Natural England Annual Report and Accounts 1 April 2006 – 31 March 2007 HC 745 www.naturalengland.org.uk Peter Graal/Bankside Open Spaces Trust Natural England is here to conserve and enhance the natural environment, for its intrinsic value, the wellbeing and enjoyment of people and the economic prosperity that it brings. Natural England Annual Report and Accounts 2006/2007 Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State, in pursuance of Schedule 1, Sections 23(1), 24(4) and 25 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 8 October 2007 HC 745 London : The Stationery Office £12.50 © Crown Copyright 2007 The text in this document (excluding any Royal Arms and departmental logos) may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium providing that it is reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright and the title of the document specified. 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Contents Page Chair’s and Chief Executive’s Foreword 4 Our achievements and how we have delivered against our Strategic Direction 2006–2007 A healthy natural environment 6 Enjoyment of the natural environment 14 Sustainable use of the natural environment 22 A secure environmental future 30 A distinctive public body 38 Glossary 44 Financial summary of accounts year ending 31 March 2007 Financial summary 47 Companies Act Disclosures 49 Statement of Board’s and Chief Executive’s responsibilities 52 Statement on Internal Control 53 The Certificate and Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General 61 Statement 1 Operating cost statement 63 2 Statement of recognised gains and losses 63 3 Balance sheet 64 4 Cash flow statement 65 Notes to financial statements 66 Founding body results included in year end figures 88 Remuneration report 91 Board Members 99 More information on our work, including statistics on subjects in this report can be found on our website www.naturalengland.org.uk 3 Foreword Welcome to our first annual report and accounts The first six months of the year were focused on creating a new organisation. In June 2006, after the appointment of our new Board, we published our Strategic Direction 2006–2009. This clearly defines the environmental outcomes we hope to achieve over the next three years. We then successfully transferred the responsibilities, assets and staff from the Founding Bodies to Natural England, which culminated in Natural England’s vesting on 1 October 2006. Since vesting, we have faced some big challenges. In creating Natural England, we wanted to provide an integrated service to our customers. We have designed the organisation with this express purpose in mind, and have progressively aligned our budget and staff resources with our priorities as set out in the Strategic Direction. This process of integration and alignment will continue over the coming year. Our early focus was on maintaining the delivery of our ongoing programmes, with agri-environment schemes particularly high on our agenda. Almost half the farmland in England – some 4.13 million hectares – is now covered by agri-environment agreements, delivering a huge range of environmental benefits as a result. With Defra, we have secured £2.9 billion for Environmental Stewardship over the next seven years, and we are now focused on ensuring that this scheme delivers the maximum environmental benefits and public value for money. We have established ourselves as the Government’s independent advisor on the natural environment. We delivered advice to the Government on how to improve access to the coast, contributed to the debate on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and promoted the establishment of marine protected areas, arguing successfully for their inclusion in the Government’s Marine White Paper. We have also focused on the need to tackle emerging threats to the natural environment. We want to ensure in particular that the natural environment can adapt to climate change and have, as an example, actively championed the case for a climate change adaptation strategy to be included as a key element in the Government’s Climate Change Bill. We also want to promote the contribution that land management can make to reducing greenhouse gas pollution. 4 We have also begun to extend our reach to new areas, such as the connection between health and the environment. We are promoting the need to connect people to nature, increasing the awareness amongst health professionals of the health benefits that arise from the use of the natural environment, and improving access to the environment for people in the most deprived communities. Over the coming year, we look forward to delivering new outcomes, developing our policies and building the partnership and organisational culture we need to deliver our Strategic Direction. We will also be building our evidence base and aim to establish Natural England at the forefront of new thinking on the natural environment. We have made a strong start, demonstrated our capability and direction in critical areas, and built a robust platform from which to move forward. We are focusing our passion and purpose on tackling the challenges for the natural environment that await us in 2007/2008. We thank the Board, the Executive and our staff for embracing this new agenda and taking up the challenge, and our partner organisations for their support and advice during this initial formative stage. Sir Martin Doughty Dr Helen Phillips Chair Natural England Chief Executive Natural England 5 Paul Glendell/Natural England A healthy natural environment England’s natural environment will be conserved and enhanced 6 cy en Ag nt me ron nvi er/E enc h Sp Fait ire. lnsh inco rth L s, No gh Flat Alkborou A HEALTHY NATURAL ENVIRONMENT Case study Alkborough Flats in the Humber Estuary The Humber contains some of the UK’s busiest ports The partnership is also providing new access and is also an internationally important site for its opportunities for locals and tourists alike to visit wetland habitats and the wildlife they support, and enjoy the area and its wildlife. particularly birds. Funding was initially awarded via Defra, the Capital Alkborough Flats, in the Humber Estuary, lies at the Modernisation Fund, Yorkshire Forward, the meeting point of the Rivers Trent and Ouse in North Heritage Lottery Fund and the European INTERREG Lincolnshire. Sea level rise has been a serious programme with other partner organisations problem here and the wildlife and wetlands, making contributions. together with the homes and businesses of 300,000 people, are at risk from flooding. The scheme won the Innovation category of the national 2007 Waterways Renaissance Awards. To help control flooding Natural England, working in partnership with the Environment Agency, North Lincolnshire Council and Associated British Ports, developed a scheme to breach the flood defences at Alkborough, allowing the tide to come over what was previously dry land. These new ‘intertidal’ areas are a vital flood management tool. The 440 hectare site was opened in September 2006, and will provide about 170 hectares of new intertidal habitat as well as fresh water and coastal grassland. 7 A HEALTHY NATURAL ENVIRONMENT Outcome: England’s natural environment will be conserved and enhanced Why Highlights in our first year we are doing it G Brought 4.13 million hectares into the Environmental Stewardship scheme, an G For the intrinsic value of increase of more than 2 million hectares during the year. England’s biodiversity. G Secured an additional 33,500 ha (2.3%) of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in favourable or recovering condition, bringing the total to 75.4%. G Because landscapes and wildlife enrich people’s G Declared five new National Nature Reserves (NNRs) and extended 17 others, lives. increasing the area covered by 3,205 hectares, including The National Trust managed Dovedale NNR in the Peak District. G For the services that G Played a leading role in the aim of reversing the decline of farmland birds, healthy, functioning such as the skylark. ecosystems provide. G Supported recovery initiatives for 130 Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) priority species. G Initiated programmes to create or restore 32,400 ha of BAP priority habitat. Walkers along the South West Coast. Ian Dalgleish/Natural England There are now 4.13 million hectares under Environmental Stewardship agreements, comprising nearly half of all the farmland in England. That means: G The management of 100,000 km of hedgerows and 12,000 km of dry-stone walls to maintain the unique character of the English countryside and provide vital habitats for wildlife. G 3,000 farmers planting wild birdseed mixtures and 6,500 farmers maintaining buffer strips, more than 13,000 skylark plots and 450 beetle banks. G Improved access to the countryside for people to explore and enjoy England’s farmed environment – 323 km of permissive footpaths and 264 km of bridleway. A healthy natural environment 8 We are joining up the delivery of landscape, access and wildlife objectives together with resource protection in nine pilots of the Catchment Sensitive Farming project. These include the Derwent in North Yorkshire, the Eye in Leicestershire, the Pevensey in Sussex and the Frome in Dorset. Natural England is working to meet the Government's target of having 95% of SSSI land in favourable or recovering condition by 2010. We have achieved this for an additional 33,500 ha of SSSI land - including more than 4,000 ha in North York Moors - bringing the amount of SSSI land in favourable or recovering condition to 75.4%.