Defra is working with MHCLG, the lead department on Wildfire, to strengthen cross-government coordination and identify priority actions across the full wildfire cycle, from risk assessment and prevention / mitigation to response and recovery.

Any updates to the Multi-Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside (MAGiC) map, including the potential inclusion of wildfire-related data, would need be considered as part of this work.

This Government has been clear that it wants to maximise the benefits from public sector data assets to deliver better public services and cutting-edge innovation. The National Data Library will provide simple, secure and ethical access to our key public data assets for researchers, policy makers and business.

Work is underway to design the National Data Library, including consideration of the data to be included and how it should be licensed, and decisions on its design and implementation will be set out in due course.

Flood risk is an important consideration in the planning system. The Government has committed to ensure we are building more high-quality, well-designed and sustainable homes and creating places that increase climate resilience and promote nature recovery.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is clear that inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding should be avoided by directing development away from areas at highest risk, including floodplains. Where development is necessary, and where there are no suitable sites available in areas with a lower risk of flooding, local planning authorities and developers should ensure development is appropriately flood resilient and resistant, safe for its users for the development’s lifetime, will not increase flood risk overall and will provide wider sustainability benefits.

The Environment Agency maps show the risk of flooding to areas of land although cannot assess specific risk to individual properties. They do not show where has or has not flooded before.

On the 25 March 2025, the Environment Agency intends to publish updated flood zone data on the ‘Flood map for planning’ which will support developers and planners to find the data they need to undertake flood risk assessments.

Many insurance companies use their own flood risk maps and data, alongside a combination of risk information, to determine insurance premiums.

The Department uses geospatial data aggregated up to various output levels, which are published as Official Statistics. These can be found at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/electric-vehicle-charging-infrastructure-statistics. The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) then uses this data as part of its policy decision making process.

Defra is currently undertaking a Post Implementation Review (PIR) of the INSPIRE Regulations 2009 (INSPIRE) to consider the future of INSPIRE and in particular in respect to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.

Defra commissioned The Open Data Institute (The ODI) to carry out an independent assessment of the impact of the INSPIRE regulations. As part of this assessment the ODI is consulting with key INSPIRE stakeholders in the UK including Defra, the Devolved Administrations, The Geospatial Commission, Ordnance Survey, The Data Standards Authority, the Chief Data and Digital Office and The Office for National Statistics.

The ODI is due to present its findings to Defra at the end of January 2023 which will inform the INSPIRE PIR.

The Priority Habitats Inventory, published on the MAGIC website, describes the distribution of 24 habitats of nature conservation importance identified in Section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (2006). The data underpinning the mapping have been compiled over a 40-year period from multiple sources including:

• Targeted field surveys;
• Habitat data captured to support the designation and management of protected Sites of Special Scientific Interest;
• Farm Environmental Audits completed to support delivery of Environmental Land Management Schemes and associated Scheme monitoring work;
• Data supplied by environmental stakeholder and partner organisations, where made available under appropriate license.

The Priority Habitats Inventory provides the best representation we have on an England-wide scale of the location and extent of the priority habitats, produced using openly available data. As a compilation of data, gathered from many sources over a lengthy timescale, it is not comprehensive.

To support Defra's objectives set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan and address these issues, Defra has set up the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment pilot. This is working across the Defra group to develop and improve our natural capital, habitat and ecosystem mapping and evidence. It includes work to produce Living England, a new comprehensive map of England's habitats, produced from interpretation of satellite data, which we will be able to be updated on a regular basis. It also includes work to enhance the existing Priority Habitats Inventory by improving the update process, collecting new priority habitat data, sourcing and adding additional habitat datasets held by partner organisations, and updating the Ancient Woodland Inventory.

The Forestry Commission (FC) is working with Natural England to ensure that those proposing forestry projects such as woodland creation do have access to the appropriate environmental data to help inform their proposals. The FC’s online map browser and Land Information Search (LIS) focusses on data more relevant to forestry activity, whereas the Defra Multi Agency Geographic Information [for the] Countryside (MAGIC) is a more general rural environment Geographic Information System portal. The FC’s map browser and LIS is currently being reviewed to ensure that it is able to access as many of the relevant publicly available datasets as possible, particularly those related to soils, valuable habitats and important wildlife populations.

The FC is also working with other bodies across Defra to provide new data on issues that regularly affect forestry projects and woodland activity, such as on water catchments.

Geographical Information datasets can only ever be indicative. There is no substitute for field visits and assessments of extant biodiversity interests by qualified ecologists. To that end, the FC has published a new priority habitat identification booklet and is appointing additional ecologists.

Natural England are currently working with key data holders, including the Botanical Society of the British Isles, on methods to ensure important natural habitats are better identified and protected. They are also working with the FC to ensure all future woodland creation applications are subject to the necessary scrutiny.