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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to promote the use of national trails.

Until 2012, Natural England managed a national trails website for this purpose. From January 2013, Walk Unlimited (a social enterprise) assumed the day to day lead for national trails promotion in England and Wales, and have established the new interactive website www.nationaltrail.co.uk. They work with and alongside the individual Trail Partnerships who remain responsible for providing information on their trail to the national site, and for local promotion. Natural England also encourage individual Trail Partnerships – and the emerging England Coast Path partners – to consider promotion of both the individual trails (and stretches) and the promotion of the family of National Trails.