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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Government plans to require planning authorities to publish annual reports on how off-site Biodiversity Net Gain contributions by developers have been a) spent, b) their location, and c) ecological result of habitat d) creation or e) restoration.

The Environment Act 2021 established a strengthened biodiversity duty, which requires local planning authorities to publish a biodiversity report at least every five years, setting out how they have complied with the duty. As part of this report, local planning authorities are required to include actions they have taken under biodiversity net gain obligations, and information from the biodiversity gain plans they have approved. The first reporting period must end no later than 1 January 2026 with reports published within 12 weeks.