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

To ask His Majesty's Government how the mitigation hierarchy will be implemented in the planning process for offshore windfarms.

The mitigation hierarchy is an established principle of environmental and planning law. The Government is currently consulting on an updated National Policy Statement for Renewable Energy Infrastructure, including offshore wind, which states that applicants should always employ the mitigation hierarchy. The Government will be publishing updated guidance for offshore wind developers and regulators to further clarify how to work through and adhere to the mitigation hierarchy.

The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill includes provision to replace Strategic Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessment processes for national infrastructure projects, marine works and terrestrial planning with Environmental Outcome Reports (EORs). EORs apply to a range of consenting regimes and will assess any steps proposed to avoid, mitigate or compensate for effects of specified environmental outcomes that are not met and to what extent the mitigation hierarchy was followed.