Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 29 October 2024 (HC8963), how many local nature recovery strategies they expect to publish before the end of June, and what incentives have been given to local authorities to meet their expected timetable for publication.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Four Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) have already been published with many more expected in the coming months. The current ones are West of England, North Northamptonshire, Cornwall & Isles of Scilly and Isle of Wight.
Defra and Natural England are closely monitoring all remaining LNRS publication timescales. The Minister for Nature has written to all responsible authorities setting out her expectations around timely publication of their LNRS and transition to delivery. Officials are working closely with those few that are expecting to publish after December 2025 to seek assurance that their LNRSs will be published as soon as possible.
LNRSs will support responsible authorities, Defra group and local partners to make more strategic, informed decisions about nature recovery and planning for their area. Defra is in the process of confirming funding for this financial year to support the transition to leading and coordinating delivery of the LNRS for their area.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 10 September 2024 (HL567), and with reference to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) article Economic statistics classifications and developments in public sector finances: April 2025 published on 22 May, why they do not consider Malvern Hills Trust to be a public body, and how they reconcile their Answer with the decision by the ONS to classify the Malvern Hills Trust to the local government subsector.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It is Defra’s understanding that the Malvern Hills Trust is not a public body. This is based on the Cabinet Office’s guide to the classification of public bodies, which includes a helpful but brief definition in these terms: ‘A public body is a formally established organisation that is publicly funded to deliver a public or government service, though not as a ministerial department. The term refers to a wide range of public sector entities.’
The 1884 Private Bill that established Malvern Hills Trust also does not suggest that it would be classified as a public body.
More information on what constitutes a public body can be accessed in the Cabinet Office guide, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/public-bodies-reform (copy attached).
Defra does not hold information on the Office for National Statistics’ classification of the Malvern Hills Trust.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether internal drainage boards are subject to a biodiversity duty, as set out in the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 and amended by section 102 of the Environment Act 2021.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It is Defra's position that Internal Drainage Boards (IDBs) are subject to the biodiversity duty, as set out in section 40(1) of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act 2006 (as amended by section 102 of the Environment Act 2021). Defra’s view is that under the 2006 Act, IDBs are captured under section 40(4)(c) as public bodies and under 40(4)(d)(ii) as they are created or continued in existence by a public general Act (the Land Drainage Act 1991) which empowers the Secretary of State to establish them by Order.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Conservators of Ashdown Forest are considered to be a public authority.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Whether the Conservators of Ashdown Forest are considered a public authority depends on the specific legal context. There is no general or universal definition of a public authority in UK law. It may include any individual or organisation that carries out functions on behalf of the public or a particular section of the public. Where an organisation needs to understand if it is defined as a public authority in a particular context, it will need to seek its own independent legal advice.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many sites of special scientific interest in England were assessed in (1) 2021, (2) 2022, (3) 2023, and (4) 2024.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 1 April 2023 Natural England changed from a unit (or area)-based assessment and corresponding reporting process to one based on the features within each site, called Whole Feature Assessment. A feature is a habitat, species or geological characteristic for which the site is important.
More information is available here TIN216 Edition 2 Environment Act Interim Target for protected sites - TIN216 and a copy is attached.
As of March 2025, the proportion of SSSI features that had an up-to-date condition assessment in England is 31.6%
The breakdown of the number of assessments in England in each of those years was as follows:
2021- 939 assessments
2022- 781 assessments
2023- 591 assessments
2024- 921 assessments
The number of assessments in a year refers to either an assessment of a unit (pre-2023), or a feature (from 2023) on a site and not to a whole site. More than one unit or feature may be assessed on a site in a year, and the same site may have been visited in more than 1 year to monitor different units or features.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many sites of special scientific interest in England have up-to-date condition assessments.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 1 April 2023 Natural England changed from a unit (or area)-based assessment and corresponding reporting process to one based on the features within each site, called Whole Feature Assessment. A feature is a habitat, species or geological characteristic for which the site is important.
More information is available here TIN216 Edition 2 Environment Act Interim Target for protected sites - TIN216 and a copy is attached.
As of March 2025, the proportion of SSSI features that had an up-to-date condition assessment in England is 31.6%
The breakdown of the number of assessments in England in each of those years was as follows:
2021- 939 assessments
2022- 781 assessments
2023- 591 assessments
2024- 921 assessments
The number of assessments in a year refers to either an assessment of a unit (pre-2023), or a feature (from 2023) on a site and not to a whole site. More than one unit or feature may be assessed on a site in a year, and the same site may have been visited in more than 1 year to monitor different units or features.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have set a deadline for the Marine Management Organisation to issue byelaws for consultation for the remaining Marine Protected Areas.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Department has not set a deadline for consultation due to the need to follow due process and consider how we can best meet the Government’s priorities. The Government recognises the need for action to protect and restore our marine environment, including meeting the Environment Act target for Marine Protected Areas, while supporting a sustainable fishing industry.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made on the River Deben Action Plan.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Publicly launched in May 2024 the "Recovering the Deben - From Source to Sea" action plan developed by The East Suffolk Catchment Partnership (ESCP) continues to secure action in the catchment. Since the plan’s launch, the East Suffolk Catchment Partnership has been working with landowners to develop natural flood management schemes in the upper catchment, with the Forestry Commission to improve woodland connectivity, and with a wide range of stakeholders to improve riparian habitats. In addition, the partners have come together to share monitoring and evidence and are developing a State of the Deben Report. A successful bid on behalf of the partnership by the Rivers Trust into the Water Restoration Fund marks a major milestone in supporting the action plan ambitions. With funding in place, the Rivers Trust is recruiting a Programme Manager to work with partners, stakeholders, and local communities to secure further improvements such as addressing fish passage, installing buffer strips alongside the watercourse throughout the catchment, the use of nutrient attenuation ponds, and increasing the understanding of catchment water quality impacts on the Deben Estuary, a Site of Special Scientific Interest in need of recovery.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
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 the Sustainable Farming Incentive on environmental targets, particularly species abundance and reducing river nutrient pollution.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We have paused the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) ahead of reforming it. This is the third time SFI has been paused. We will confirm plans for the reformed SFI in the summer and we expect that scheme to contribute to these outcomes. There are also tens of thousands of farmers in SFI for three years, supporting those outcomes.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 18 February (HL4686), whether they will now answer the question put, namely how many miles of the King Charles III England Coast Path (1) have been, and (2) are still to be, completed.
Answered by Baroness Hayman
The Government is continuing to make progress on the King Charles III England Coast Path (KCIIIECP), with over 51% of the path completed and now open for public use.
Of the remaining 1,270 miles, establishment works are underway on 976 miles, with less than 300 miles still to be approved. The entire project is set to be completed by Spring 2026, and when finished, the KCIIIECP will become the longest waymarked and managed coastal walking route in the world.