DEFRA: Natural England's role in Improving Sites of Special Scientific Interest

HC 244, Thirty-fourth Report of Session 2008-09 - Report, Together with Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence

Author:: House of Commons - Public Accounts Committee
Publisher:: TSO (The Stationery Office)

DEFRA: Natural England's role in Improving Sites of Special Scientific Interest (HC 244)

A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is an area of land containing habitats and wildlife that are of national or international importance. There are over 4,000 SSSI sites in England, protected through restrictions on activities and development which would adversely affect the sites.

In 2000, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs agreed a Public Service Agreement (PSA) target to bring 95% of SSSI land area into a 'favourable' or 'recovering' condition by December 2010. The reported condition of sites has increased from 52% of land area in target condition in December 2002 to 86% in February 2009.

The programme of SSSI condition assessments is not up-to-date and Natural England has put in place a programme of work to address the backlog of assessments by 2010, and has introduced quality assurance systems and guidelines to improve the consistency of its record keeping.

Public expenditure on SSSIs has more than doubled over the past eight years, from £35.6 million a year in 2000-01 to £85.4 million in 2008-09. Financial incentives to encourage private landowners to conserve sites account for some 58% of public expenditure.

There is scope to improve the processes for identifying new sites and declassifying existing ones which are no longer of special interest.

The November 2008 National Audit Office report on this topic (HC 1051, ISBN 9780102954401) is available to buy separately, please see below.

Extent	32 pages	ISBN	9780215532701
Size	A4	Price	£10.00
Binding	Paperback	Published	07 Jul 2009
Availability	Colour copy: 3 - 5 days	Delivery	Delivery options and charges