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

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 17 November 2016 (HL Deb, col 1532), what assessment they have made of the current state of the footpath network in England; and whether its condition has improved or worsened since that answer.

Responsibility for the management and maintenance of the 118,000 miles of public rights of way in England lies with local authorities.

Natural England assess the condition of the network of National Trails, which are maintained to agreed Quality Standards. The last assessment covered the 2017/18 reporting year and noted that the number of out of condition items (such as gates and stiles) remained relatively low during the monitoring period.