Access to Nature Green Paper

Baroness Scott of Needham Market Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd June 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Scott of Needham Market]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to publish an access to nature Green Paper.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Baroness Hayman of Ullock) (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government recognise the importance of providing access to the outdoors for people’s health and well-being. We are committed to improving responsible access to nature, and this year we launched the first of our nine new national river walks, the Mersey Valley Way in the north-west of England. The Government have committed in their environmental improvement plan to publish an access to nature Green Paper during this Parliament.

[Baroness Scott of Needham Market (LD)]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for that reply. “During this Parliament” is a well-worn phrase which is, sadly, meaningless and I wonder whether she would accept that there is some urgency about this. A recent study has shown that around a third of children get no outdoor playtime during the course of a week. Does she agree that, if we want to get children off their phones, we owe it to them to provide them with more healthful alternatives?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right: one of the things that it is really important for us to do as a Government is get children out into nature. We know that, if you get out in nature at a young age, you are more likely to continue to do so during your life, and we know how good it is for people’s health. On children, I can reassure the noble Baroness that we have been working with the Department for Education on a number of measures where we can increase children’s connections with and understanding of nature. We are working to develop a national nature education park, for example, and looking at how we can embed it throughout the school life of children.

There are also other ways. I recently visited Low Gillerthwaite field centre, for example, to see its excellent work. It trains young people in nature conservation and brings children in to see nature. As we develop the Green Paper, which we are absolutely committed to, we are also working on myriad other ways in the meantime to ensure better access for all people, including children.