Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a requirement to deliver biodiversity net gain will be obligatory for planning decisions under the proposed Levelling up and Planning legislation.
As the requirement for mandatory biodiversity net gain has already been introduced through the Environment Act 2021, and will be brought into force by 2023, it is not necessary to make provisions for mandatory net gain in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
We are working alongside the principles in the Environment Act 2021 to ensure that development results in environmental improvement rather than merely preventing harm. We will work with Defra to further embed this approach through updates to national planning policy, to ensure that environmental considerations feature fully in all planning decision making.