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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on amending the planning regulations to help (a) safeguard biodiversity and (b) enable population growth in areas where species have declined.

My department has worked closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on measures to transform the planning system in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill and we continue discussions on how best to implement those changes. Government has made it clear that it wants the reformed planning system to support the implementation of Local Nature Recovery Strategies and Biodiversity Net Gain to capitalise on their potential and ensure the new planning system can play a proactive role in promoting environmental recovery. We are currently drafting the regulations that will be needed to implement biodiversity net gain through the planning system, which will mean that new developments must improve habitats for wildlife.