Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Spring Statement of 13 March 2019, HCWS1407, whether the additional funding for the environment applies to (a) England or (b) England and Wales.

The government announced at Spring Statement an ambitious package of measures to support the environment, including mandating biodiversity net gain for development in England, supporting the Ascension Island Council in its decision to designate a new Marine Protected Area around Ascension Island, launching a comprehensive global review of the link between biodiversity and economic growth, to be led by Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta, and taking forward a Call for Evidence on biodiversity in the Overseas Territories. These measures will help to deliver on this government’s pledge to be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we found it. Any spend in England and Wales associated with these measures will be funded from existing budgets.