Land Use Framework: It all comes down to delivery

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Joseph Lewis

What’s in the Land Use Framework?

The Land Use Framework is a comprehensive policy document, setting out a framework-level approach to land use in England across three chapters, which broadly consider the Framework’s goals, the ways it can support better land use decisions, and the ways it will be implemented.

Within that context, it contains:

Seven visions for specific functions of land use in 2030 and 2050, with a view to housing, energy infrastructure and clean power, food production, nature recovery, resilient landscapes, landscapes for water, and communities
Three insights from the land use evidence base that inform the Framework’s approach: “There is enough land to deliver our objectives”, “Changes should play to the strengths of the land”, and “Cross-sector opportunities are key to efficiency and growth”
Four principles to drive land use decisions: multifunctionality, right use for the right place, future-ready decisions, and adaptive by design
Four implementation actions: Consistent spatial plans to join-up decisions on land use, support for multifunctional and efficient land use (including through funding for farming, alignment across spatial priorities, and the diversification of land use finance), making land digital (which more or less involves the better use of technology and data to inform land use decisions), and sharing responsibility for the stewardship of land (with specific reference to mayors and local authorities, the government estate, major landowners, landscape partnerships, and local communities)

For the full details of what the Land Use Framework includes, see the Government’s response to the consultation, as well as the Land Use Framework itself. For all the context, read our briefing on the Land Use Framework.

10 rapid reactions from the IES Policy Team

It will take some time to fully reflect on the Land Use Framework and its implications for land use decisions in England. For now, the IES Policy Team has compiled 10 ‘rapid reactions’ to highlight key features of the Land Use Framework and some of the emerging implications to keep an eye on over the coming weeks.

1. It all comes down to delivery

Frameworks are critical for enabling strategic decisions and ensuring a coherent approach to policy. As ever, outcomes will depend on delivery. Throughout the Framework, there are clear examples of sound strategic approaches that won’t be possible in practice without support for implementation.

One of the clearest examples concerns farming, where the Framework’s analysis is that “most changes are about making land more multifunctional alongside food production, rather than taking land out of production entirely.” That understanding is correct, but it fundamentally depends on the necessary actions for delivery, particularly funding through Environmental Land Management Schemes and the Sustainable Farming Incentive to encourage those multifunctional approaches.

A strong framework for decision making only adds value where the decisions it encourages are financially viable in practice.

2. The Framework has meaningfully improved since the consultation

Both the consultation response and the Framework itself show that the months between the call for evidence and the Framework’s publication have not been wasted. Where the consultation was ultimately the start of a conversation, the published Land Use Framework offers some definitive answers around how land use decisions should be made and how the Government thinks the Framework can help.

There are also some clear topics where the Framework shows that voices have been listened to during the consultation stage, particularly around providing details and clarity on principles and big picture implementation.

That said, there are still some areas where the Framework has not captured the response from environmental experts, such as the exclusion of certain categories of land use change from consideration, where there are major potential drivers for multifunctional land use that are not fully represented in the analysis. Where these opportunities are not covered by the Framework, it will fall to the Government to find other ways to promote positive change.

3. Each of the visions for the future is sound, but they exist in isolation

The seven visions set out in the early chapters of the Framework provide a useful and positive perspective of how land use can change to achieve multiple objectives. Having a positive vision is essential, because it gives us something to aspire to and something to take specific action towards. It also shows the merit of making decisions with multifunctionality in mind.

There are still some issues around the visions, which indicate a general challenge that the Land Use Framework is likely to face in achieving its goals. There is no single ‘vision of the future’ in 2030 or 2050 within the Land Use Framework, and the lines between the different outcome visions are not always explicit. Someone can see the positive world that might be created if they support land use change for energy infrastructure but can’t necessarily see how different functions connect in that imaginary future, so they may forego opportunities that could otherwise have been created.

This is a general challenge for the concept of multifunctionality. For something to be multifunctional, it can’t just be a series of individual functions next to each other, there needs to be a degree of integration. The Framework recognises this, but it does not always present the systemic aspects of biophysical and human land use that are necessary to drive multifunctional outcomes ‘on the ground’.

4. The evidence base has been used well and recognises its limits

When the land use consultation came out last year, concerns were raised about the Analytical Annex and some of the assumptions made. While the Framework does not come with a new Analytical Annex, it contains a much better understanding of its evidence, including a recognition of where the limitations are in the evidence and analysis.

As a result, the Framework is able to leverage its evidence relatively effectively. The three key insights presented from the evidence base provide a strong foundation for policy makers to understand the issues facing land use and the potential for solutions. Even where there are still limitations for the evidence that future Land Use Frameworks will need to overcome, the evidence that has been collected is used effectively.

To encourage the multifunctional approach needed to support change, the Framework needed to show that such an approach can succeed and that it needs to start with collaboration and an appropriate use of land based on its qualities. The key insights make a strong case for that approach.

5. Cross-sector opportunities have a strong place in the Framework

Building on those insights, cross-sector opportunities are identified across the Framework, which will support the case being made by those working towards these goals. Part way through the Framework, there is a strong case study around upland peatlands. It provides evidence on a multifunctional approach to food production that also delivers climate benefits, as well as water quality and security.

