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

To ask Her Majesty's Government how they have monitored peat burning on the South Pennine Moors Site of Special Scientific Interest (1) this year, and (2) in the previous three years; and what assessment they have made of the effects of this peat burning.

Natural England monitors and reports on the condition of notified features on Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) through its programme of site condition monitoring. This will include site visits and desk assessment. Those features are affected by a range of factors including land management burning and wildfire. In addition to this routine programme of monitoring, Natural England made an assessment of part of the South Pennine Moors SSSI following a wildfire incident in 2020. This assessment has not yet concluded, but when complete the condition will be logged on Natural England’s designated Sites database, which is publicly available.

Additionally, Natural England has been working with land managers on the South Pennine Moors SSSI to advise them on the condition of SSSI features on their land, through a contract under its Discretionary Advice Service.