Environmental Law Update | June 2025

Environmental Policy and Draft Legislation

Planning and Infrastructure Bill – Impact Statement and Progression through Parliament

Planning and Environment Bill (“the Bill”), which is seen by Government as cornerstone to it’s plan to get Britain building again and deliver economic growth, continues through the House of Commons having just completed the Committee Stage. The revised version of the Bill (as amended in Public Bill Committee) was published on 23 May 2025. The report stage, which is next stage of the parliamentary process, is scheduled to commence on 9 June 2025.

On 6 May 2025, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published Planning and Infrastructure Bill: Impact assessment which provides an assessment of the impact the Bill will have on business and wider society. While currently having limited data available on environmental obligations and being unable to estimate the impacts of the Nature Restoration Fund, Government expects the measures within the Bill to deliver benefits, although this was questioned by many stakeholders in the sector.

On 2 May 2025, the Office for Environmental Protection provided its advice in respect of the Bill. The OEP welcomes a strategic approach to meeting environmental obligations, but expressed concerned that the Bill as currently drafted could lead to a regression in environmental law. The OEP provided specific advice on the amendments which would need to be made to the Bill to avoid regression. A progress update written by Sam Kharabanda Groom Associate Planning & Environmental, including links to amendments to the Bill, can be found here.

The post-committee version of the Bill adds provisions in respect of: the content of environmental development plans (“EDPs”), EDPs must now state how conservation measures are to be maintained; new powers of entry to survey or investigate land; compulsory purchase powers for the Secretary of State; transfer schemes in connection with the designation of powers held by Natural England; and the application of Part 3 to the Crown and Crown Land. The committee amendments do not address the OEP’s advice and we will see if these are picked up as the Bill moves into “ping pong” with the Lords.

Further discussion of the Bill can be found in a recent article written by Richard Broadbent, Director in Freeths’ Environmental Law team here.

Consultation: Improving the implementation of Biodiversity Net Gain for minor, medium and brownfield development

Government intends, through this consultation, to inform potential changes to the BNG regulations, small sites metric (SSM) and guidance, and to improve implementation of BNG for minor, medium and brownfield developments.

On 28 May 2025, Government announced:

• Faster decisions for small sites: Minor developments of up to nine homes will benefit from streamlined planning and eased Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements, with faster decisions being taken by expert planning officers, not planning committees;
• A new ‘medium site’ category: Sites between ten to 49 homes will face simpler rules and fewer costs – including a proposed exemption from the Building Safety Levy and simplified BNG rules, making it easier to deliver biodiverse habitats on these sites, delivering a win-win for nature and development;
• More land and financing options for SMEs: Homes England will release more of its land exclusively to SMEs, and a new National Housing Delivery Fund to be confirmed at the spending review will support long-term finance options, such as revolving credit facilities and lending alliances.
• A new pilot to unlock small sites for SMEs: the Small Sites Aggregator pilot in Bristol, Sheffield and the London Borough of Lewisham will unlock sites that would otherwise not have been developed, while attracting private investment to build new social rent homes. Building on a model developed by Lloyds Banking Group’s Social Housing Initiative, the Small Sites Aggregator will be trialled this year with input from Bristol, Sheffield and the London Borough of Lewisham, which will help tackle the housing shortage, address unviable small plots of land, and create local jobs supporting the government’s Plan for Change.

The consultation can be found here and closes on 24 July 2025.

Consultation: Biodiversity net gain for nationally significant infrastructure projects

On 28 May, Government published a consultation on biodiversity net gain for nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPS). Government has committed to fast-track 150 planning decisions for NSIPs by the end of this Parliament.

This consultation states that Government proposes to introduce BNG for NSIPs in May 2026, an extension of six months on previous timescales. Government intends for the BNG requirement to apply to NSIP applications that are made after the go-live date in May 2026. A ‘core’ approach to BNG is proposed, to maintain consistency across sectors and reduce complexity where possible. Government is seeking views on proposed model text for a core biodiversity gain statement. This statement will relate to the following areas:

• Biodiversity gain objective
• Irreplaceable habitat
• Calculating BNG
• Pre-development biodiversity value
• Delivering BNG
• Considerations for the delivery of biodiversity gains
• Evidence for submission and decision making

Government is also seeking further evidence from stakeholders on the cost impact of BNG on NSIPs and views on how to ensure that BNG is implemented effectively for NSIPs.

The consultation document also confirms that projects, or components of projects, in the marine environment beyond the intertidal zone are not included within the scope of the mandatory requirements for BNG for Town and Country Planning Act 1990 or NSIP schemes.

