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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether environmental delivery plans will apply to all protected species within the designated area.

The scale and coverage of an Environmental Delivery Plan (EDPs) will reflect the nature of the specific environmental impact being addressed.

EDPs will only be put in place where Natural England and the Secretary of State are confident that conservation measures will be sufficient to outweigh the negative effects of development. Where this is not the case, existing environmental obligations, including those arising under the Habitats Regulations, will remain in place.

Where a protected species is not suitable for this more strategic approach, Natural England will not propose an EDP.