Bats

House of Lords written question – answered at on 27 February 2013.

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Photo of Lord Marlesford Lord Marlesford Conservative

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost of complying with legislation for the protection of bats; and whether they will arrange for Natural England to issue guidance to ensure that measures required under the legislation are reasonable, appropriate and directly proportionate to the scale of the potential impact.

Photo of Lord de Mauley Lord de Mauley The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The costs of compliance with the requirements of the habitats directive vary on a case by case basis and such costs are not collected centrally.

Natural England advocates that a proportionate approach to mitigation should be taken and has produced guidance confirming this. I have placed a copy of the guidance in the House Library. It is also available online at: www.naturalengland.org.uk/images/over-mitigation_tcm6-10879.pdf.

In 2012 the Government undertook a review of the implementation of the habitats and wild birds directives. Part of this work looked at whether the effectiveness of mitigation measures for species licences is appropriate or takes an excessively or insufficiently precautionary approach. The review identified that there was scope to improve our implementation of the habitats directive, and we are currently developing a range of measures to address this so that local approaches to protecting European species do not unnecessarily block development or add to its costs. Current guidance is also being reviewed.

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