Planning and Infrastructure Bill

Baroness Taylor of Stevenage Excerpts

Committee stage
Wednesday 17th September 2025 Lords Chamber

If we are to build public confidence in this framework, the results must be visible and robust. This is not merely about regulatory compliance. These amendments seek to ensure the delivery of lasting improvements to our natural environment.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Baroness Taylor of Stevenage) (Lab)]

My Lords, this group includes government amendments to the overall improvement test that are part of our comprehensive package of amendments to ensure that everyone can have confidence that the nature restoration fund will deliver the improved outcomes for nature that are at the heart of this model and which I know that many noble Lords fully support. The Government have always been clear that the overall improvement test is one of the key environmental safeguards in the new system. As such, it is vital that there is confidence in its operation.

Our amendments remove any risk of ambiguity about the test’s operation by making it clear that the Secretary of State can approve an EDP only where the effect of the conservation measures will materially outweigh the negative effect of development on the conservation status of each identified environmental feature. This provides further assurance for communities and developers that measures will not only be delivered but that they will lead to a material improvement for the relevant environmental feature. The noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, referred to the government amendments as being “cleverly written”. I thank her for those comments on behalf of our civil servants. I am very grateful for the intellectual capacity of our civil servants.

To further support communities and to assist the Secretary of State when deciding whether to approve an EDP, government Amendment 256B adds a requirement for Natural England to set out its view on how the conservation measures will enable the EDP to pass the overall improvement test. The amendments also make a series of minor legislative fixes that are necessary for the correct operation of the legislation following the substantive government amendments. These are important clarifications that put beyond doubt how the overall improvement test will operate.

Turning to the non-government amendments, I welcome the comments from the noble Baroness, Lady Grender, about the importance of providing clarity in the planning system. That benefits not only developers but the communities and planners who have to operate the system. Many of the non-government amendments relate to the overall improvement test; for example, seeking to insert words such as “significant” to increase the amount by which the positive impacts of conservation measures must outweigh the negative impacts of development.

I suggest to noble Lords that a material improvement, as required by the government amendment, is more appropriate. It captures the need to secure improvement without putting an undue burden on the developer to contribute significantly more than their fair share to address the impact of development. Similarly, replacing the word “outweigh” with “demonstrate a net gain”, as proposed by Amendment 288, tabled by the noble Earl, Lord Caithness, risks drawing comparisons to a different and unrelated planning policy, the biodiversity net gain policy.

Amendment 289, tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Lansley, would introduce a duty on the Secretary of State to specify whether an EDP relies on back-up conservation measures that are not expected to be used to pass the overall improvement test. I seek to assure the noble Lord that EDPs will always need to be capable of passing the test without relying on back-up measures, as back-up measures are, by definition, those that are not expected to be needed. With this explanation, I hope that the noble Lord agrees that these amendments demonstrate the Government’s commitment to getting this right. We hope that, with these amendments, stakeholders and parliamentarians will work with the Government as we shift our focus to on-the-ground delivery—driving nature recovery, while supporting the delivery of the homes and infra- structure that we need.

Amendment 285AA, tabled by noble friend Lady Young, would amend the overall improvement test and remove the consideration of the Secretary of State from the test. The overall improvement test is inherently forward-looking, given that an EDP may be in place for up to 10 years in order to deliver the necessary conservation measures to secure the required improvement in the conservation status of the relevant environmental feature. When deciding on whether to make an EDP, the Secretary of State will have before them: the EDP itself, for which the best available scientific evidence is used; the view of Natural England as to whether the conservation measures are sufficient to meet the overall improvement test; and the responses from the public consultation. Armed with this information and with the power to request further information, the Secretary of State will be able to make a reasoned decision as to whether to make an EDP. I point out to the noble Lord, Lord Gascoigne, that that process already includes consultation. Consultation is part of the EDP process.

