would deliver better outcomes for nature over the course of the delivery plan.
An Environmental Development Plan can only be put in place where Natural England and the Secretary of State are satisfied that the delivery of conservation measures will outweigh the negative effects of development.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the findings of the report by the National Farmers Union entitled APR and BPR reform alternative, published on 19 February 2025, on changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to UIN 32918.