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Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

moved Amendment No. 88:"Page 6, line 12, at end insert—" ““(   )   The Secretary of State shall make grants to meet Natural England’s costs in carrying out its duties under sections 3(1), (2), (4) and 4(1) and in complying with directions given by the Secretary of State under section 16.”” The noble Baroness said: My Lords, on 1 February, at col. 293 of Hansard, I questioned the Minister about the funding of Natural England and the use of lottery money to accomplish some of its aims. On 8 February, the Minister provided additional detail, for which I am grateful. We have read the Hansards concerned most carefully, and we still feel that the Minister said that the bodies that would form Natural England spent about £360 million a year. He said that, of that, some £17 million was obtained from the lottery and that that element would be limited to £10 million over the next two years. I cannot be sure whether that means that Natural England will be £7 million short of current receipts in each of the next two years or that the income will take two years to drop from £17 million to £10 million. Either way, I am sure that the Minister will agree that it is a sizeable sum. Natural England’s mandatory duties must be given assured funding. Those duties include review, consultation, standards and advice and the following of general or specific directions. I can in no way estimate what fulfilling those duties will cost, in spite of the figures from the regulatory impact assessment, but I assume that Natural England will be constructed to deliver its mandatory duties. The rest of its duties should be added as and when external funding is found. That could come from government, the lottery, loans or private donations, but it would not be used to fund Natural England’s prime functions. Natural England should be able to count on the full funding necessary to fulfil its primary and mandatory role. So far, such an assurance has not been incorporated in the Bill. I beg to move.