Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, freshwater and marine environments, geology and soils, are protected and improved. It also has a responsibility to help people enjoy, understand and access the natural environment.
Natural England focuses its activities and resources on four strategic outcomes: a healthy natural environment enjoyment of the natural environment sustainable use of the natural environment a secure environmental future
Roles and responsibilities
As a non-departmental public body (NDPB), Natural England is independent of government. However, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has the legal power to issue guidance to Natural England on various matters, a constraint that was not placed on its predecessor NDPBs.
Its powers include defining ancient woodlands, awarding grants, designating Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Sites of Special Scientific Interest, managing certain national nature reserves, overseeing access to open country and other recreation rights, and enforcing the associated regulations. It is also responsible for the administration of numerous grant schemes and frameworks that finance the development and conservation of the natural environment, for example environmental stewardship, the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, environmentally sensitive areas, and the Access to Nature Scheme. It has been severely criticised recently by badger protection lobbyists for allegedly ignoring scientific data and granting extended badger cull licences to DEFRA.
Natural England's latest corporate plan sets out its goals and detailed objectives. It is responsible for the delivery of some of Defra's public service agreements (e.g. reversing the long-term decline in the number of farmland birds by 2020 and improving public access to the countryside).
Natural England takes its finance, human resources and estates services from the Defra Shared Services organisation. Information technology services are outsourced to IBM.
History
Natural England was established on 1 October 2006 by the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, which implemented the recommendations of a rural review by The Baron Haskins of Skidby. It was formed by the amalgamation of three founder bodies: Countryside Agency, the landscape, access and recreation elements English Nature Rural Development Service, the environmental land management functions of Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
It received the powers of the founder bodies.
Natural England joined the 10:10 project in 2009 in a bid to reduce its own carbon footprint. One year later they announced that they had reduced their carbon emissions (according to 10:10's criteria) by 13%.
In 2008, Sir Martin Doughty, the Chairman of Natural England, warned the Prime Minister of the potential danger of genetically modified crops. However, in 2012, Poul Christensen, CBE, the next Chairman of Natural England, said that middle England should embrace new technologies like GM crops as long as there were adequate testing and safeguards.
As a Public Body Natural England has been subject to pay Freezes and pay restrictions following the 2008 financial crash, and is likely to be subject to the 2020 three year pay freeze also. Natural England staff have now been subject to pay freezes and 1% pay increases. Staff and Unions representing staff have voiced concerns over the duration of these pay restraints and issues including equality and disparity between Public body pay increases.
The following take from 2 December 2020 Research briefing on Public body pay.
"In 2010, the Coalition Government announced a two-year pay freeze from 2011/12. Following cuts to local government funding, local government workers were subject to a three-year pay freeze.
From 2013/14 to 2017/18 public sector pay awards were capped at an average of 1%.
This policy was lifted in 2017 and from 2018/19 to 2020/21 the parts of the public sector that are covered by the PRBs received pay rises above 2%.
The Trades Union Congress has criticised the constraints that were in place from 2010, arguing that they led to a "decade of lost pay".
The severity of the cuts by the Conservative government to Natural England in particular have been reported in the media including The Guardian newspaper.