Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her oral evidence to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee on 22 July 2025, on what evidential basis the country has cared more about bats than about commuter times for people in Leeds and West Yorkshire.

In the past, our planning system has acted as a brake on growth, with consenting times for major infrastructure taking far too long and costing too much money. Environmental and planning compliance has meant projects like HS2 have suffered excessive costs and delays as referenced by James Stewart’s review of the problems in that programme and the approach to governance and assurance of major transport projects. This has damaged investment in the UK, costing us jobs and economic growth.

That’s why we are committed to creating a planning system that is an enabler of growth; delivering both the high-quality housing and critical infrastructure that communities need. We are reforming the National Planning Policy Framework and are taking a new growth-focused approach to the planning system with major reforms in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

The new Nature Restoration Fund will enable developers to meet their environment obligations quicker without compromising on environmental improvement.