Chris Monk
Well-known member
All together now
Natural England will unite the government's conservation advisers, but the new body is already strapped for cash and may not have the independence to stand up to politicians. Peter Marren reports on a troubled birth
Wednesday September 6, 2006
The Guardian
It started so promisingly. Natural England, which comes into being on October 1, is to be the big, friendly watchdog responsible for all things green. It will unite English Nature, responsible for sites of special scientific interest and biodiversity, with the part of the Countryside Agency responsible for access and landscape, and the Rural Development Service (RDS), an arm of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) responsible for agri-environment schemes. It will, it is claimed, make life easier for the farmer and more efficient for the taxpayer.
Almost without exception, voluntary bodies have welcomed the idea of an integrated green watchdog - but on two conditions. It would need a generous budget and its advice would need to be independent of government. "It's essential that Natural England can raise the alarm on issues from genetically modified crops to damaging roadbuilding and climate change," says Tony Juniper, director of Friends of the Earth.
Yet Natural England is already under siege. In the last months of their corporate existence, English Nature and the Countryside Agency were reeling from budget cuts. Last December they were docked £8m to help Defra to balance its books. The government promised to restore the shortfall the following year, but reneged. Instead, the bodies were obliged to trim their accounts by a further £12m.
The cuts were made not because of dissatisfaction with English Nature but because, following unexpected costs from avian flu, and its mismanagement of rural payments, Defra's finances were a mess. As a highly placed source in English Nature put it: "Money has been lost to conservation to pay for Defra's incompetence."
To put these figures into context, English Nature's budget for 2005-06 was £84m. Of this, about half goes on salaries and operating costs, leaving £23m for conservation and management programmes. Since the body is not about to be slimmed down, the cuts, amounting to about £14m for English Nature alone, have to come from conservation work. This will have knock-on effects for Natural England when the cuts begin to bite late this year.
Natural England will have a huge annual budget of £500m, but most of this is tied up in salaries and farm payments. The resources for nature conservation are expected to remain about the same. So there could well be less to spend on nature in 2007 than before.
In a leaked private letter to the environment secretary, David Miliband, Natural England's chairman designate Sir Martin Doughty warned that "the scale of these cuts risks the wheels coming off the organisation before it even reaches October's launch pad". He went on: "I am deeply concerned that current financial demands being placed on us by Defra are eroding our capacity to deliver these benefits before we even begin."
This shortfall in funds at the very outset is seen by Mark Avery, conservation director of the RSPB, as "a disaster". A cash-strapped body unable to deliver on its full environmental remit would be "a giant leap backwards", he says. "The countryside would be worse off than it was before." He and 23 other conservation bodies with a joint membership of 8 million have written to Miliband and the chancellor, Gordon Brown, to voice their alarm at the cuts and appeal for "increased investment in the environment".
It gets worse. English Nature employs some 800 staff, known for their high degree of professional commitment. But morale has sunk so low that its acting chairman Mike Moser has written to Doughty warning that it could have an effect on performance.
The rot began when consultants were brought in to oversee job-matching in the transition from English Nature to Natural England. Some staff were not allocated jobs, some found themselves competing with others, while a lucky few found themselves with two jobs. With less than a month to go, most English Nature staff are still waiting anxiously to learn what they will be doing.
There are also mutterings about the new management culture. The leadership-in-waiting is widely seen as one of close control and lacking the necessary experience and management skills. English Nature staff were reportedly shaken by the resignation of Andy Clements, an experienced conservationist who was about to take up a position on the Natural England board as director of science and evidence. Officially, Clements left "by mutual agreement" for personal reasons. The real reason, it is believed, was that he was constantly being "undermined and disempowered" by other board members.
Clements was an insider among outsiders. He was the recognised authority on wildlife law in English Nature with more than 20 years' experience of nature conservation. Natural England's board now consists entirely of people who have no practical experience of English Nature's work. Helen Phillips, Natural England's chief executive designate, is from the Environment Agency in Wales. Her deputy, David Young, headed the Australian government's environment and heritage department.
Will Natural England have the same independence to speak out as English Nature enjoyed? According to a highly placed source in English Nature, influential voices inside No 10 and the Treasury had wanted the new body to be part of Defra with no policy advisory role. Although former environment secretary Margaret Beckett secured for it the status of a non-departmental public body, there are signs that its ability to form a view separate to government is being quietly undermined.
To begin with, most of Natural England's service functions are being contracted out under a new ruling that in future no government body with fewer than 20,000 staff can provide these facilities inhouse.
First to go is English Nature's information technology unit. Its experienced staff will join IBM or Defra's "family shared services". Set to follow into the pool are the financial, estates management and human resources teams.
Natural England's independent advisory role is threatened by another decree, embedded in the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. In future, the environment secretary will have the legal authority not only to issue "guidance" to Natural England but to give "direction" over policy matters.
With its relatively small budget and low profile, the government could afford to run English Nature on a fairly loose leash. With a budget more than six times as large, Defra will be keeping a closer eye on its successor.
Voluntary conservation bodies will also be watching. "We will be looking closely for signs of weakening of resolve," promises Juniper. "If the environmental movement loses its mouthpiece in government, it will be harder to face the challenges of the 21st century."
