The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Baroness Taylor of Stevenage) (Lab)

My Lords, as Members will recall, the Government have been consistently clear in our commitment to get Britain building and to deliver the homes and infrastructure this country needs, but we have been equally clear that this must go hand in hand with improving outcomes for nature. To honour that commitment, we legislated to introduce the nature restoration fund through the Planning and Infrastructure Act. The Government are incredibly grateful to Members of this House, not just for the late nights on the then Planning and Infrastructure Bill but for the very constructive engagement throughout the Bill’s passage which has ensured that the NRF provides a robust framework to support development and secure a lasting legacy of environmental improvement. The Nature Restoration Levy Regulations provide the statutory framework for the operation of the nature restoration levy which sits at the core of the NRF. Before I get into the detail of the regulations, I want to respond to the amendment before us. I want to be clear that the nature restoration levy has not been designed to undermine development viability. On the contrary, the levy is intended to provide developers with a clearer, more certain and more streamlined route to meeting specific environmental obligations. The legislation includes a number of safeguards to ensure that levy rates are set appropriately and are based on the cost of delivering the conservation measures needed to materially outweigh the impacts of development on a protected site or species. Natural England will be required to consult on proposed charging schedules as part of the environmental delivery plan process and levy rates will be carefully considered by the Secretary of State before an EDP is made. Through this approach, we are ensuring that development contributes fairly to environmental improvement while providing the certainty needed to support the delivery of essential homes and infrastructure. As noble Lords will be aware, the purpose of the NRF is simple—to ensure that vital development is delivered while taking more effective action at strategic scale to deliver better outcomes for the environment. This approach will move us away from piecemeal interventions on a site-by-site basis and will secure the delivery of conservation measures that go further than maintaining the status quo to drive genuine environmental improvement. Before we consider this instrument in detail, it is important to note that we are not today debating the fundamental principles that underpin the nature restoration fund. The enabling powers for these regulations are contained in the Planning and Infrastructure Act, which was subject to extensive scrutiny by both Houses and approved by them. Shifting to a strategic approach requires proper planning, which is why the creation of environmental delivery plans sits at the heart of this new approach. EDPs will be developed by Natural England, the Government’s adviser on the natural environment, and will demonstrate how the proposed package of conservation measures delivered by the EDP will materially outweigh one or more impacts of development on a protected site or species. Each EDP will be subject to public consultation, providing an opportunity for stakeholders to scrutinise the evidence presented by Natural England. At the conclusion of that consultation process, the Secretary of State will consider whether the EDP meets the overall improvement test established through the Act before they formally make the EDP. Where an EDP is in place, developers will have the option to pay the nature restoration levy to discharge the relevant environmental obligations that the EDP covers. That brings us to the subject of our discussions today, as the Government have been clear that the action delivered through the EDP will be funded through proportionate contributions from development. This ensures that developers continue to address the environmental impacts of development. The Nature Restoration Levy Regulations set out how the levy mechanism will work in practice. They provide the statutory framework for key elements of the levy’s operation, including how liability to pay the levy may be assumed, imposed or transferred. They also explain how the amount of the levy will be calculated, when the payment will be due and the enforcement mechanisms available to Natural England where obligations are not met. The purpose of the nature restoration levy is to enable the delivery, management, maintenance and monitoring of the conservation measures identified in the relevant EDP. These regulations therefore provide clear safeguards to support the effective delivery of EDPs. They ensure that payments from developers are sufficient to meet the costs of the relevant conservation measures, are properly recovered in a timely manner and are aligned with the commercial realities of development. Levy rates will be set through individual EDP charging schedules which will form part of the EDP consulted on. These charging schedules will be based primarily on the cost of delivering the conservation measures that are needed to materially outweigh development impacts. At times during passage of the Planning and Infrastructure Act, concerns were raised that funds collected through the nature restoration fund might be diverted to pay for other, unrelated priorities. However, I can reassure noble Lords that these regulations ensure that levy funds can be used only for the delivery of conservation measures set out in the relevant EDP and administrative expenses connected with that EDP. Clear reporting requirements around how levy receipts are spent will further enable the NRF to operate transparently and with appropriate scrutiny. While the levy regulations are a key part of the new system, we recognise that users will need proper support to navigate the NRF. Initial guidance has now been published by MHCLG, Defra and Natural England to support the implementation of the first EDPs. This guidance sets out the key steps for NRF users and explains the core operational processes that will underpin the NRF system. The Government will continue to work with stakeholders to identify further areas where guidance might assist in the delivery of the nature restoration fund. I trust that the House will agree that these regulations will support the effective implementation of the NRF and the rollout of EDPs. I beg to move.