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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to ensure that the implementation of the principle of local governance of national parks remains effective; and what assessment he has made of the compatibility of that principle and the introduction of a National Landscape Service.

The Landscapes Review recommended that the current system of local governance for National Parks should be reformed, and set out a number of specific proposals for how it should be changed to inspire and secure ambition in our national landscapes and better reflect society. It also recommended that a new National Landscapes Service is needed to ensure that our protected landscapes can achieve more than the sum of their parts for people and for nature.

The government will work with our partner organisations to consider carefully the importance of effective local governance as we develop our response to the review, including any changes to local and national governance structures. We will publish our response in due course.