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35-523: Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs . It is responsible for ensuring that England 's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna , freshwater and marine environments , geology and soils, are protected and improved. It also has a responsibility to help people enjoy, understand and access

70-463: A key part of proposals to regenerate existing urban areas. Natural England is working with partners in the growth areas, growth points and proposed eco-towns to prepare and implement green infrastructure strategies and demonstrate good practice on the ground. Natural England is one of the steering group partners of Neighbourhoods Green , a green Infrastructure partnership initiative which works with social landlords and housing associations to highlight

105-503: A neutral level. Natural England was challenged in High Court in 2006 by Peter Boggis, a pensioner who protected his house from erosion. Natural England claimed that as the site of Boggis's house, at Easton Bavents north of Southwold on the Suffolk coast was a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), the protection went against the scientific community's interests. Natural England lost

140-426: A number of theoretical perspectives including: Adults Research examining the impact of green exercise in adults has demonstrated significant benefits for self-esteem and mood. The largest study of green exercise in adults involved meta-analytic methodologies to analyse the results of 10 studies based on 1252 green exercise participants. Results indicated that "the overall effect size for improved self-esteem

175-533: A small secretariat from the parent department, and any expenditure is paid for by that department. These bodies usually deliver a particular public service and are overseen by a board rather than ministers. Appointments are made by ministers following the Code of Practice of the Commissioner for Public Appointments . They employ their own staff and allocate their own budgets. These bodies have jurisdiction over an area of

210-430: Is no additional benefit of taking part in green exercise for self-esteem or mood. These findings can be related to nature deficit disorder whereby children are spending less time outdoors interacting with natural environments. To receive benefits from having contact with nature an individual needs to be connected and feel some emotion towards it, thus it is possible that children are not benefiting from green exercise in

245-496: Is responsible for the delivery of some of Defra's public service agreements (e.g. reversing the long-term decline in the number of farmland birds by 2020 and improving public access to the countryside). Natural England takes its finance, human resources and estates services from the Defra Shared Services organisation. Information technology services are outsourced to IBM. Natural England was established on 1 October 2006 by

280-609: Is responsible for their costs and has to note all expenses. NDPB differ from executive agencies as they are not created to carry out ministerial orders or policy, instead they are more or less self-determining and enjoy greater independence. They are also not directly part of government like a non-ministerial government department being at a remove from both ministers and any elected assembly or parliament. Typically an NDPB would be established under statute and be accountable to Parliament rather than to His Majesty's Government . This arrangement allows more financial independence since

315-584: The European System of Accounts (ESA.95). However, Statistics UK does not break out the detail for these bodies and they are consolidated into General Government (S.1311). Green exercise Green exercise refers to physical exercise undertaken in natural environments . Physical exercise is well known to provide physical and psychological health benefits . There is also good evidence that viewing, being in, and interacting with natural environments has positive effects, reducing stress and increasing

350-664: The Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 , which implemented the recommendations of a rural review by The Baron Haskins of Skidby . It was formed by the amalgamation of three founder bodies: It received the powers of the founder bodies. In 2008, Sir Martin Doughty , the Chairman of Natural England, warned the Prime Minister of the potential danger of genetically modified crops . However, in 2012, Poul Christensen, CBE,

385-596: The law . They are coordinated by His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service , an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice , and supervised by the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council , itself an NDPB sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. These bodies were formerly known as "boards of visitors" and are responsible for the state of prisons, their administration, and the treatment of prisoners. The Home Office

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420-748: The natural environment . Natural England focuses its activities and resources on four strategic outcomes: As a non-departmental public body (NDPB), Natural England is independent of government. However, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has the legal power to issue guidance to Natural England on various matters, a constraint that was not placed on its predecessor NDPBs. Its powers include defining ancient woodlands , awarding grants, designating Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Sites of Special Scientific Interest , managing certain national nature reserves , overseeing access to open country and other recreation rights, and enforcing

