BIO0061

Written evidence submitted by Balfour Beatty

Introduction

Before COVID-19 struck in early 2020, the Government committed to invest £100bn in public
infrastructure over the next five years on projects including road and rail transport, social
housing, energy, flood defence and communications infrastructure. Further schemes are
being announced as part of efforts to stimulate the economy and to kickstart growth in the
wake of the pandemic. However, while these projects aim to boost the UK’s economy, they
bring with them environmental challenges, especially with regard the natural environment
and biodiversity. A new approach is needed to resolve those challenges that delivers the
infrastructure the UK needs and enhances the natural environment for the long term. Balfour
Beatty believes that the principle of delivering a Net Gain for biodiversity is that new
approach.

Balfour Beatty believes it is incumbent on Government, local authorities, industry and NGOs
to work together to plan, design, construct, and maintain infrastructure in a way that
enhances the natural environment. Protecting and enhancing spaces around and on sites can
help gain buy-in of local stakeholders, from local authorities, public and conservation groups,
as well as bringing benefits to the eventual users.

It is essential that Biodiversity Net Gain is designed and implemented in ways that, as a
minimum, safeguard people’s wellbeing but, where possible, enhance it. Balfour Beatty is
leading the way on this connection between Biodiversity Net Gain and wellbeing, for example,
collaborating with leading academics to publish new international principles on Biodiversity
Net Gain / No Net Loss for biodiversity and people1.

Key points

 Contractors need to be involved early on when infrastructure is commissioned - in the

planning phase. The later we are brought in, the less of a positive impact the scheme
will be able to have on biodiversity and the more it will cost.

 Customers, those commissioning the schemes, are the key element in the process.
They hold the purse strings and make the decisions. Balfour Beatty has significant
knowledge and expertise which we use to advise and then deliver, but we do not
unilaterally decide what to do and where. It is for Government to ensure that
Biodiversity Net Gain is appropriately prioritised in large scale infrastructure schemes
and we support their efforts to do so.

 The construction and infrastructure industry needs a level playing field so that Balfour
Beatty and other leaders in this area are not the outliers in recommending approaches
which enhance biodiversity. Everyone should have to do it and there should be a
consistent, measurable, ambitious approach in order to shift the dial on delivering
health and thriving biodiversity.

1 https://www.iucn.org/sites/dev/files/content/documents/ensuring_no_net_loss_-_bull_et_al_2018.pdf
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 Biodiversity Net Gain is a fundamental cultural shift whereby development becomes a

catalyst for a healthy, thriving environment. To achieve that, we must think about it
from the beginning. Biodiversity should not be an afterthought.

Responses to the inquiry’s questions

1. How can the biodiversity net gain policy be best realised?

In our view, the best ways to realise the Government’s Biodiversity Net Gain policy are:

 Each project should begin with a Biodiversity Net Gain feasibility assessment,
undertaken by the designer with Contractor input. This should tap in to local
stakeholder knowledge and expertise.

 This feasibility assessment sets out the project’s Biodiversity Net Gain commitment to
deliver. It also sets out how the project’s Biodiversity Net Gain will make a wider
contribution towards local and regional biodiversity and wellbeing strategies.

 The Local Planning Authority should set out Biodiversity Net Gain within local plans,
targeting locations where Biodiversity Net Gain activities will generate the greatest
benefits for the environment and for people.

For the construction and infrastructure industry to play its part in Biodiversity Net Gain,
enlightened customers involving contractors early specifically on planning Biodiversity Net
Gain is critical. By the time a project reaches the construction phase and contractors are
brought in, most of the decisions about a project have already been made. At this stage it is
difficult to introduce plans and measures which look at Biodiversity Net Gain, as changes
introduced once the design has been agreed are expensive and can involve going back to the
drawing board on key elements of the scheme. It is a similar situation on the related issue of
reducing the carbon footprint of new schemes during both construction and the operational
phases of schemes. These critical, interlinked points must be considered from the start with
contractors being involved during the early stages of a project so that customers benefit from
the industry’s expertise, especially on what is feasible to build and where, in order to enable
Biodiversity Net Gain to occur. Early planning and involvement of contractors from the outset
allows for Biodiversity Net Gain measures to be integrated into the design, programme and
budget of schemes, reducing the cost and ultimately generating long-term benefits for nature
and society.

