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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what criteria will be used to assess whether Environmental Delivery Plans meets the Overall Improvement Test.

The Overall Improvement Test requires the Secretary of State to consider whether, by the end date of an Environmental Delivery Plan, the positive effect of all the conservation measures set out in the Environmental Delivery Plan will materially outweigh the negative effect on the environmental feature of all the development that it enables.

This is a determination that will be informed by the best available scientific evidence.