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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to improve the condition of Sites of Specific Scientific Interest.

SSSIs continue to be one of the most effective tools for protecting and enhancing biodiversity and deliver a wide range of health and socio-economic benefits.

Defra is working with Natural England to improve the efficiency of SSSI monitoring and drive delivery of a prioritised programme of action to improve SSSI condition. This includes advising farmers on land management changes, working at a catchment-scale with partners to improve water quality and regulating fairly and proportionately to prevent harm and improve site condition.

In the autumn budget we also allocated £13 million to Protected Site Strategies which will develop and implement spatial restoration plans for priority sites. These strategies will put action in place to restore protected sites and manage the impact of environmental harm.

The Nature Restoration Fund in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will also allow us to take a more strategic approach to the restoration of protected sites and species, and deliver improved environmental outcomes.