As an example, one of Balfour Beatty’s customers, Scape Group, supported by Balfour Beatty,
has committed to a ‘Biodiversity Net Gain Options’ report for every project. Balfour Beatty’s
internal ecologists develop the report, taking a detailed look at the specific location and a
wide range of external factors which could help maximise any biodiversity net gain delivered.
The final report highlights the potential benefits that could be delivered and what needs to
happen to make that a reality, and is bespoke to the area, the size of the scheme and the
needs of the local community. The report is then shared with the customer who then makes
the decision whether to accept the recommendations. In our experience, the existence of the
report and being able to see the potential benefits, teamed with a discussion with our experts
dramatically increases the likelihood that they will be accepted.
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2. What support or resources are required to realise this policy?

We assume that the Environment Bill will be enacted and introduce a mandatory requirement
to achieve Biodiversity Net Gain for development in England subject to planning permission. If
that is the case:

1. Capabilities and resources must be made available within Local Planning Authorities.
This would include, for example, Local Planning Authority Ecologists, training and
support for Local Planning Authority planners.
2. Consistency will be needed in:
a) Developer requirements on Biodiversity Net Gain from local planning authorities;
and
b) the development of simple, consistent, robust resources including Biodiversity Net
Gain report templates and Biodiversity Net Gain management and monitoring
plan templates.
3. An effective, efficient and transparent market for developers to purchase biodiversity
units (UK and regional Biodiversity Net Gain unit trading), as a last resort.
4. An agreed protocol for monitoring for both on-site and off-site Biodiversity Net Gain.
5. A significant level of up-skilling for ecological consultant professionals to transition
from mitigating environmental damage to enhancing nature for the long term.
6. Building capabilities and resources to integrate wellbeing impact assessment into the
design and implementation of Biodiversity Net Gain [learning from the Well-being of
Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015].
7. Policy integration of Social Value, Wellbeing and Biodiversity Net Gain Polices.
8. A consistent measurement for the Social Value of Biodiversity Net Gain [e.g. for every
£1 invested in BNG = £XX social value added].

3. Are there any problems in realising this goal?

Realising this goal requires a cultural shift away from a focus only on mitigating environmental
damage to looking at ways for development to become a catalyst for a healthy and thriving
environment. Cultural change takes time and requires genuine commitment and a concerted
effort to achieve. Realising the goal will also require the creation of trust and real
collaboration between all value chain partners and stakeholders.

One area which may prove to be a blocker is the lack of the necessary funding available to
establish a national-level evidence base for Biodiversity Net Gain, including case studies and
lessons learnt on what works and does not work, therefore illustrating where real tangible
value can be delivered.

4. Would you welcome increasing the biodiversity net gain percentage from 10%?

Yes. For larger schemes it could be increased possibly up to 20%, in recognition that these
schemes often have the greatest impact. Work we have undertaken for a formal study (yet to
be published) showed that the costs for larger schemes of doing so were a minimal increase
for schemes of this size.
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5. Would you support extending the biodiversity net gain requirement to all public
infrastructure projects?

We certainly believe that it would be helpful to do so for large scale infrastructure in order to
give developers certainty and to provide a level playing field. On larger schemes, the cost this
adds is marginal, while the benefit achieved can be significant.

Providing certainty is a key point. There is significant uncertainty in the market at the moment
and a lot of difference between what different publicly funded commissioning authorities
specify and require. Our view is that the Government should set a firm date by which it will
begin to assign Net Gain targets to infrastructure development, ensuring it is properly
planned, designed, budgeted and implemented.

6. What plans and scoping have you done to prepare yourselves for the policy’s
introduction?

Balfour Beatty is investing in and expanding its internal Biodiversity and Ecological expertise,
including technical experts, as well as competencies at all levels. We are also integrating
Biodiversity Net Gain project reporting into our wider internal sustainability reporting
requirements across the business and are proactively engaging our clients to support their
preparations.

About Balfour Beatty

Balfour Beatty (balfourbeatty.com) is a leading international infrastructure group. With

26,000 employees – 14,000 in the UK - we provide innovative and efficient infrastructure
that underpins our daily lives, supports communities and enables economic growth. We
finance, develop, build and maintain complex infrastructure such as transportation, power
and utility systems, social and commercial buildings.

Our main geographies are the UK, US and Hong Kong. Over the last 110 years we have created
iconic buildings and infrastructure all over the world including the London Olympics’ Aquatic
Centre, Hong Kong’s first Zero Carbon building, the National Museum of the Marine Corps in
the US and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.

Balfour Beatty is the lead contributing author on the UK's first Good Practice Principles on
Biodiversity Net Gain2.We have designed an infographic which outlines, in simplified form,
Balfour Beatty’s approach to Biodiversity Net Gain scoring3.

November 2020

2 https://cieem.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Biodiversity-Net-Gain-Principles.pdf
3 https://www.balfourbeatty.com/media/316898/biodiversity-net-gain-scoring.pdf