Peatlands are already on the policy radar, particularly around climate co-benefits, but the Framework does a good job of broadening the case for a multifunctional approach.

There are clear benefits here: those working with stakeholders in other sectors, or who are working towards a different set of objectives, are going to be in a stronger position to make the case that a more holistic approach aligns with government policy and can be mutually beneficial.

6. The principles are a strong step towards better decisions

Arguably the most important part of the Land Use Framework is the approach to land use principles. The four principles are strong and have benefited from more details and analysis since the consultation period. In particular, the inclusion of anticipatory changes emerging from climate impacts is a critical part of future land use planning.

There are still two big barriers facing the success of the principles.

The first is the limitation of their power and scope. The principles apply to government policy decisions on land use and national spatial planning decisions (but not the planning process). The principles are also intended to inform national strategies and programmes, regional and local strategies and plans, and the actions of individual landowners and managers.

Many of the key government strategies that the principles could have shaped are already in place. The Environmental Improvement Plan and the Carbon Budget (and Growth) Delivery Plan are already active, so the opportunity to shape them has been missed.

Critically, the principles are “not intended … to be a material consideration for the preparation of development plans or for making decisions on planning applications or nationally significant infrastructure projects”. Given competing objectives, it’s going to be hard to seize as many opportunities to embody the principles as could have been possible.

The Framework also aspires to “encourage all land managers to factor in these principles in the way they manage their land.” This aspiration lacks the teeth necessary to enforce the principles in a widespread way, so it will fall to other delivery mechanisms, particularly around financial incentives, to ensure the principles work in practice.

A second problem is that the principles don’t fully reach the big systems that drive many of the land use changes the Framework is looking at. Planning for multifunctional outcomes is a vital principle, and is well-defended in the Framework, but it might not be possible without a systemic understanding of how outcomes can compete, both in the short-term and beyond the ‘next generation’ perspective of the Land Use Framework.

7. A new Land Use Unit could be a hidden gem

Buried within the other proposals, the Framework announces the intention to “establish a Land Use Unit in Defra”, with initial responsibilities including the production of a single map of national spatial priorities for Defra outcomes and making Defra data and analysis more externally visible, with a view to applying local decision making to national policy.

This could be a really strong addition to the way that land use decisions are made. It keeps evidence at the heart of the discussion, and it could also help to build a bridge between policy makers and those responsible for implementation. The latter is always a challenge for complex policy, but it could be especially critical for an issue like land use, where the decisions being made can feel very distant to the outcomes of those decisions.

8. There are strong commitments around coordination

As mentioned, the Framework has a strong commitment to coordinating different stakeholders to achieve its objectives. The commitment is very welcome but will again come down to how it is delivered.

The first commitment is to provide the certainty and coherence needed to make decisions well. In the Framework, the Government commits to “a coordinated, spatial picture of national priorities on land that will help Strategic Authorities use their new planning powers to combine national and local priorities in delivering growth, housing, and nature recovery.”

There are also commitments around the flow of information between local, regional, and national decision makers, with a view to feedback loops between national strategies and land managers and communities. Making that feedback loop work in practice is going to be a critical feature of a successful Land Use Framework, so the burden will fall on delivery, which may need to go beyond providing information.

9. Leveraging data is critical and will be another key delivery challenge

Throughout the Framework, there are clear examples of where data and evidence have been used effectively to support decisions. The Framework seeks to continue that trend, with a chapter on ‘Making land digital’. Rather than creating some kind of Matrix-style landscape, the chapter is actually looking at the ways that data and technology can be utilised to support land use decisions in line with the Framework.

The Framework commits to better approaches to capturing land data, making it accessible, and applying it spatially using digital tools and new technology. This is another strong commitment in the Framework. Once again, its success will depend on what the delivery looks like, and whether the right evidence is being used in the right ways.

10. This is the start of a journey, and it’s a great first step

Another important note early in the Framework is the commitment to future Land Use Frameworks. The introduction to the visions commits to five more Land Use Frameworks by 2050, which will shape an ongoing process of iterative decision making around land use.

That approach is going to be critical. While we need coherence of decisions into the future, we also need an adaptive approach. Building on each Land Use Framework as new evidence develops will be essential, because climate change and environmental degradation are already changing the baseline for environmental outcomes.

Looking at the new Land Use Framework as the start of a journey, it’s easy to see lots of positives, even if future frameworks will need to continue building on this foundation.

What next?

The IES supports the Government’s ambition for a transformative approach to land use to deliver a country with thriving people, a healthy economy, and a flourishing environment. The Land Use Framework is one step towards that aspiration, but we need to continue speaking up for the voice of science and the environment to ensure the ambitions set out in the Land Use Framework are delivered in practice.

Get involved: if you want to support the work of the IES to stand up for science and nature, become an affiliate, or if you’re an environmental professional, join the IES.

Read more about the Land Use Framework in the Government's consultation response and our briefing on the Land Use Framework
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Learn more about recent policy developments in our briefings on clean air, water policy and land and nature policy
Find out more by reading the latest articles from Essential Environment, including insights on proposed changes to the NPPF and our analysis on the future of Environmental Impact Assessment

If you want to learn more about environmental policy or the training we offer for members, please contact Joseph Lewis, Head of Policy (joseph@the-ies.org).