Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to require local planning authorities to publish biodiversity net gain data and monitoring outcomes for developments in their area.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Act 2021 established a strengthened biodiversity duty, which requires local planning authorities to publish a biodiversity report at least every 5 years, setting out how they have complied with the duty. As part of this report, local planning authorities are required to include actions they have taken under biodiversity net gain obligations, and information from the biodiversity gain plans they have approved. The first reports must be published by 1 January 2026.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to review the current exemptions from the biodiversity net gain requirement, including the use of the de minimis category.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recently consulted on options to improve the implementation of biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development. This included potential changes to the BNG de minimis exemption. A Government response to the consultation will be published in due course.
Asked by: Alicia Kearns (Conservative - Rutland and Stamford)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of updating the level of remuneration for expert witnesses in family cases.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Between January 2023 and March 2025, the Ministry of Justice undertook a comprehensive review of civil legal aid. This included family legal aid. The evidence from the review indicated that the housing and debt, and immigration and asylum sectors face particularly acute challenges with service provision and high demand.
Following a consultation, we recently announced uplifts to housing and debt, and immigration and asylum legal aid fees, which will inject £20 million into the sector each year once fully implemented.
The Government keeps legal aid policy, including family legal aid and remuneration for expert witnesses, under review.