Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure sufficient funding is provided to maintain parks to the Government standard set out in the Green Flag Award.

The Green Flag Awards scheme recognises and rewards well managed parks and green spaces by setting a benchmark standard for the management of recreational outdoor spaces across the UK and internationally.

The Government announced in September 2020 a £40 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund in England as part of the Government’s wider green economic recovery, jobs and skills package, bringing forward funding for environmental charities and their partners to start work on projects across England to restore nature and tackle climate change.

The fund will help create up to 3,000 jobs and safeguard up to 2,000 others in areas such as protecting species, finding nature-based solutions to tackling climate change, conservation rangers and connecting people with nature. Up to 100% of project costs will be available whilst delivering against the goals of the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan.