Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether any recent proposals to (a) build and (b) expand prisons have been affected by nutrient neutrality rules.

Within the prison expansion programmes, the Rapid Deployment Cells Programme has been affected by nutrient neutrality rules at four sites. Developments in these catchment areas need to either secure nutrient credits or other nutrient mitigation for planning permission to be granted. To date, mitigation has been secured at three of the four sites.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill proposes a more strategic approach to nature recovery, which we expect would streamline the process for nutrient neutrality mitigation.