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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the NCF: Nature for Climate Fund Great North Bog Resource Grant.

The Defra funding was a contribution to the start up costs of the Great North Bog (GNB), an initiative to restore all of northern England’s upland peat. Since the grant ended the GNB were successful in applying for a multiyear grant through the Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme (NCPGS) and they report quarterly to Natural England against the objectives of the grant. The NCPGS is undergoing evaluation.