One of the strongest messages we have heard throughout this inquiry is that local planning authorities are severely under-resourced in terms of ecological expertise. Addressing this should be a priority, as without rapid and meaningful support, the Government will struggle to meet its house building targets while adhering to environmental standards. The Government must ensure that local planning authorities are adequately resourced in order to hire and train ecologists to execute the range of...

One of the strongest messages we have heard throughout this inquiry is that local planning authorities are severely under-resourced in terms of ecological expertise. Addressing this should be a priority, as without rapid and meaningful support, the Government will struggle to meet its house building targets while adhering to environmental standards. The Government must ensure that local planning authorities are adequately resourced in order to hire and train ecologists to execute the range of recently introduced and proposed environmental planning policies, such as Biodiversity Net Gain. (Conclusion, Paragraph 187) Type: recommendation | Number: 54 | Response status: no_published_response Government response: 100. The Government agrees that ecological expertise is critical within the planning system. We recognise the challenges local planning authorities face with capacity and skills across the board and are taking forward significant action to strengthen skills across the system. 10