455-548: The Labour government in office from 1997 to 2010, though the political controversy associated with NDPBs in the mid-1990s for the most part died away. In 2010 the UK's Conservative-Liberal coalition published a review of NDPBs recommending closure or merger of nearly two hundred bodies, and the transfer of others to the private sector. This process was colloquially termed the "bonfire of the quangos". NDPBs are classified under code S.13112 of

490-580: The UK Government. This total included 198 executive NDPBs, 410 advisory bodies, 33 tribunals, 21 public corporations, the Bank of England , 2 public broadcasting authorities and 23 NHS bodies. However, the classification is conservative and does not include bodies that are the responsibility of devolved government , various lower tier boards (including a considerable number within the NHS), and also other boards operating in

525-427: The ability to cope with stress, reducing mental fatigue and improving concentration and cognitive function. The concept of green exercise has therefore grown out of well-established areas such as the attention restoration theory within environmental psychology which have tended to focus on the psychological and physical effects of viewing nature (e.g., see the work of Kaplan and Ulrich) and well-recognised work about

560-711: The associated regulations. It is also responsible for the administration of numerous grant schemes and frameworks that finance the development and conservation of the natural environment, for example environmental stewardship , the Countryside Stewardship Scheme , environmentally sensitive areas , and the Access to Nature Scheme. It has been severely criticised recently by badger protection lobbyists for allegedly ignoring scientific data and granting extended badger cull licences to DEFRA. Natural England's latest corporate plan sets out its goals and detailed objectives. It

595-423: The benefits of these green care interventions. Care farming in particular has been demonstrated to improve self-esteem and mood in those suffering from a variety of mental illnesses, whilst wilderness therapy has been demonstrated to improve self-esteem and psychological health outcomes in youth at risk. Children In comparison to research in adults, research in children and young people has indicated that there

630-502: The case in 2009, when Mr. Justice Blair, the brother of the former Prime Minister, ruled that Mr. Boggis' "human predicament" was more important than the site's SSSI status. Natural England won the subsequent appeal in October 2009. On 23 April 2019, Natural England (NE) announced that it was revoking three general licences in England for controlling certain wild birds using firearms. The removal

665-617: The creation of a "public appointments commissioner" to make sure that appropriate standards were met in the appointment of members of NDPBs. The Government accepted the recommendation, and the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments was established in November 1995. While in opposition, the Labour Party promised to reduce the number and power of NDPBs. The use of NDPBs continued under

700-549: The duration of these pay restraints and issues including equality and disparity between Public body pay increases. The following take from 2 December 2020 Research briefing on Public body pay. "In 2010, the Coalition Government announced a two-year pay freeze from 2011/12. Following cuts to local government funding, local government workers were subject to a three-year pay freeze. From 2013/14 to 2017/18 public sector pay awards were capped at an average of 1%. This policy

735-586: The first of a series of replacement licences, covering the killing of carrion crows , and announced its intention to issue further licences in the coming weeks. Defra issued further licences for the majority of the species covered by the original general licences, apart from Eurasian jay and rook . At NE's request, the Environment Secretary Michael Gove took over responsibility for the general licences from Natural England on 4 May 2019. Non-departmental public body The term includes

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770-419: The four types of NDPB (executive, advisory, tribunal, and independent monitoring boards) but excludes public corporations and public broadcasters ( BBC , Channel 4 , and S4C ). The UK Government classifies bodies into four main types. The Scottish Government also has a fifth category: NHS bodies . These bodies consist of boards which advise ministers on particular policy areas. They are often supported by

805-490: The government is obliged to provide funding to meet statutory obligations. NDPBs are sometimes referred to as quangos . However, this term originally referred to quasi-NGOs bodies that are, at least ostensibly, non-government organisations , but nonetheless perform governmental functions. The backronym "quasi-autonomous national government organization" is used in this usage which is normally pejorative. In March 2009 there were nearly 800 public bodies that were sponsored by

840-416: The importance of, and raise the overall quality of, design and management for open and green space in social housing. In 2019 and 2020, NE noted that housing development could adversely affect the environment in some rivers as sewage outputs would increase levels of nutrients , specifically nitrogen and phosphorus. NE advised that development should only proceed in these areas where this could be mitigated to

