Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposed fast-track planning for offshore wind on the marine environment.

The Fast Track process will reduce formal consenting times for high quality offshore wind farm development consent order applications from 17-months to 12-months. In the British Energy Security Strategy the Government strengthened the National Policy Statements and implemented a new Offshore Wind Environmental Improvement Package, which introduces strategic compensation, a Marine Recovery Fund and a more strategic approach to Habitats Regulation Assessments. This will allow the UK to accelerate offshore wind deployment needed to meet our 50GW by 2030 ambition, while maintaining protection and improving the natural environment.