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

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the accessibility of funding from the nature restoration levy to (1) environmental and conservation groups and (2) individual farms.

We expect Natural England to deliver conservation measures funded by the Nature Restoration Fund, either directly or indirectly, through a range of organisations including environmental and conservation groups and farmers. At Committee Stage of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill in the House of Lords, the government committed to publish guidance to Natural England, part of which will focus on the role of the private and third sectors in Environmental Delivery Plan development and delivery. This guidance will follow Royal Assent of the Bill and the passage of related regulations in 2026.