Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Christine Jardine and Mary Creagh

Thursday 12th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

Biodiversity net gain is critical to replacing the loss we are experiencing in our environment and is now mandatory in planning applications—but with exemptions. Those exemptions mean that most developers are avoiding biodiversity net gain, so what will the Government do to tighten up the exemptions and make that more difficult?

[Mary Creagh]

This is a very new policy and has only just come into force, as the hon. Lady will be aware. There are very limited exemptions in place at the moment, such as that on side returns on housing, but we are keeping the issue under active review and I am in discussions with officials about it.