Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 25
25
Not Addressed
Publish site-specific evidence of environmental improvements when mitigation hierarchy has not been applied.
Recommendation
Whilst accepting the Minister and NE’s assurance that the MH has remained in place, and would only be set aside where doing so would demonstrably benefit nature, we urge the Government and NE to publish site-specific evidence of the environmental improvements in all occasions where the MH has not been applied. This transparency is necessary to build confidence that nature a) has not been depleted and b) that it is benefitting from this alternative approach. (Recommendation, Paragraph 98)
Government response summary AI-generated
The government's response discusses its commitment to net zero, the challenge of embodied carbon, and the assessment of evidence for reducing emissions, but does not address the recommendation to publish site-specific evidence of environmental improvements where the Mitigation Hierarchy has not been applied.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government · verbatim extract
Not Addressed
45. The principles that underpin the mitigation hierarchy will continue to be applied through the NRF. However, the nature of a strategic level approach means that it is not appropriate to directly apply the mitigation hierarchy when considering which conservation measures to include in an EDP, since it is not possible to directly map the mitigation hierarchy onto different types of conservation measures. As Government amendments made clear, the Secretary of State will bring forward regulations setting out the approach Natural England should take towards prioritising different types of conservation measure. 46. For environmental effects not addressed through an EDP, the mitigation hierarchy will continue to be applicable to individual decision making, for example through the NPPF. 47. As set out in earlier responses, the Act contains a thorough suite of monitoring and requirements that apply to all EDPs. These mechanisms will provide transparency and build trust that EDPs and the conservation measures they contain are performing as intended, with fallback measures being deployed and amendment/revocation considered in any cases of under-performance. These measures will apply irrespective of the approach Natural England adopts towards prioritising different types of conservation measure.
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