Natural England discretionary advice and when to buy it
Natural England's chargeable advice service earns its fee on bespoke licences, designated sites and Habitats Regulations screening. On conventional schemes the free standing advice does the same job.
Natural England's discretionary advice service is chargeable pre-application advice from the statutory nature conservation body, and it is worth buying on perhaps one scheme in ten. The test is whether the regulator's view will change what you design or what the local planning authority does with the application. On a bat roost in a barn with standard mitigation, it will not. On a bespoke mitigation licence, a European site screening argument or an impact on a Site of Special Scientific Interest, it frequently will.
Knowing which of those you are holding is most of the skill.
What the service provides
Natural England publishes free standing advice for the common protected species cases, and local planning authorities are entitled to rely on it. The discretionary service sits above that: named advisers giving written, site-specific advice, charged at a published hourly rate.
The work it covers in practice falls into a few groups. Advice on survey scope and effort where the species or the habitat is unusual. Comment on proposed mitigation and compensation before it is fixed in a scheme. Pre-submission screening of a European protected species mitigation licence application, so that the licence is not refused after permission. Advice on impacts on designated sites, including Sites of Special Scientific Interest and habitats sites. And advice on Habitats Regulations Assessment matters, including recreational disturbance and nutrient issues, where the authority as competent authority needs to be satisfied.
What it does not do is grant anything. It is advice, not consent, and it does not pre-determine a licence decision.
Where early regulator engagement changes the outcome
Four situations repay the fee.
The first is a bespoke mitigation approach. Where you are departing from the published method for a species, the adviser's view on whether the favourable conservation status test can be met is worth having before the drawings are fixed, not after.
The second is a designated site. If the development sits within a Site of Special Scientific Interest impact risk zone, Natural England will be consulted anyway, and buying an early conversation turns a late objection into a design input.
The third is Habitats Regulations screening on a scheme the authority is nervous about. Competent authorities are cautious here for good reason, and an adviser's written view on the screening logic gives the case officer something to lean on.
The fourth is a complex licensing programme on a constrained site, where the sequence of surveys, licence, vegetation clearance and construction has to be timetabled around seasons. Getting the sequence wrong costs a year.
What to send with a request
Thin requests get thin answers. Assemble the material first:
- a site plan with the red line and the ecological constraints marked
- the Preliminary Ecological Appraisal and any completed species surveys, with dates, methods and effort stated
- the current layout and any drawings showing retained and lost habitat
- a draft mitigation strategy, with the specific questions you want answered
- the planning history and the authority's position so far
- the programme, so the adviser knows what is driving the timetable
Write the questions as questions. "Please comment on our ecology" produces a general response. "Does the proposed timing of the hibernaculum construction in relation to the September translocation satisfy you?" produces a usable one.
Where protected species surveys underpin the request, they have to be carried out by a suitably licensed ecologist under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. A drafted Protected Species Survey document can structure the reporting, and the survey itself and any licence application remain the licensed ecologist's work.
Timescales and cost
The service is charged by time at a published rate, with the fee agreed in advance against a scope. Check the current rate and the charging terms on the GOV.UK guidance page rather than budgeting from a figure someone quoted on a previous job, because the rates are reviewed.
Lead times vary with demand and with the complexity of the question. Treat it as a matter of weeks rather than days, and longer at the ends of survey seasons when the service is busiest. Build it into the programme as a task with a predecessor and a successor, not as something to do while the drawings are being finished.
| Route | Cost | Binding on the decision |
|---|---|---|
| Published standing advice | Free | No, but authorities may rely on it |
| Statutory consultation on an application | Free to the applicant | No, a material consideration |
| Discretionary pre-application advice | Charged hourly | No, a material consideration |
| Licence determination | Application fee may apply | Yes, it is the licence decision |
The weight the advice carries
Advice from the statutory nature conservation body is a material consideration and carries real weight with case officers, particularly where the authority lacks in-house ecological capacity. It is not binding. The local planning authority decides the application, and where it acts as competent authority under the Habitats Regulations it takes its own view.
Two practical points follow. Quote the advice accurately and attach it in full, because selective quotation is noticed. And where you have departed from the advice, say so and explain why, rather than hoping nobody compares the two documents. An unexplained departure invites a holding objection.
Fitting it around the application
The sequence that works is survey, then design, then advice, then application. Requesting advice before you have survey data produces conditional answers that do not help, and requesting it after the application is submitted means the adviser is commenting on something that is already public.
Where the scheme also needs a biodiversity metric calculation, keep the two workstreams joined. The habitat types you agree with the adviser feed the Biodiversity Net Gain Assessment baseline, and a mitigation strategy designed in isolation from the metric tends to produce a gain shortfall nobody noticed. Survey effort questions, particularly on bats, are worth settling early, and our note on bat emergence survey effort and roost suitability sets out how that effort is judged.
Where it is not worth the cost
Most householder and small residential schemes do not need it. If a competent ecologist can point to published standing advice that covers the situation, and the mitigation is conventional, paying for a second opinion from the regulator adds cost and a programme dependency without changing anything.
It is also poor value when used as a substitute for survey. Advisers cannot tell you what is on the site. Asking them to speculate produces caveated advice that an objector will read as uncertainty.
An illustrative case: a nine unit scheme on a former paddock with a low suitability bat barn and no designated sites within the risk zones. The ecologist followed the standing advice, scoped a single emergence survey, designed bat boxes into the gable, and the application was determined without objection. Advice from the regulator would have cost several thousand pounds and saved nothing.
Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which ecology reports a site is likely to need before you commission anything.
PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval. For specialist technical reports, qualified professional input may be required.
Frequently asked questions
What is Natural England's discretionary advice service?
It is chargeable pre-application advice from the statutory nature conservation body, giving written site-specific comment on survey scope, mitigation design, European protected species licence applications, designated site impacts and Habitats Regulations matters. It is charged by time at a published rate against an agreed scope, and it is advice rather than any form of consent.
Is the advice binding on the council?
No. It is a material consideration and carries real weight, particularly where the authority has no in-house ecologist, but the local planning authority decides the application and takes its own view as competent authority under the Habitats Regulations. Attach the advice in full and explain any departure from it rather than leaving the officer to spot the difference.
When should I request advice in the programme?
After the surveys and after a first design, before the application is submitted. Requesting it without survey data produces conditional answers of limited use, and requesting it after submission means the adviser is commenting on a public document. Allow weeks rather than days, and longer at the busy ends of the survey season.
Can I rely on the free standing advice instead?
Often, yes. Natural England publishes standing advice for common protected species situations and local planning authorities may rely on it. Where a competent ecologist can map your site onto that advice and the mitigation is conventional, the chargeable service adds cost and a programme dependency without changing the outcome.
Does advice guarantee my licence will be granted?
No. Pre-submission screening reduces the chance of a licence being refused for an avoidable reason, and it does not pre-determine the licence decision, which is taken separately on the application as submitted. The ecological work and the licence application remain the responsibility of the suitably licensed ecologist acting for you.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.