We note that none of us has a crystal ball—it would be lovely if we did, as then we could probably go 80 years ahead. That is why the Bill includes a number of safeguards to ensure that the overall improvement test will be met. I know that this will have been touched on previously, but it is worth restating the important role that ongoing monitoring will play in ensuring conservation measures perform as expected and, if they do not, the Government’s amendment requires that back-up conservation measures will be deployed. If, despite all these safeguards, the EDP falls short of the expected outcome, it will be the responsibility of the Secretary of State to take forward any remedial action to make sure that the overall improvement is delivered.

It is also worth highlighting the government amendments requiring Natural England to set out the proposed sequencing of measures against the scale of development under the EDP. As well as the clarification brought, both Natural England and the Secretary of State will deploy the best available scientific evidence throughout the EDP process. Removing the consideration of the Secretary of State from the overall improvement test, as proposed by this amendment, would require EDPs to replicate the site-by-site approach, which simply is not appropriate or necessary under this new strategic model with the aforementioned safeguards in place.

The noble Lord, Lord Lansley, referred to the comments about the Secretary of State this morning. He is quite right to say that it is not specified in the Bill. I do not believe that any Bill ever specifies which Secretary of State, because—as we all know—things can change. We hope that, by providing some clarity to the Committee this morning, this will help Members’ understanding of where we are. I hope that, with that explanation, my noble friend feels able not to press her amendment.

I turn to the amendments tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Randall, to which he spoke with incredible clarity and briefness, for which I thank him. The amendments propose to replace the overall improvement test with an evidence-based improvement test, as well as introducing further requirements connected to this revised test. The Government are in complete agreement with the noble Lord, but the quality of evidence is paramount when the Secretary of State is considering whether an EDP should be made. I hope, therefore, that the noble Lord welcomes the government amendments, as I think that they speak to what is at the heart of his amendments.

As I have set out, the government amendments to the overall improvement test remove any risk of ambiguity by making it clear that the Secretary of State can approve an EDP only where the effect of the conservation measures will materially outweigh the negative effect of development on the conservation status of each identified environmental feature. The Secretary of State would be required to take into account that best scientific evidence when undertaking all activities related to Part 3, including when considering the overall improvement test.

However, it must be recognised that the Secretary of State will make their determination before any EDP is in effect and conservation measures are in place. While EDPs will be based on the best available scientific evidence, there is an acknowledged need to consider the as yet unknown impact of these measures. This is inherent in taking the strategic, longer-term approach and it is why we have included provision for back-up measures to be deployed if monitoring shows that the primary conservation measures are failing to deliver as expected. This provision provides assurance that, were the primary conservation measures not to perform as expected, further measures would be deployed to ensure that the EDP met the overall improvement test.

With these amendments, we are confident that the overall improvement test is fit for purpose, so would not want to amend the test in the way proposed by these amendments. In addition, the associated amendment requiring the Secretary of State to carry out further consultation risks adding further process because, as I said, those bodies will already have had an opportunity to express their views. Moreover, Natural England is required to include in the EDP its views as to how the measures proposed enable the EDP to meet the overall improvement test. With these explanations, I hope that noble Lords will feel able not to press their amendments.

Amendment 290, tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, would amend the overall improvement test and reintroduce much of the existing habitats regulations. It might be helpful to quote from the letter. I know that it only went out this morning. My noble friend Lady Hayman and I tried to get it out earlier, but your Lordships know how these things work. I repeat these paragraphs from the letter:

“We recognise that many Noble Lords have expressed concerns related to the application of the NRF model to irreplaceable habitats and rare species. We wish to be absolutely clear that both the intent and legal effect of the overall improvement test, and associated safeguards, is to prevent the inappropriate use of EDPs where an environmental feature would suffer irreversible harm or harm that could not be outweighed by the EDP end date. This means that an EDP could not allow action to be taken that resulted in loss or irreparable harm to an irreplaceable habitat, as this would by definition be incapable of passing the overall improvement test.


We also note that the National Planning Policy Framework … includes a strong presumption against permitting development which would harm irreplaceable habitats. These protections in the NPPF are not changing.”


