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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the (a) upfront and (b) ongoing costs required to ensure that all Local Nature Recovery Strategies are delivered fully.

The Government has committed to funding all new burdens on Local Authorities arising from the Environment Act. This includes those relating to the preparation of Local Nature Recovery Strategies.

As set out in our consultation, Local Nature Recovery Strategies: how to prepare and what to include , which is now closed, Local Nature Recovery Strategies are intended to inform a number of policy areas and will therefore be delivered through a variety of mechanisms operating in a complementary way. These could include mandatory biodiversity net gain, environmental land management schemes, the strengthened NERC duty on public bodies; and use by local planning authorities, for example in informing the preparation of local plans.