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 impact of reducing funding to Natural England’s programme to designate or expand National Landscapes on employment.

Natural England (NE) has the statutory responsibility for identifying areas for new or extended National Landscape designations. Given the pressures on public finances, Defra has had to make difficult decisions about funding. It was not affordable to continue Defra funding to NE to continue the new National Landscapes designations programme in 25/26. As such, NE have made the decision to stop work on some of the planned programme. Other elements of the programme, including the Surrey Hills boundary review and potential new National Landscape in the Yorkshire Wolds, are being maintained and progressed as the work was further advanced.