Natural England will unite the government's conservation advisers, but the new body is already strapped for cash and may not have the independence to stand up to politicians. Peter Marren reports on a troubled birth
Wednesday September 6, 2006
The Guardian
It started so promisingly. Natural England, which comes into being on October 1, is to be the big, friendly watchdog responsible for all things green. It will unite English Nature, responsible for sites of special scientific interest and biodiversity, with the part of the Countryside Agency responsible for access and landscape, and the Rural Development Service (RDS), an arm of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) responsible for agri-environment schemes. It will, it is claimed, make life easier for the farmer and more efficient for the taxpayer.
Almost without exception, voluntary bodies have welcomed the idea of an integrated green watchdog - but on two conditions. It would need a generous budget and its advice would need to be independent of government. "It's essential that Natural England can raise the alarm on issues from genetically modified crops to damaging roadbuilding and climate change," says Tony Juniper, director of Friends of the Earth.
Yet Natural England is already under siege. In the last months of their corporate existence, English Nature and the Countryside Agency were reeling from budget cuts. Last December they were docked £8m to help Defra to balance its books. The government promised to restore the shortfall the following year, but reneged. Instead, the bodies were obliged to trim their accounts by a further £12m.
The cuts were made not because of dissatisfaction with English Nature but because, following unexpected costs from avian flu, and its mismanagement of rural payments, Defra's finances were a mess. As a highly placed source in English Nature put it: "Money has been lost to conservation to pay for Defra's incompetence."
To put these figures into context, English Nature's budget for 2005-06 was £84m. Of this, about half goes on salaries and operating costs, leaving £23m for conservation and management programmes. Since the body is not about to be slimmed down, the cuts, amounting to about £14m for English Nature alone, have to come from conservation work. This will have knock-on effects for Natural England when the cuts begin to bite late this year.
Natural England will have a huge annual budget of £500m, but most of this is tied up in salaries and farm payments. The resources for nature conservation are expected to remain about the same. So there could well be less to spend on nature in 2007 than before.
In a leaked private letter to the environment secretary, David Miliband, Natural England's chairman designate Sir Martin Doughty warned that "the scale of these cuts risks the wheels coming off the organisation before it even reaches October's launch pad". He went on: "I am deeply concerned that current financial demands being placed on us by Defra are eroding our capacity to deliver these benefits before we even begin."
This shortfall in funds at the very outset is seen by Mark Avery, conservation director of the RSPB, as "a disaster". A cash-strapped body unable to deliver on its full environmental remit would be "a giant leap backwards", he says. "The countryside would be worse off than it was before." He and 23 other conservation bodies with a joint membership of 8 million have written to Miliband and the chancellor, Gordon Brown, to voice their alarm at the cuts and appeal for "increased investment in the environment".
It gets worse. English Nature employs some 800 staff, known for their high degree of professional commitment. But morale has sunk so low that its acting chairman Mike Moser has written to Doughty warning that it could have an effect on performance.
The rot began when consultants were brought in to oversee job-matching in the transition from English Nature to Natural England. Some staff were not allocated jobs, some found themselves competing with others, while a lucky few found themselves with two jobs. With less than a month to go, most English Nature staff are still waiting anxiously to learn what they will be doing.
There are also mutterings about the new management culture. The leadership-in-waiting is widely seen as one of close control and lacking the necessary experience and management skills. English Nature staff were reportedly shaken by the resignation of Andy Clements, an experienced conservationist who was about to take up a position on the Natural England board as director of science and evidence. Officially, Clements left "by mutual agreement" for personal reasons. The real reason, it is believed, was that he was constantly being "undermined and disempowered" by other board members.
Clements was an insider among outsiders. He was the recognised authority on wildlife law in English Nature with more than 20 years' experience of nature conservation. Natural England's board now consists entirely of people who have no practical experience of English Nature's work. Helen Phillips, Natural England's chief executive designate, is from the Environment Agency in Wales. Her deputy, David Young, headed the Australian government's environment and heritage department.
Will Natural England have the same independence to speak out as English Nature enjoyed? According to a highly placed source in English Nature, influential voices inside No 10 and the Treasury had wanted the new body to be part of Defra with no policy advisory role. Although former environment secretary Margaret Beckett secured for it the status of a non-departmental public body, there are signs that its ability to form a view separate to government is being quietly undermined.
To begin with, most of Natural England's service functions are being contracted out under a new ruling that in future no government body with fewer than 20,000 staff can provide these facilities inhouse.
First to go is English Nature's information technology unit. Its experienced staff will join IBM or Defra's "family shared services". Set to follow into the pool are the financial, estates management and human resources teams.
Natural England's independent advisory role is threatened by another decree, embedded in the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. In future, the environment secretary will have the legal authority not only to issue "guidance" to Natural England but to give "direction" over policy matters.
With its relatively small budget and low profile, the government could afford to run English Nature on a fairly loose leash. With a budget more than six times as large, Defra will be keeping a closer eye on its successor.
Voluntary conservation bodies will also be watching. "We will be looking closely for signs of weakening of resolve," promises Juniper. "If the environmental movement loses its mouthpiece in government, it will be harder to face the challenges of the 21st century."