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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a right of responsible access to the English countryside.

The Government recognises the importance of providing access to the outdoors for people’s health and wellbeing and is working to ensure that this access is safe and appropriate. We are committed to increasing access to nature, and have already set out several ambitious manifesto commitments to expand opportunities for the public to enjoy the outdoors, including the creation of nine new national river walks and three new national forests in England.

We are currently developing policy to improve access to nature, working closely with other government departments and key stakeholders, with further announcements expected in due course. In addition, we are already delivering key initiatives aimed at increasing access to green spaces and the countryside, including:

• Completing the King Charles III England Coast Path, which will become the longest waymarked and maintained coastal walking route in the world. With over 2,400 miles of the route now approved and 1,430 miles already open, this will also create 250,000 hectares of new open access land within the coastal margin.
• Designating Wainwright’s Coast to Coast route as a National Trail across the north of England.
• Delivering the £16 million ‘Access for All’ programme, which is designed to make our protected landscapes, national trails, forests, and the wider countryside more inclusive and accessible to all.

In addition, the Government has made the decision to repeal the cut-off date for the registration of historic rights of way, preventing the loss of hundreds of miles of unregistered paths. This will ensure that these paths remain available to the public for future generations. This change will be formally enacted when parliamentary time allows.