Defra has published a suite of guidance to support the (delayed) introduction of biodiversity net gain (BNG) becoming mandatory. They include: The statutory biodiversity metric tool and user guide The tool allows the calculation of biodiversity value for the purpose of BNG for major developments. The user guide has the information needed to use the statutory biodiversity […]
96% of bathing waters in England have met minimum standards, with 90% of bathing waters in England being rated as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’, continuing to show an overall boost in water quality over the last decade, Defra and the Environment Agency (EA) have announced. This compares with just 28% being rated as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ […]
DEFRA’s budget for day-to-day spending will fall from £4.7bn in 2022/23 to £4.2bn in 2024/25 when inflation is taken into account, amounting to a real terms budget cut of £500m, according to analysis by the Liberal Democrats. Campaigners have previously said the budget is already cut to the bone, with huge reductions made during the […]
Fish Legal and Pickering Fishery Association have won a landmark judicial review in the High Court against the Government and the Environment Agency over its river improvement plans. The Court ruled that the Government, and the Environment Agency, had failed in their mandatory legal duties to review, update and put in place measures to restore […]
Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey has quit as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. In a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak this week, she said that “now is the right time to step back from government”. Former insurance company solicitor Steve Barclay is the new Environment Secretary, becoming the fourth postholder […]
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee has published the UK Government’s response to its report, Protecting Marine Mammals in the UK and Abroad. The report, published in June, recommended stronger measures to tackle the problem of bycatch by introducing mandatory bycatch monitoring and called on DEFRA to publish an action plan to achieve […]
On Tuesday, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee questioned the Secretary of State, the Rt Hon Dr Thérèse Coffey MP, and the Department’s Permanent Secretary, Tamara Finkelstein. Highlights: She said that the recent floods caused by Storm Babet were exacerbated by the impacts of rain coming from the opposite direction. She admits the Environment […]
Defra has published draft versions of the biodiversity gain plan template and guidance documents for developers and for local planning authorities. These will aid preparation for the commencement of BNG, which is now due to start from January 2024.