Before turning to the individual elements of the amendment, I remind noble Lords that the current system is, at best, maintaining an unacceptable environmental status quo. That is why we are proposing the NRF, which provides an alternative way to discharge environmental obligations that moves us from simply offsetting impact to actually improving the conservation status of the relevant environmental feature. In providing an alternative, the NRF must establish a new framework for decision-making that aligns with this strategic, outcomes-focused approach. This framework has been the subject of much debate, but we are confident that, with the proposed government amendments, this will deliver the better environmental outcomes that we all so desperately need. Reintroducing elements of the existing system to this new model fails to recognise the necessary shift in approach to secure better outcomes. We will, of course, discuss the mitigation hierarchy at length in subsequent groupings, so I hope that, with those explanations and the discussion still to come, the noble Baroness is content not to press her amendment.

Amendment 291, tabled by the noble Lords, Lord Roborough and Lord Blencathra, would allow the Secretary of State to withhold approval from an EDP for reasons of public interest. I am happy to be able to reassure the noble Lords that there is nothing to compel the Secretary of State to approve an EDP and it will therefore be within their power to reject an EDP for any reason, including for reasons of public interest, as expressed in this amendment. I hope, therefore, that the noble Lords feel able not to press their amendment.

I move to Amendment 264, tabled by the noble Earl, Lord Caithness, which would introduce three tests that an EDP must specify and meet to avoid legal challenge. The first test relates to appropriate consultation; the Bill already contains specific measures governing consultation, so the amendment would apply to the pre-consultation period required by the noble Lord’s previous amendment.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Cromwell (CB)]

All the amendments in this group are basically trying to answer the question: what would success look like, and how do we measure it? I guess it is the old consultants’ cliché, I guess. The point I was concerned about was not just a financial audit but measuring the performance of EDPs. Environmental change is fantastically difficult and subjective to measure, so is there a commitment to use external third-party expertise to evaluate their success, or will Natural England mark its own homework?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

As if by magic, I have the answer for who audits Natural England, so I can answer the noble Lord’s question. The accounts of Natural England are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. It is the National Audit Office, so I hope that is helpful.

[Lord Cromwell (CB)]

That is helpful, and I am sure that it will look deeply into the financial performance, but I am worried about how the actual performance of the EDP will be measured.

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I was just coming to that. The performance of EDPs will be monitored in the ways that have been set out. There will be oversight from the department and a process for monitoring the EDPs. It might be helpful if, between Committee and Report, the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, and I can set out exactly how that process will work, and we will aim to do that.

The noble Baroness Coffey talked about the environmental principles policy statement, and I can confirm that the Bill must have regard to that statement, in line with the Environment Act 2021. With all those comments, I hope that noble Lords will not press their amendments.

[Lord Lansley (Con)]

My Lords, I wonder if I might just ask the Minister, after her helpful and interesting points, about the back-up conservation measures that are included in the EDP but are not expected to be needed. That being the case, can we have conversations about the calculation of the cost of the EDP, the amount of the levy, how the levy and the liabilities for the levy are to be determined and when they are to be paid? Can we talk about how that applies to back-up conservation measures? Clearly, developers do not want to be in a position of paying them, or expecting that they have to, then finding that they do not have to pay them.

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I understand the point that the noble Lord is making. When a developer opts for an EDP, there will be a clear statement of the costs. But I think it would be useful to have a conversation between now and Report, so I am very happy to do that.

[The Earl of Caithness (Con)]

My Lords, I am grateful for the full reply that the noble Baroness has given. Can I ask her just to lift the lid a little bit on the timing of the public consultation? How long a time are the Government thinking of between the Secretary of State receiving an EDP and confirming or denying the EDP? How long is that public consultation going to be?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

As the noble Earl will be aware, there are standard timings for government consultations, so we would employ those principles as set out in the government regulations for all consultations. If the noble Earl is not familiar with those, I can certainly send him the details.

