Fifth Delegated Legislation Committee

2 septembre 2026

The Chair opens the Committee sitting and the Minister presents the statutory basis, objectives and safeguards of the Nature Restoration Fund and Levy, detailing the shift to Environmental Delivery Plans, levy calculation and ring‑fencing, and the consultation and scrutiny arrangements before formally commending the regulations.

Fifth Delegated Legislation Committee

15:25 - 15:36

Intervenant 1

Order. Order. Draft Nature Restoration Levy Regulations 2026. I call the Minister to move the motion. Minister Pennycook.

15:36 - 17:38

Intervenant 2

Thank you, Sir Alec, pleasure to serve with you in the chair. I beg to move that the Committee has considered the draft Nature Restoration Levy Regulations 2026, which were laid before the House on the 18th of June. Sir Alec, when it comes to development and the environment, this government has been clear that we want to unlock a win-win for the economy and for nature.

To that end, we legislated through the Planning and Infrastructure Act to introduce a Nature Restoration Fund that will unlock and accelerate development while going beyond simply offsetting harm to unlock the positive impact development can have in driving nature recovery. The purpose of the NRF is simple: to end the current sub-optimal approach to discharging environmental obligations, in which developers are required to pay for localized and often costly mitigation measures only to maintain the environmental status quo, and replace it with a more strategic approach that will streamline the delivery of new homes and infrastructure while efficiently delivering improved environmental outcomes by leveraging economies of scale and reducing the need for costly project-level assessments. As honorable members are aware, the core principles and purpose of the NRF were subject to extensive scrutiny by both Houses, and throughout the passage of the Act, relevant clauses were strengthened in a number of important ways to provide further reassurance that the fund will deliver the improved outcomes for nature that are at the core of the model.

While it wouldn't be appropriate here to re-litigate the lengthy debates that took place in Bill Committee, I will take the opportunity to emphasize that strong safeguards are built into the Act to ensure the fund will restore, not harm, nature. These include a binding overall improvement test, monitoring and backup measures, remedial action, and the ability to amend or revoke plans if necessary. Shifting to a strategic approach requires positive planning, which is why the creation of environmental delivery plans sit at the heart of the model. EDPs will be developed by Natural England, the government's advisor in respect of 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. These conservation measures will then be deployed by Natural England where they will have the greatest environmental benefit.

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