2 weeks Ago By Lucie Heath
At least 200 jobs are to be axed at Natural England due to budget cuts at the watchdog responsible for protecting England’s landscapes, rivers and wildlife, The i Paper can reveal. Cuts at the quango could result in further delays within England’s planning system, while also jeopardising work to protect rivers and deliver nature restoration, experts have warned. Cuts within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have also led to job losses within the bodies responsible for managing England’s national parks and forests.
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addToArray({"pos": "inread-hb-ros-inews"}); }The environmental sector is bracing for the announcement of further cuts as part of the upcoming Spending Review, as the Chancellor limits public spending to keep within her self-imposed borrowing rules. Natural England is one of several quangos that receives funding from Defra to protect and restore England’s environment. The body, which plays a crucial role in approving planning applications, saw its annual budget cut for the first time in five years this year, reducing by four per cent to £318m.
Sources told The i Paper that Natural England now has at least 200 more staff members than it has budgeted for and must therefore reduce its workforce by up to ten per cent. if(window.adverts) { window.
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adverts.addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l1"}); }As a first measure Natural England has launched a ‘voluntary exit’ scheme, a process in the civil service that allows staff to apply to leave in exchange for a severance payment. It’s currently unclear whether Natural England will be forced to make redundancies following the conclusion of the voluntary exit process.
Richard Benwell, Chief Executive at Wildlife and Countryside Link, warned that cuts to Natural England were coming at a time when the watchdog’s role was “more important than ever”. #color-context-related-article-3583112 {--inews-color-primary: #E33A11;--inews-color-secondary: #F7F3EF;--inews-color-tertiary: #E33A11;} Read Next square NEWS .inews__post__label__exclusive{background-color: #e33a11;color: #ffffff;}ExclusiveHuman and animal waste detected in England's iconic river bathing spotsRead MoreNatural England employs around 3,000 people to meet its duties, which includes consulting on planning applications to consider the environmental impact of new developments.
The watchdog is also responsible for designating and monitoring sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) and works with farmers to deliver environmental schemes. Job losses at Natural England come amid warnings that the body is already struggling to assess planning applications due to a lack of resources.In a recent report Natural England said it was asked to make decisions on 20,503 planning applications in 2023/24 and missed the deadlines on 1,692 (eight per cent).
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addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l2"}); }Of the missed deadlines, 1,155 (68.3 per cent) were due to “agency resourcing” issues, Natural England said.The union Prospect has previously warned that Natural England is losing experienced staff due to poor pay, impacting its ability to meet its regulatory duties.
The workload for Natural England is expected to increase under Labour as the Government pushes ahead with reforms to the planning system in a bid to build 1.5m new homes by the end of the current parliament. Natural England will be responsible for delivering a new Nature Restoration Fund, which will use payments from developers to deliver nature restoration schemes across the country.
Benwell said Natural England would be playing a “resource intensive role” in the “centre-piece” of the Government’s planning reforms. #color-context-related-article-3482722 {--inews-color-primary: #E33A11;--inews-color-secondary: #F7F3EF;--inews-color-tertiary: #E33A11;} Read Next square HOUSING The four new towns Angela Rayner could buildRead More“Natural England is a key steward of the UK’s natural infrastructure and environmental capital. It’s time for investment, not cuts,” Benwell said.
Mark Lloyd, CEO at the Rivers Trust, said: “It’s very concerning to hear about budget and job cuts in our environmental regulators who play a vital role in the effort to protect and restore our natural world. if(window.adverts) { window.
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adverts.addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l3"}); }“Natural England have particular responsibility for protected sites – the most valuable areas for nature – and they need the capacity to stop damage to these sites and to plan and deliver improvements to their condition.”It comes as other quangos funded by Defra also announce job cuts due to funding pressures.
The bodies that manage England’s national parks are expecting a nine per cent cut in Defra funding from April and the Peak District National Park Authority has already said redundancies are likely.Meanwhile, the Forestry Commission, which manages and regulates England’s forests, said in its most recent annual report that it cannot afford the salaries for roughly 300 of its staff members beyond March this year. Defra was one of the few departments that saw its day-to-day spending cut in real terms by Rachel Reeves during the Autumn 2024 budget.
The department’s resource spending, which covers things like staffing costs, was increased slightly by £4.7bn to £4.8bn, but this amounts to a 1.
9 per cent reduction in real terms according to the Treasury’s own analysis. The environmental sector is fearful that budgets could be slashed further as part of the Spending Review, which is expected in June and will set out departmental budgets for the next four years. if(window.
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adverts) { window.adverts.addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l4"}); }Defra is considered an “unprotected” department and is typically one of the first to face cuts during periods of austerity; between 2009/10 and 2018/19 its budget was cut by 45 per cent in real terms.
“It’s been said that we get the environment we pay for, and cuts to funding for the environment are a very short-sighted measure that will cost future generations dearly,” Lloyd said. “Cuts to nature funding may offer short term reprieve for government finances but will only undermine the resilience of a future economy,” added Barnaby Coupe, senior land use manager at The Wildlife Trusts.Before June’s Spending Review, Reeves will provide an update on Britain’s economy as part of her Spring Statement next week.
Ahead of the Statement The Treasury has drafted plans for billions of pounds in spending cuts, primarily through cuts to welfare spending. The Prime Minister has also announced plans to reorganise the civil service. Last week he announced NHS England will be scrapped, while major shake-ups are expected at other quangos and regulators.
Natural England attended a meeting with Reeves on Monday alongside other regulators, including the Environment Agency, Financial Conduct Authority and Health and Safety Executive.if(window.adverts) { window.
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adverts.addToArray({"pos": "mpu_tablet_l5"}); }At the meeting, the Chancellor said businesses were subjected to “too much bureaucracy” and vowed to cut red tape, including on environmental matters. It’s currently unclear whether the regulatory shake-up will lead to further job cuts at Natural England and the Environment Agency.
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