Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to assess the environmental effect of new housing using the DEFRA biodiversity metric; and if he will make a statement.

National planning policy continues to emphasise the role of planning in protecting and enhancing our natural environment, and helping to improve biodiversity. The National Planning Policy Framework is being revised, and during the recent consultation we received many responses regarding the importance of biodiversity and other environmental issues. We have considered all the consultation responses carefully. However, the Defra biodiversity metric is not for application at national level. Planning decisions about new housing and its location are for local planning authorities to make. They should determine each planning proposal in the light of the Local Plan and any other considerations they find material to the case, including the strong environmental policies set out in the National Planning Policy Framework.