Recommendation 27

HM Government · verbatim extract Not Addressed

The Government provides significant funding for local authorities to ensure that they have the capacity and capability to deliver key planning functions. This includes around £2.8m provided to the PAS in 2025–26 to deliver tailored training, peer learning and guidance, and around £7m to the ‘Pathways to Planning’ programme which allows councils and statutory consultees to use their educational bursaries to fund an ecology masters degree. We will continue to support local planning authorities to ensure that they have the capacity to deliver Biodiversity Net Gain and the wider environmental responsibilities of the planning system. Local authorities will also be able to retain 100% of the Biodiversity Net Gain credit income that they generate from the sale of BNG units from their own sites as this funding can then be reinvested into capacity within local planning authorities. To further support local authorities we have also updated the guidance for planning fees to include a specific reference for fees relating to Biodiversity Net Gain to ensure that local authorities can recover appropriate costs from developers. To further support their capacity, the Government will keep the funding of local authorities under review and will continue to work closely with local authorities and partners in the sector to explore the funding and capacity needs of the planning system. We are committed to ensuring that local authorities have the necessary skills and resources to deliver BNG as part of our wider reforms to strengthen capacity across the planning system. The Government is clear about the roles and responsibilities of the various parties involved in the delivery of BNG. The statutory consultees such as Natural England and the Environment Agency have a crucial role in providing environmental advice to local planning authorities. Local planning authorities are ultimately responsible for ensuring that development proposals deliver a minimum 10% BNG when planning permission is granted. As part of this, they are responsible for approving biodiversity gain plans and ensuring that the BNG requirement is secured for the lifetime of the development through planning conditions or obligations. Natural England will also play a key role in the delivery of BNG, through the provision of advice to local authorities on the content of the biodiversity metric, local nature recovery strategies and national guidance. Natural England will also be responsible for managing the national biodiversity gain register and the sale of statutory credits as a last resort option for developers. The OEP also has an important role in monitoring and providing advice as to the effectiveness of the BNG policy. Finally, developers are responsible for ensuring that their development proposals deliver a minimum 10% BNG, in line with the mitigation hierarchy, and for providing a biodiversity gain plan for approval by the local planning authority. To help provide further clarity on the roles and responsibilities the Government has recently published a range of guidance documents for local planning authorities, statutory consultees, and developers, which will continue to be updated on an ongoing basis. These documents clearly set out the roles and responsibilities of each of the various parties. The guidance also makes clear that enforcement is primarily the responsibility of the local planning authority. In cases where the local planning authority fail to meet their duties under the Environment Act 2021, the OEP can consider enforcement action against them. The Government is committed to providing sufficient funding to the OEP to support its statutory duty to monitor, advise and enforce the implementation of Biodiversity Net Gain. At the 2025 Budget the Government announced £14 million to set up the NRF and further funding was included in this year’s Budget to support the NRF as part of the wider funding to boost capacity in the planning system. This funding will ensure the OEP has the resources it needs to fulfil its role, including the enforcement of conservation covenants.