If you want to use off-site units, the Government has said you need to provide some basic information:
"The SSM does not have an off-site section. If your small site requires any off-site units, you can still use the SSM to calculate any on-site gains and you should submit this when required by the planning authority. Your biodiversity gain plan will need to summarise how you have met your BNG requirement, including details of the off-site habitat enhancements and the trading summaries" (emphasis added).
In order to provide this summary, you can do two things:
Provide evidence that the BNG requirement (including the trading rules) can be met via off-site units. This can be done, for example, via an availability certificate from BNGx.
Purchasing off-site units, and providing a metric with completed off-site sections, and all necessary legal documentation to show that the units have been purchased from a registered off-site provider. Again, this can be done via BNGx.
I bought a certificate and/or a offsite units. Why does my metric sheet still show errors?
Whether you've purchased offsite units, or just an availability certificate relating to them, your small site metric from Joe's Blooms may still show a loss and have "red alerts": don't worry, this is intentional! Your small site metric can only, and under government rules should only, ever contain your "on-site" information.
Do not edit your metric! Adding any off-site data is incorrect. And adding data that doesn't reflect units you've actually purchased risks misleading your planning officer.
When you purchase a certificate and/or off-site units and provide this information to Joe's Blooms we do the following:
We amend your Biodiversity Gain Plan to ask the LPA to look at the availability certificate
But what do you do? Read the relevant section below to find out—it's easy.
I have bought an availability certificate; what is next?
An availability certificate is a great way to evidence your intent to use off-site units to your LPA, allowing you to confirm with them that they will be happy with your proposal.
If you have an availability certificate, this is what to do:
First, leave your metric as-is. There will be errors in it, but that is a feature of the metric sheet and intentional (as set out above)
Include your Availability Certificate in the documents you send to your LPA.
Add an accompanying note that you’d buy units in-line with that certificate if the LPA agrees to the solution.
I have purchase units; how do I show this in my BGP?
On the off-site units tab of the Solution Finder page, you'll be asked to upload the Statutory Metric file you've been given—i.e. by BNGx—after purchasing your units. We'll incorporate the data from this file into your BGP.
When submitting your application to your LPA, you should include both your small site metric (showing just your on-site data, and likely reporting that you've not met your target) and your statutory metric from BNGx (which does include your off-site data and shows the impact of it on your site).
What if my LPA queries the 'errors' in my small site metric?
Don't worry: the Government's own rules and guidance say that small site metrics won't and should not show off-site units and that an accompanying statutory metric (which will be fully green with your off-site units) should be used to evidence your off-site unit's impact.
If your LPA raises an issue, it's likely because they haven't seen your accompanying statutory metric (if you bought units) or your availability certificate and explanatory note (if you've not yet committed to using off-site units). Make sure they're aware of these documents, and remind them at as per the Small Site Metric guidance, your off-site units (purchased or merely proposed!) are rightly not included in your Small Site Metric.
Purchasing off-site units and therefore having a statutory metric evidencing this does not mean you are no longer a 'small site' or not entitled to use the Small Site Metric. An accompanying statutory metric is the official means of evidencing that you have acquired off-site units from a registered provider for your small site.
We're always trying to improve Joe's Blooms outputs to help make your and your planning officer's life easier, so if you encounter any confusion or difficulty around these topics, please let us know—we're always seeking to improve our services.