As mentioned in Part 1 of this series, Section III of the Land Use Framework for England, titled 'Implementing the framework’, has a subsection that outlines one of the fundamentals of the document, which is supporting multifunctional and efficient land use.
Government is clear that food security is national security. It agrees with all those who responded to the consultation calling for safeguarding the best farmland from permanent land use changes and for improving the resilience of England's agricultural land to the impacts of climate change.
The framework also recognises the need to produce food more sustainably and from less land, using a mixture of productivity improvements and the expansion of highly efficient sectors.
A number of welcome commitments are outlined, spanning, for example, from developing a portfolio of sector growth plans to publishing updated agricultural land classification data and mapping as they become available.
These commitments are all aimed at maintaining food production in England, by increasing farm productivity and profitability and developing sector plans to underpin England's food security and drive economic growth.
This section of the framework also focuses on the significant barriers that tenant farmers face. In this regard, government has said that it will ensure land use change policy is accessible to the tenanted sector, which manages 32% of agricultural land in England. Reforms will ensure tenant farmers have rights that will give them the certainty to invest in their businesses.
Government intends to reform the Farm Tenancy Forum and work with landowners and the Commissioner for the Tenant Farming Sector as well as with the sector itself.
All this work will assist the Law Commission's independent review of agricultural legislation, which will focus on a reform of the body of law that governs the tenant farming sector and landlords.
Focus on challenges for land managers, advisers and planners
The framework also outlines how government will support land managers, farm advisers and planners deal with the challenges in gaining the knowledge and skills needed to adopt innovative land use practices, tools or processes.
The framework mentions that a 'targeted approach to financial incentives and regulation is critical' so that the scale of change required to farmland can be reduced. It states that: 'Better aligning incentives with spatial priorities will give farmers and investors the clarity needed to make long-term decisions about land use and investment that account for future climate change.'
The revised Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer for 2026 is referenced as providing 'a stable framework for the rest of this Parliament', though government expects to make refinements and improvements where it can. It promises a gradual transition to 'a more spatial approach' with some core actions outlined. These include:
- improving the spatial prioritisation of water company investment
- investment in cross-sector catchment partnerships
- working with farmers to 'co-produce an approach that focuses payments for a selection of SFI actions in the areas where they will make the greatest impact'
- investing in modernising digital farm and land services
- providing further detail on how government expects 'farming advice and [Environmental Land Management] ELM schemes to evolve over the next five to ten years in the forthcoming Farming Roadmap'.
The greater role that private nature markets will need to play to ensure transition to sustainable business practices is mentioned. This builds on consultation responses that acknowledged that investment will be needed to support the transition to sustainable farming, but emphasised that currently many in the farming sector lack knowledge about or confidence in payments from private sources. The framework outlines the steps that will be taken to deal with those issues.
What is proposed for multifunctional urban land, communities and recreational land?
In terms of multifunctional urban land, 'only 8.7% of England's land is developed', and government wants to take action to reduce the pressure of development on other land uses. This is to ensure that ‘homes and infrastructure can be delivered rapidly with confidence from communities that it is in the right place and designed to include space for nature.'
The recent consultation on the National Planning Policy Framework is referenced. Government is also proposing a 'default yes' to suitable planning applications for developments within a reasonable walking distance of well-connected stations, and action plans are set out to improve the multifunctionality of existing developed areas.
Empowering communities to improve local land is also touched on, and government has committed to supporting making under-used land available for food growth and nature recovery where appropriate. It will support land managers and owners to make more land accessible and continue to welcome responsible access, alongside continuing the work to review and seek further opportunities to disseminate the Countryside Code.
The important role of shooting estates and other recreational land in local economies, as well as their strong contribution to supporting wildlife and tackling climate change, is recognised.
Sharing responsibility for land stewardship
The framework acknowledges that dealing with the challenges of land use change will take time and experimentation. It will also mean the rest of society stepping up to match the efforts of the individual farmers and land managers leading the change.
That means learning from practice in the places where businesses and communities are already delivering more from their land.
This section describes the first steps government will take to build long-term partnerships with businesses and communities to implement the Land Use Framework – it sets out how responsibility could expand across five core groups:
- mayoral authorities and local government
- the government estate
- major landowners
- landscape partnerships
- citizens and local communities.
Plan to make data about land more accessible
The next subsection of the document is titled ‘Making land digital’ and is concerned with improving the availability of data to inform decision-making. A number of commitments are made, as follows.
- 'Make foundational data on land linkable and available to all those who need it.'
- 'Publish updated cross-Government land use statistics.'
- 'Improve combined mapping platforms.'
- 'Work with providers of foundational national geospatial data.'
Additionally, government promises to do the following.
- 'Publish a map of Defra's public spending on land management, nature restoration and land use change activity' (within 12 months' from March 2026).
- 'Provide an open-access National Soil Map of England and Wales.'
- 'Publish a Predictive Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) map'.
- 'Publish all survey condition data that the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) programme collects through Defra's open Data Services Platform and complete a baseline assessment of [England's] natural assets by 2029.'
RICS' response to the framework
RICS responded to the Land Use Framework consultation. Here are the official summary comments following the publication of the framework.
'While RICS is pleased to see the framework published and welcomes the focus on multifunctional land use, the organisation is of the view that the framework is too narrow in scope with its primary focus on agricultural land and doesn't recognise the broader role of land. For example, the supply of minerals from land. RICS is also concerned that the framework does not form part of the statutory planning system and will not resolve planning trade-offs.'
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