Environmental regulations and development inquiry: Housing and Natural Environment ministers to give evidence

At 10.45am on Tuesday 11 July 2023, the House of Lords Built Environment Committee will take evidence from:

• Rachel Maclean MP, Minister of State (Housing and Planning), Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
• Trudy Harrison MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Natural Environment and Land Use), Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

The Ministers will be accompanied by two officials: Jenny Preece, Deputy Director, Planning Infrastructure, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Rachel Fisher, Deputy Director for Land Use Policy, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs.

This public evidence session will be held in Committee Room 3 of the House of Lords and streamed live on Parliament TV.

The Government has set out its ambitions to boost development and to protect and improve the environment. The purpose of this session is to question the Government’s timescales for delivering environmental targets, and how it expects housebuilders to respond to new regulations, particularly SMEs. This Committee will seek to understand how these aims are joined up across departments and public bodies and how the Government resolves conflicts.

More about the inquiry on the impact of environmental regulations on development

The Government has set out, through primary and secondary legislation, a number of environmental requirements for development of the built environment. This has resulted in a framework of environmental protection for development in England which is largely administered through the planning system. Examples of such regulations include those on biodiversity net gain, nutrient neutrality, habitats and air quality.

This inquiry will assess the governance, associated costs for developers and promoters, and impact on the delivery of projects, of nationally defined environmental regulations in England.

This inquiry has its own webpage. The committee’s work can be followed on its website and via Twitter.