Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether their plans to introduce nine new river walks and three new national forests will include the creation of new permanent legal rights of access.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Our nine new river walks and three new national forests will both increase available natural space and make it more accessible.

We are progressing plans to deliver nine new National River Walks across England, one in each region, to enhance access to nature and are currently considering several delivery options. Further details will be announced in due course.

Our three new national forests in the West of England, the Oxford-Cambridge corridor and the Midlands or North of England, once confirmed, will support delivery of environmental improvement goals including improving access to green space and better connecting people with nature. The Government will set out plans for new national forests in the coming months which will incorporate many factors, including a consideration of new permanent legal rights of access.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government how plans to introduce nine new river walks and three new national forests will contribute towards ensuring that everyone in England has access to green or blue spaces within fifteen minutes' walk from their home, as committed to in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025, published on 1 December.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government is pleased to commit to progress in ensuring everyone should live within a 15-minute walk of a green or blue space. We have recently published for the first time green and blue space interim statistics and will continue to mature the metric and map the status.

As part of our work to improve public access to nature, we are also progressing plans to deliver nine new National River Walks across England, one in each region, to enhance access to nature. We will announce further details on this in due course.

Our new national forests will support delivery of environmental improvement goals including improving access to green space and better connecting people with nature. The ‘Western Forest’ will see 20 million trees planted across the West of England over the coming years and serve over 2.5 million residents, bringing trees and woodlands closer to where people live.

The second new national forest will be in the Oxford-Cambridge corridor, and a competition will be launched for a third new national forest in the Midlands or North of England in early 2026.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of section 147ZA of the Highways Act 1980 on the rights of disabled people to access the outdoors with ease and confidence.

Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This Government is supportive of the provision within section 147ZA of the 1980 Act that enables an authority to work with landowners and relevant parties to replace or improve existing structures so that they can be used more easily by individuals that may experience mobility challenges. There is currently no national assessment available of the impacts of this provision. However, we will continue to improve access to green and blue spaces, ensuring that it is safe and appropriate for all users, through our various initiatives.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that the statutory duties of local highway authorities for the public rights of way network are integrated into the Local Government Outcomes Framework.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Government has no plans at this stage to integrate local highway authorities’ statutory duties for public rights of way into the Local Government Outcomes Framework. The Local Government Outcomes Framework will include key national priorities delivered at the local level, so will not have metrics measuring all local authority statutory duties. Local highway authorities have clear statutory responsibilities for managing and maintaining the public rights of way network within their individual areas, including ensuring routes are kept free from obstruction. They are also required to prepare and keep under review a Rights of Way Improvement Plan, which assesses the condition of the network and sets out planned improvements for all users. These plans are published on each authority’s website.