Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the recruitment of additional ecologists in local government.

Since November 2021, the Government has committed over £35 million to Local planning authorities (LPAs) to help them prepare for and implement biodiversity net gain. Defra has confirmed funding up to the end of 2024/25 and will confirm for 2025/26 shortly. Information on funding beyond 2025/26 will be provided following the spending review. Individual LPAs are best placed to decide how to use the funds in the most effective way, but recruitment of ecologists is one of the areas they could choose to allocate money to.