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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding has been allocated to Solihull Council for the mandatory biodiversity net gain protections for (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25.

The Government issued grants to all local authorities in England in 2021/22 and 2022/23 to help them prepare for mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), which will become a requirement in the planning system in November 2023.

Further funding to help local authorities prepare for mandatory BNG, and implement it once it has become a requirement, will be confirmed in due course.

Solihull Council has provisionally been allocated £15,638 for the period 1 April 2023 - 31 October 2023, but this is subject to confirmation.