Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will review the proportionality of biodiversity net gain survey requirements for small urban sites, in cases where (a) survey and (b) finance costs exceeded £30,000 for a compliance fee of under £500.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The recent consultation looked at a range of options to make it quicker, cheaper and easier for these businesses to deliver their BNG obligations, including small urban sites.
The recent consultation also looked at options for increasing flexibility for small developers to purchase off-site units, when BNG is not possible or viable to achieve on-site. Natural England maintains a national register of all off-site BNG land which continues to grow, increasing options and reducing costs for developers.
A Government response to the consultation will be published in due course.
We are also on improving the operation of BNG for local planning authorities and SME housebuilders. We will continue to keep the wider local authority biodiversity administration and ecological requirements on SME housebuilders through the planning system under review.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will review the potential impact of variation in (a) local authority biodiversity administration and (b) ecological requirements on the ability of SME housebuilders to (i) forecast costs and (ii) deliver housing.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The recent consultation looked at a range of options to make it quicker, cheaper and easier for these businesses to deliver their BNG obligations, including small urban sites.
The recent consultation also looked at options for increasing flexibility for small developers to purchase off-site units, when BNG is not possible or viable to achieve on-site. Natural England maintains a national register of all off-site BNG land which continues to grow, increasing options and reducing costs for developers.
A Government response to the consultation will be published in due course.
We are also on improving the operation of BNG for local planning authorities and SME housebuilders. We will continue to keep the wider local authority biodiversity administration and ecological requirements on SME housebuilders through the planning system under review.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of biodiversity net gain requirements on the viability of small urban housing sites developed by SME housebuilders; and if he will review the (a) availability and (b) cost of biodiversity unit credits for such schemes.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The recent consultation looked at a range of options to make it quicker, cheaper and easier for these businesses to deliver their BNG obligations, including small urban sites.
The recent consultation also looked at options for increasing flexibility for small developers to purchase off-site units, when BNG is not possible or viable to achieve on-site. Natural England maintains a national register of all off-site BNG land which continues to grow, increasing options and reducing costs for developers.
A Government response to the consultation will be published in due course.
We are also on improving the operation of BNG for local planning authorities and SME housebuilders. We will continue to keep the wider local authority biodiversity administration and ecological requirements on SME housebuilders through the planning system under review.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the availability of suitable off-site land for delivering biodiversity net gain in the vicinity of small urban sites.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The recent consultation looked at a range of options to make it quicker, cheaper and easier for these businesses to deliver their BNG obligations, including small urban sites.
The recent consultation also looked at options for increasing flexibility for small developers to purchase off-site units, when BNG is not possible or viable to achieve on-site. Natural England maintains a national register of all off-site BNG land which continues to grow, increasing options and reducing costs for developers.
A Government response to the consultation will be published in due course.
We are also on improving the operation of BNG for local planning authorities and SME housebuilders. We will continue to keep the wider local authority biodiversity administration and ecological requirements on SME housebuilders through the planning system under review.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of excluding used battery electric vehicles from eligibility for the new Electric Car Grant on (a) market uptake, (b) affordability and (c) value for money.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Electric Car Grant (ECG) is designed to cut costs for drivers who want to switch to a new electric car, as well as supporting environmentally sustainable manufacturing processes. The Government expects that the ECG will have some benefit in the used market due to a higher supply of affordable vehicles in future years, and the grant’s requirement for an 8-year or 100,000-mile warranty for the vehicle’s battery. We continue to work with industry to support a sustainable second-hand zero emission vehicle market.