Natural England’s main source of funding is Grant in Aid (GIA) from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
We deliver the outcomes for the natural environment through a variety of sources including GIA and other income it receives, but also through partnerships with other organisations who fund work for the natural environment directly.
We are also responsible for the management and delivery of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) programme [1], consisting of payments to landowners and farmers to deliver environmental benefits.
Our budget is delegated according to the targets outlined in our Corporate Plan 2011-15
and delivered by teams either nationally or regionally.
Natural England is supporting the Government commitment to improve the transparency of how public funds are used. [2]
We are supporting the Government commitment to "implement the Sustainable Communities Act, so that citizens know how taxpayers’ money is spent in their area and have a greater say over how it is spent." This is a reference to Local Spending Reports which are a requirement of the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 and aim to provide greater transparency in how central government money is being spent in an area and to enable local people to have a greater say in how it is used.
Table 1 below shows where Natural England’s resources have been spent over the last three years. It shows the gross expenditure including agri-environment schemes by region for the three years since 2007. Expenditure typically includes costs of staff employed in the region, the cost of goods and services procured in the region and grants and contributions to local partners and projects.
| 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| £'m | |||
| Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire | 45.1 | 49.3 | 50.2 |
| Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire | 61.6 | 65.1 | 65.1 |
| Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Surrey, East and West Sussex, Kent and London | 59.8 | 65.8 | 68.1 |
| Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham and Cleveland | 30.4 | 32.8 | 33.8 |
| Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside | 42.4 | 45.3 | 47.2 |
| Cornwall & IoS, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire | 97.9 | 108.4 | 98.6 |
| Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire | 41.7 | 43.8 | 45.2 |
| East Riding of Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and North and North East Lincolnshire | 40.7 | 43.2 | 45.9 |
Details of payments made by Natural England are available on data.gov.uk.
1. Rural Development Programme for England, Defra
2. Transparency, HM Treasury
Natural England grant-in-aid settlement - update
(21 December 2010) Defra has now confirmed Natural England's grant-in-aid settlement for 2011-14. The settlement represents a good outcome for Natural England in the context of the current spending climate and is in line with the planning assumptions which have underpinned our efficiency programme and the development of our new business model.
