11 June 2025
Environment groups have welcomed the maintenance of the agricultural-environment budget today but warn wider cuts to the Defra budget leave significant challenges for UK nature.
A largely maintained agricultural-environment budget will provide much needed reassurance to farmers and to environmentalists who were concerned about cuts to the scheme, which is the spine of the Government’s nature recovery funding. But nature groups warn that significant challenges remain from wider inadequate environment funding following the Spending Review.
Defra’s budget has been reduced from £8 billion per year to £7.4 billion. (see p91 of the Spending Review). While it is welcome that cuts to Defra’s settlement in the Spending Review have not been as severe as expected, a 2.7% cut in funding is still one of the most reduced department budgets in Whitehall. The reduced Defra budget follows years of under-funding and leaves the Government under-resourced for challenges ahead - notably around meeting 2030 nature recovery targets and tackling water pollution.[1]
Environment groups remain particularly concerned about the state of regulator and official body resourcing. Detail has yet to emerge on what the settlement means for bodies including Ofwat; the Environment Agency (already running at around 50% of 2009 funding levels in real-terms currently despite modest increases in the last two years) and Natural England (with funding already down 4% since last year and which has received increased planning and other responsibilities). There is potential for our watchdogs to have lower capacity, with reduced ability to monitor and enforce, with implications for action on water pollution and delays in the planning system.
Richard Benwell, CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said: "In a difficult spending period, maintaining the budget for wildlife-friendly farming is a crucial win for nature, wildlife-friendly farmers and the economy. But cuts in Defra’s wider budget mean that every Government Department must redouble other actions to ensure that critical 2030 nature recovery targets are met.
“This settlement is an important foundation for the future of nature, but critical decisions still remain. Details of regulator funding, set to be decided in the coming weeks, must not leave our watchdogs with a weaker bite. With public money still in short supply, the Government must set out in its forthcoming Environmental Improvement Plan how it will strengthen the law to require nature recovery from every Department - including nature-positive planning - and toughen the rules to ensure that polluters pay."
Hilary McGrady, Director-General of the National Trust, said: "Nature and wildlife aren't nice-to-haves. They underpin our health, our economy, our communities, and the food, water and air we need to survive. The Chancellor has recognised this and listened to the calls of the British public, together with those of the environment and the farming sectors, and maintained the budget for nature-friendly farming. Environment Secretary Steve Reed deserves credit for securing this budget in challenging financial circumstances.
"However, this alone will not be enough to solve the problem. This Government was elected with a promise - and a legal obligation - to the public that it would turn around the shocking declines in nature. With UK wildlife still in freefall, we'll be watching the Government's next steps closely, including on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill."
Joan Edwards OBE, director of policy and public affairs at The Wildlife Trusts, said: “The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, and many feared that today’s Comprehensive Spending Review would worsen the declines of wildlife. Fortunately, the Government has listened to the united call from farmers and nature organisations to protect England’s nature-friendly farming budget, one of the most cost effective and efficient ways to reach nature recovery and climate targets across vast swathes of the country.
“However, Defra will have an extremely tight budget and, against a backdrop of persistent inflation, there has been a real-terms cut to vital resource funding of around £130 million a year. This means that real risks to nature remain. We don't yet have details on how regulatory bodies like Natural England and the Environment Agency will be funded, for example, and any cuts to their work has serious implications for nature recovery.
“The economy, food, and health all depend on a flourishing natural world, and we cannot afford to delay action to bring nature back and tackle climate change any longer. We continue to call for a vastly increased scale of ambition and for the UK Government to make good on its promise to restore wildlife and tackle the increasing effects of climate change on our lives.”
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