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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure biodiversity net gain is not used to override protections afforded to Local Wildlife Sites and other designated nature sites.

Development is restricted on sites which are designated for environmental or amenity value, and the National Planning Policy Framework requires local plans to identify, map and safeguard components of local wildlife-rich habitats and wider ecological networks, including the hierarchy of international, national and locally designated sites of importance for biodiversity.

Biodiversity Net Gain is additional to these protections for nature and only required on new development that needs planning permission, therefore only applying on designated nature sites in the very limited circumstances where such development is permitted.