875-500: The next Chairman of Natural England, said that middle England should embrace new technologies like GM crops as long as there were adequate testing and safeguards. As a Public Body Natural England has been subject to pay Freezes and pay restrictions following the 2008 financial crash, and is likely to be subject to the 2020 three year pay freeze also. Natural England staff have now been subject to pay freezes and 1% pay increases. Staff and Unions representing staff have voiced concerns over

910-650: The psychological benefits of physical exercise . The potential role of green exercise in physical and mental health (e.g., due to nature-deficit disorder ) attracted increasing attention from the early twenty-first century, particularly through the research work of Jules Pretty and Jo Barton at the University of Essex . and several funded programs (see examples ). Research has involved participants from many different cohorts including adults, young people and vulnerable groups such as those with mental illness (see research ). Green exercise can be usefully considered from

945-594: The public sector (e.g. school governors and police authorities). These appointed bodies performed a large variety of tasks, for example health trusts , or the Welsh Development Agency , and by 1992 were responsible for some 25% of all government expenditure in the UK. According to the Cabinet Office their total expenditure for the financial year 2005–06 was £167 billion. As of March 2020, there were 237 non-departmental public bodies. Critics argued that

980-584: The staff who came from original bodies which vested to Natural England - The Rural Development Service, English Nature and the Countryside Agency. On this matter, and the pay freeze and pay reductions over 10 years Unions representing Natural England staff have threatened strike action. In May 2008, Natural England published a report, State of the Natural Environment , which brought together statistics and facts about England's environment. The report

1015-663: The system was open to abuse as most NDPBs had their members directly appointed by government ministers without an election or consultation with the people. The press , critical of what was perceived as the Conservatives' complacency in power in the 1990s, presented much material interpreted as evidence of questionable government practices. This concern led to the formation of a Committee on Standards in Public Life (the Nolan Committee) which first reported in 1995 and recommended

1050-437: Was d = 0.46 (CI 0.34−0.59, p < 0.00001) and for mood d = 0.54 (CI 0.38−0.69, p < 0.00001). Dose responses for both intensity and duration showed large benefits from short engagements in green exercise, and then diminishing but still positive returns. The study also revealed that all types of green environment improved self-esteem and mood, however the greatest improvements were experienced from environments where water

1085-399: Was intended to be used by environmental organisations as a benchmark and source for policy development. It complements reports on different topics produced by other organisations: Natural England funded eight pilot green exercise projects through local regional partnerships. These projects increased levels of physical activity and people's connections to their local green spaces. However, it

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1120-578: Was lifted in 2017 and from 2018/19 to 2020/21 the parts of the public sector that are covered by the PRBs received pay rises above 2%. The Trades Union Congress has criticised the constraints that were in place from 2010, arguing that they led to a "decade of lost pay". The severity of the cuts by the Conservative government to Natural England in particular have been reported in the media including The Guardian newspaper. There also exists pay disparities between

1155-400: Was not clear whether these projects really changed people's long-term attitudes. Natural England is promoting the concept of green infrastructure as a way to deliver a wide range of benefits for people and the natural environment together. It believes that green infrastructure should be delivered via the spatial planning system, as an integral part of new development everywhere, and also form

1190-654: Was present. Similarly all cohorts of participants experienced improvements in self-esteem and mood, however those suffering from mental illness experienced the greatest increases in self-esteem. Vulnerable groups The outcomes of the meta-analysis by Barton and Pretty indicated that green exercise may have therapeutic applications . This has led to the idea of Green Care. Green Care comprises all types of therapeutic green exercise activities including social and therapeutic horticulture, animal assisted interventions, ecotherapy, facilitated green exercise, wilderness therapy and care farming . There has been extensive research into

1225-500: Was without consultation or communication. These licences covered 16 species of birds including several species of crow, gull and pigeon, along with non-native species such as Canada goose and sacred ibis . Natural England took the decision following a legal challenge by the environmental group Wild Justice which questioned the legality of the general licences. This rendered farmers temporarily unable to kill these species without applying for individual licences. On 26 April 2019 NE issued

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