Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of granting additional protections to (a) ancient and (b) veteran trees in planning policy.

Ancient woodland and ancient and veteran trees are already strictly protected in national planning policy, while Tree Preservation orders safeguard individual trees or groups of trees of particular value. Local planning authorities have the principal responsibility for applying these protections effectively.

We keep policy in this and other areas under review, working closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Defra recently completed a review on the implementation of national planning policy for protecting ancient woodland and ancient and veteran trees.