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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the capacity of Natural England to identify and designate new Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

Natural England (NE) receives an appropriate budget to carry out its duties and responsibilities in line with what is affordable and the priorities set out by the Secretary of State.

Restoring nature is one of our top priorities. Protected sites, including Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), are the best existing areas for nature, where species can thrive and spread into the wider countryside, and they form the foundation of the Government’s commitment to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030.

NE is adapting its protected sites work programme. It will focus on prioritising actions to deliver the Environment Act interim target for SSSIs and aligning its work with the objectives of the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025.