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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential effect on job creation of investment in nature restoration in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

The department considers a range of potential impacts of its policies relating to the natural environment, including the anticipated economic impacts, on a case by case basis.

We recently launched the Green Recovery Challenge Fund to invest in a range of nature projects across England as part of our green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Government has now confirmed that it will double the size of the fund by making an additional £40 million available. This could create and retain thousands of jobs, depending on the projects chosen.