The consultation can be found here and closes on 24 July 2025.

There have been concerned responses from the environmental sector to these announcements, see here for more details.

Government responds to the OEP’s review of the implementation of the “duty to have due regard to the Environmental Principles Policy Statement”

Following the Office for Environmental Protection’s (“OEP”) publication of 8 recommendations aimed at improving the duty to have due regard to the Environmental Principles Policy Statement (“EPPS”) on 27 February 2025, Defra have issued the government’s formal response. 

While Defra have agreed in principle with the OEP’s recommendations it has, in most cases, committed only to considering making the changes proposed. 

Of particular interest to environmental stakeholders is that Defra’s commitment to “ensuring transparency on the environmental implications of policies”, despite Defra confirming that there is no requirement for information regarding the application of the EPPS policies to be published.

The Government’s own review of the implementation of the EPPS is due to be completed by November 2025.

Dame Glenys Stacey Announces Departure as OEP Chair

On 12 May 2025, the OEP confirmed that its current Chair, Dame Glenys Stacey will not seek reappointment as the Chair upon the conclusion of her term in January 2026. The OEP statement can be found here.

Marine Environment

OEP response to the Marine Recovery Fund consultation

The OEP has published its response to Defra’s consultation on the proposed establishment of the Marine Recovery Fund (“MRF”), which closed on 12 May 2025. 

While the OEP expressed support for “the proposed inclusion of such strategic compensatory measures in principle”, it raised several key concerns including:

• The potential for damage to SACs or SPAs to be compensated for via the designation of Marine Conservation Zones (“MCZs”), which offer a lower level of protection.
• The legal challenges associated with the proposal to designate new European marine sites, particularly SPAs, as compensation for damage to existing sites.
• The issues related to the time lag in achieving conservation benefits when new sites are designated as compensatory measures.

The OEP also highlighted perceived implementation challenges for the MRF, particularly:

• The need for clear adaptive management measures to ensure that conservation objectives are effectively met at designated sites.
• The issue of “cross-boundary effects”, especially due to the potential for a separate Scottish MRF to be implemented
• Whether SNCBs have sufficient capacity and in-house expertise to provide effective consultation where required.

A copy of the OEP’s response is available here.

Chemicals

Long awaited chemical strategy shelved

In 2018, the 25 Year Environment Plan committed to publish a new UK Chemicals Strategy. This was reiterated in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023, which committed to publishing a new Chemicals Strategy in 2023 to set out the government’s priorities for addressing risks from chemicals, how the UK will use regulation, and how the government can encourage a move to more sustainable use of chemicals.

The Chemicals Strategy has been repeatedly postponed since 2022. 

The progress report published by the OEP in January 2025 stated, “The lack of a UK Chemicals Strategy makes it difficult for delivery partners and stakeholders to understand their roles and enable effective delivery.” And made the following recommendation, “Defra, working with the members of the UK Chemicals Governance Group, should publish a UK Chemicals Strategy setting out how the UK will develop and implement a coherent and credible UK policy and regulatory framework for chemicals and pesticides. This should balance the need to take a precautionary approach with the flexibility to advance policy alongside scientific innovation and take regulatory action quickly when tackling chemical risks to the UK environment.”

On 21 May a DEFRA deputy director confirmed the government is not actively working on a chemical strategy, and that a future direction of travel on chemicals will be found in the new Environmental Improvement Plan.

Sustainability

UK and EU to link ETS

On 19 May the UK and the EU announced an agreement to link emissions trading systems (ETS) which will allow a mutual exemption from the EU and UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms (CBAMs).  The UK government estimates that aligning with the EU CBAM could save UK exporters around £800 million by 2030.

For background on the UK and EU CBAM please read our recent articles here and here and sign up to our upcoming webinar with CarbonChain here).

Public Access and Rights of Way

Significant Supreme Court decision on wild camping on Dartmoor

The Supreme Court handed down its judgment the case of Darwall and another v Dartmoor National Park Authority [2025] UKSC 20.

The appeal addressed the scope of the public's right to access Dartmoor under section 10(1) of the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 ("the 1985 Act"). The Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the appeal, concluding that the language of section 10(1) of the 1985 Act clearly provides a right of public access that includes wild camping.

This case was eagerly awaited and closely watched by members of the outdoor community, rights of access campaigners, and interested landowners. While the judgment is specific to the interpretation of the 1985 Act, it is likely to spark renewed discussion in respect of access for open-air recreation across England and Wales. Currently there are rights to roam over only 8% of England. 

A link to the judgment can be found here.

Freeths Director, Richard Broadbent, commented on the case in this BBC News article here.