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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of demands arising from Environmental Land Management schemes on Natural England; and what plans they have to increase that organisations funding.

Like all other Defra sponsored bodies, Natural England (NE) receives an appropriate budget to carry out its duties and responsibilities in line with what is affordable and the priorities set out by the Secretary of State.

NE is an important advisory and delivery partner in the Environmental Land Management (ELM) programme. For the current financial year, NE has been allocated approximately £3.6 million to support the development of ELM. This includes drafting ELM technical guidance, development of scheme design for the Pilot and associated policy advice.

We are currently assessing the budgets for our arm’s length bodies as part of the Spending Review process.