Construction suppliers of all types, from manufacturers to designers and contractors, have for years complained about the problem of informing local authorities about the latest technological and cost saving developments. Engineering capabilities have been hollowed out to an extent unimaginable twenty years ago, so there is often nobody available to tell about the latest more efficient and cheaper products and techniques. Adoption of new technologies suffers, with knock on effects on cost and efficiency, including efficiencies that might, for example, reduce carbon emissions or benefit biodiversity.
This hollowing out and other cuts to local authority funding comes home to roost in many ways, one of which has been highlighted in a report from the government’s own spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO) which says that lack of resources available to local authorities may hinder implementation of the UK’s Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) plans.
The UK was the first country to make achieving BNG a legal requirement, which came into force in February 2024 for large schemes (of over 1,000m² if residential) and for smaller schemes since April this year. The legislation requires local authorities to take a lead on implanting the rules, but there is doubt that they can, the NAO report says.
The policy was announced to much fanfare as being designed to deliver government commitments to halt species decline by 2030. It was always recognised that it could place heavy strain on local planning authorities made responsible for ensuring that developers followed the rules, as the NAO highlights. But nothing has been done to place appropriate resources in local authority hands. Councils are short of money and skills.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) launched its policy before having all the elements in place needed to ensure statutory BNG is a success in the long term, says the NAO, confirming what has been obvious to many since the plans were first announced. Defra however said that it was confident that the arrangements in place at launch were sufficient. The NAO begs to differ, and says DEFRA “has a long way to go before it can be confident that damage to biodiversity through development will not be understated and that the benefits of biodiversity enhancements will actually be delivered”.
Local authorities will not be able to ensure compliance and enforcement. The NAO also doubts whether Defra will have sufficiently granular monitoring data to assess policy performance. Without these, warns the NAO, Defra will not know if statutory BNG policy is delivering biodiversity outcomes and value for money for taxpayers.
For the construction industry a big question mark about how BNG will work concerns what it will mean when it is extended to Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects which are so far exempt from BNG requirements. No firm date is available for when legislation will be extended to them. With a General Election looming nothing will happen in the very short term, and a new government might have different views on what to do next.
The uncertainty over exactly what embedding biodiversity into design will mean, and what it will cost is, according to people involved in early design and funding process for projects, having an impact on confidence. Without adequate resources available to councils BNG, along with many other worthwhile and even essential initiatives, will come to nothing.
Nick Barrett
Editor