Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

If it were seriously suggested that guidance was needed, we would certainly look carefully into it and I am sure that we will be able to debate the issue in greater detail in Committee. The hon. Gentleman raises an important point, to which I would like to respond. Concerns were expressed from the outset that the function of protecting biodiversity must not be diminished. Those closely involved in the preparation for establishing the agency—not least the present chairman of English Nature, who has been good enough to act as chair of the joint group of chairs of the constituent bodies—have taken the view that there is merit in bringing together the access and biodiversity functions and that there is something to be said for having one body to decide on the difficult choices and balances that have to be made. I understand the concern. The argument about the best way to handle the matter is legitimate, but I assure the hon. Gentleman both that the Government have taken the issues on board and that there is great recognition of the sensitivities that he described. The Bill will also establish the commission for rural communities. As we said only a few weeks ago in our rural manifesto, this Government have undertaken unprecedented investment in rural schools, transport, health care and policing, and to support small local businesses, particularly rural post offices. However, I am clear that a particular focus of the commission’s work, as we develop our public services in rural areas, should be on analysing and advising on tackling rural disadvantage. Some rural areas are indeed relatively prosperous, but there are some considerable disparities in wealth between, and even within, different rural areas, with pockets of deprivation hidden among otherwise thriving areas. It is only right that scarce public resources are as far as possible targeted towards those people, businesses and communities that need them most. The Bill emphasises that focus. Some who responded to the draft Bill in February were concerned that that emphasis could in some way skew the commission’s work away from the needs of rural England as a whole. That is not the Government’s intention. The commission’s remit clearly covers all rural areas and issues, but it will have a particular regard to rural disadvantage and economic underperformance. That approach is rooted in the Government’s and the Labour party’s core values and we think that it strikes the right balance.