Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department’s policy paper entitled Development and Nature Recovery, published on 15 December 2024, whether she plans to (a) amend and (b) repeal the assimilated EU Habitat Regulation Assessment regulations.

The government does not consider it necessary to repeal environmental legislation to take forward the approach set out in the Development and Nature Planning Reform Working Paper to accelerate housing and infrastructure development whilst going beyond offsetting harm to drive forward nature recovery, although targeted changes may be required. As set out in the King’s Speech, we will only act in legislation where we can confirm to Parliament that the steps we are taking will deliver positive environmental outcomes.