[Baroness Grender (LD)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baronesses for their responses on this. I thank them also for continuing to have an open door. I think that the whole Committee is conveying a huge ambition to work with the Government to get this over the line. I still have concerns that “material improvement” will be interpreted by some as a low common denominator, but we will go away, study the letter received this morning and the words used today, and I hope continue to meet between now and Report. I think that what a lot of Members who have spoken just now are trying to get towards is practical measures that can provide a level of specificity so there is clarity, so that examples that I raised in my opening speech—of much-promised and not-delivered measures—do not occur again. That is what we are striving to achieve here. With that, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.

Environment and Climate Change Committee Report: An Extraordinary Challenge: Restoring 30 per cent of our Land and Sea by 2030

Baroness Taylor of Stevenage Excerpts

Wednesday 11th September 2024 Grand Committee

[Baroness Rock (Con)]

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Jones. I declare my interests, as set out in the register, as a trustee of the Royal Countryside Fund and a director of a tenanted farming business. I was chair of the Rock review, commissioned by the Government, which made recommendations to deliver a more resilient agricultural tenanted sector in three main areas: first, to deliver sustainable food production; secondly, to meet the challenges of climate change; and thirdly, to deliver the improvement and enhancement of biodiversity.

I am also a non-executive director at Defra. However, I am deeply disappointed and, frankly, bewildered that the Secretary of State has decided to terminate my role at the end of this month, despite my only having been appointed four months ago and despite my willingness to continue to serve. In opposition, Labour was a vocal advocate of the tenant farmers and of the Rock review. It sends a worrying message to our vital tenant-farming community that my sector expertise is not recognised by Steve Reed and his ministerial team as being a useful asset. However, I remain resolute in my absolute commitment to our tenant farmers, and I promise to continue to champion them and ensure that they have a fair deal from this Government.

I commend the noble Baroness, Lady Parminter, and her esteemed committee members on this excellent inquiry into the very ambitious target to protect 30% of land and sea, halt nature decline and protect and improve biodiversity by 2030. I am pleased that the new Government support the commitment that they inherited from their predecessor.

Today, as my noble friend Lord Caithness has mentioned, is Back British Farming Day. In recognition of this important day, I shall focus my remarks on what the report means for our agricultural sector and how our farmers can contribute to the 30 by 30 ambition while ensuring that our nation’s food security, as recognised by this Government, remains a priority.

So what role is there for farming? The government response to the report has rightly recognised the need to work in partnership with farmers as custodians of the countryside, in order to ensure that we balance farming and food production with nature recovery. The response also welcomed the committee’s recognition of the role of the environmental land management schemes to contribute towards 30 by 30, where that works effectively for farmers and farm businesses. However, only parts of some of those schemes will count towards the target, and exactly which schemes has yet to be determined. Furthermore, the committee reported that it had received considerable evidence regarding the challenges of accessing environmental land management schemes in protected areas.

The committee mentions the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme, which delivers improvements for nature in line with local priorities. However, that funding comes to an end in March 2025. Are this Government planning on extending the programme?

We must make sure that tenanted farms are included in achieving long-term nature conservation. That means we need longer tenancy agreements, as recommended in the Rock review. That is important, because length of tenure will allow a tenant farmer to make a more meaningful and effective environmental contribution. It was therefore extremely disappointing to note that tenant farmers are not mentioned at all in the report. That is a glaring omission, given their importance in managing, wholly or partly, 64% of total farmable land in England, including protected sites. Many of their landlords are institutions such as the National Trust, the Crown Estate, the Duchy of Cornwall and, as the right reverend Prelate mentioned, the Church Commissioners. I am extremely grateful to him for bringing up the importance of the Church Commissioners’ tenant farmers, many of whom I have met.

Most landowners have clear environmental goals, but those will not be delivered without those vital tenant farmers who actually manage the land. I therefore ask the Minister to confirm the Prime Minister’s commitment to quickly implement a fair deal for tenant farmers, building on the work of the Rock review.

