Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the new biodiversity net gain exemption for small sites will apply to existing planning applications in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset and (c) England.

As announced on 15th April 2026 in the government’s response to the consultation on Improving Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) for minor, medium and brownfield development, Defra will bring forward secondary legislation before summer recess 2026 with the intention of changes coming into force at the end of July / early August 2026 (subject to parliamentary scheduling). This will also specify the date that they will come into effect. These regulations will:

• introduce a new 0.2 hectare area based exemption so that developments under this size threshold will not be subject to BNG.

• remove the current self and custom build exemption.

• exempt temporary planning permissions granted for a maximum of 5 years from BNG requirements.

• amend the biodiversity gain hierarchy for minor development.

Until changes take effect, the current BNG requirement remains in place, so the exemption for small sites will not apply until these changes are made, and developers should continue to follow existing guidance and legislation when delivering BNG.

BNG applies to planning applications in England, including Yeovil and Somerset.