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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to strengthen environmental protections.

We have been clear about the importance of environmental protection across the United Kingdom, not least through our world leading Environment Act, which includes a legally binding target to halt the decline of nature by 2030.  We are committed to meeting this target and will not undermine our obligations to the environment in pursuit of growth.

Earlier this year we published a Nature Recovery Green Paper, setting out proposals to reform our system of protections, including the Habitats Regulations. The Nature Recovery Green Paper consultation closed in May and we are now in the process of analysing responses.