This Government have announced a new deal for farmers that will include optimising environmental land management schemes to produce the right outcome for all farmers, particularly small, grassland, upland and tenanted farms, while delivering food security and nature recovery in a just and equitable way. They have also announced a rapid review of the environmental improvement plan to be completed by the end of this year. That is to be commended, but I want to inject a note of caution. The National Audit Office expresses concern that the removal of the basic payment and the introduction of the sustainable farming incentive, which is part of ELMS, could see 40% of farms close unless they are able to implement productivity improvements—40% of farmers who could lose their livelihoods. There is concern that 30 by 30 could become yet another danger to farming, alongside all the other targets for housebuilding, tree planting, energy production, accessible nature areas and other infrastructure.

I confine my final remarks to solar energy. The Tenant Farmers Association has told me that it is seeing an increasing number of proposals coming forward for solar farms, many of which are impacting tenanted farmland. Some of these are small-scale and others will be considered as nationally significant infrastructure projects and will end up on the desk of the Secretary of State for final decision. As part of the planning process on land which is subject to an agricultural tenancy, consideration must be given to the impact of the development on the personal circumstances of the tenant farmer where they are not party to the development. Where it is considered that the negative impact will be significant and the tenant farmer’s livelihood is at risk, there would be sufficient evidence to turn down an application for development.

However, a recent decision of the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero has been a cause of concern. His decision to give consent to a 2,500-acre solar farm being developed on the Cambridgeshire-Suffolk border has sent shock waves through the local community and further afield. The fact that he made his decision against the advice of the Planning Inspectorate is doubly concerning. Contrast that with a more recent decision, albeit on a smaller scale, by Broadland District Council in South Norfolk, which rejected an application for a solar farm on 90 acres of land in part because of the impact on the tenant farmer, who would have lost a significant area of their farming land.

In defence of his decision, the Secretary of State said that he had to make

“tough decisions with ambition and urgency”

as part of a plan to make

“the UK a clean energy superpower”.

However, surely the concerns of local communities and the impact on the viability of a tenant farmer’s business are also relevant when looking at what projects should be considered for approval. What safeguards do tenant farmers have if the Secretary of State simply decides to override those considerations? Yes, a tenant farmer could bring a judicial review against the Secretary of State, but I confess that I have not met a single tenant farmer with deep enough pockets to do that.

Here, it is critical that we go back to the commitment made by the Prime Minister, when he was leader of the Opposition, when he addressed the NFU conference in February 2023:

“Tenant farmers need a fair deal. They need to know their futures are secure ... I want to see more solar farms across the countryside … But we can’t do it by taking advantage of tenant farmers, farmers producing good British food on carefully maintained, fertile land. They can’t plan properly if the soil beneath their feet isn’t secure. It’s a huge barrier to planning sustainable food production, so we’ve got to give them a fair deal, and we’ve got to use our land well”.


The drive towards net zero cannot be the only consideration when deliberating over solar farms. Food security, local community impact, landscape impact, heritage impact and the impact on tenant farmers, who of course do not own the land they farm, all have to be taken into consideration.

Let me put it as simply as I possibly can. Tenant farmers are being evicted right now from their best and most versatile farming land by landlords in favour of solar panels. While I am certainly in favour of solar energy as we seek to rapidly decarbonise energy generation, it cannot and must not come at the cost of the livelihoods of tenant farmers.

I conclude by offering a simple solution to the Minister. We could start with ensuring that the case law, which provides the vital protections to tenant farmers, is fully referenced in the redrafted National Planning Policy Framework, which is currently under consultation. I ask that the Minister brings this to the urgent attention of the Secretaries of State for both Defra and DESNZ.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Baroness Taylor of Stevenage) (Lab)]

I just remind noble Lords of the advisory time limit in the debate today.

Peatlands

Baroness Taylor of Stevenage Excerpts

Thursday 22nd February 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Douglas-Miller (Con)]

As I said in answer to the previous question, the Government are committed to this ban, and it will be in place by 2030.

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

My Lords, over the past few years, we have seen a shocking rise in wildfires, many of which destroy peatlands. With the El Niño effect, we are expecting even more this summer. What are the Government doing to prevent wildfires to avoid further destruction of our precious peatlands?