Select committee: Environmental Audit Committee
Conclusion 21
6th Report - Environmental sustainability and housing growth
Published 16 Nov 2025
Environmental Audit Committee Environmental sustainability and housing growth All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We accept that the initial impact assessment of the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) was carried out on the basis of nutrient neutrality, due to limitations with broader data availability. However, as the NRF will have considerable implications for a wide range of environmental issues aside from nutrient pollution, a unidimensional impact assessment is not satisfactory. We welcome the reassurances from the Minister for Housing and Planning that the NRF will not reduce the existing protections of habitats and species. However, this does not provide a satisfactory substitute for a full and independent analysis of the impacts the NRF will have if applied to other habitats and species, which have vastly differing characteristics and management techniques. We believe it unwise to impose a policy solution on a problem that has not been fully accounted for. (Conclusion, Paragraph 89)
From: Environmental Audit Committee, 6th Report - Environmental sustainability and housing growth (HC 439), 16 November 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 13 March 2026 (deadline 16 January 2026).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government welcomes the Committee's inquiry and says it will "continue to implement our reforms to maintain environmental protection while accelerating housing growth", responding to each of the 39 recommendations in turn.
- On the presumption in favour of sustainable development, the Government is consulting on changes within the wider NPPF consultation published on 16 December 2025, and says it "will consider the responses received" before finalising a revised Framework.
- On whole-life carbon assessments, the Government "is not currently considering adopting the RICS methodology" as the UK industry standard, but will "keep it under review". It intends to "maintain a voluntary approach" to carbon accounting rather than mandate it.
- On ecological resource hubs, the Government agrees that ecological expertise is critical but does not consider separate hubs "currently necessary", and says it will keep this under review. It also states it has "no plans" for mandatory ecology and carbon training in planning qualifications.
- On taxation, the Government says it "does not plan to review council tax on the basis of embodied carbon". On VAT, it states that the Chancellor is responsible for decisions on tax policy, taken at fiscal events.