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

To ask His Majesty's Government, following reporting from the BBC in January 2024 that investigators had found 32,000 blockages on public rights of way, whether they will take action to remove obstructions preventing the public from using such ways.

Local highway authorities are responsible for the management and maintenance of public rights of way, including ensuring that they are free from obstructions and available for public use. They have statutory duties to assert and protect the public’s right to use these routes and to take action where obstructions are identified.

Each authority is also required to prepare and maintain a Rights of Way Improvement Plan, which assesses the condition of the local network and sets out how it will be improved for all users. These plans are publicly available on the relevant authority’s website.

Local authorities are best placed to determine local priorities and allocate resources accordingly, taking account of the needs of their communities and the condition of the rights of way in their area. The Government continues to provide local authorities with funding through the Local Government Finance Settlement, and it is for them to decide how best to use this funding, including for maintaining and improving public rights of way.