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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what mechanisms exist for (a) developers and (b) local planning authorities to appeal the (i) availability and (ii) cost of mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain credits in cases where viable alternatives are limited.

Statutory credits are a last resort way of achieving biodiversity net gain (BNG). They are different from biodiversity units, which are sold in the offsite market. If developers buy statutory credits, this is because it is not possible to restore habitats on-site or units are not available for purchase in the offsite market.

Statutory Biodiversity Credits are sold by Defra to ensure developers can meet their BNG obligation in the few instances where suitable units are not available from the market. Defra can review and amend credit prices. Low volumes of Statutory Biodiversity Credits sales suggest that the private market for units is functioning as intended with good availability of a range of habitat types across England.

Biodiversity Units differ in their availability and pricing. Defra is monitoring the availability and pricing of BNG units.

Defra’s consultation on BNG regulations and implementation in January 2022 sought views on the impact of implementing BNG on small and medium-sized developers. Results from the consultation suggested that these developers should remain in scope of the BNG policy but with a simplified process.

The department is currently holding a consultation seeking views on improving the implementation of biodiversity net gain for minor, medium and brownfield development.