Tackling the 2025-26 National Park budgets

Published: 5 March 2025

For better or worse, we have a clearer picture of the budgets for 2025-2026 for National Parks in England and Wales. 

Last night’s approval of Welsh Government’s Annual Budget is a welcome step for National Parks in Wales, with a 5% increase in core grant funding. This doesn’t, however, remove the strain on National Park Authority budgets and the need for a long-term funding settlement which boosts levels of funding sufficiently to meet the challenges of today and achieve the full potential which National Parks have to deliver for people, nature and climate. 

Welsh Government also approved an additional £1.1m funding commitment to the new National Park designation programme, which is incredibly welcome given concerns about funding were a key issue raised in the consultation process. Welsh Government should follow this with a statement that sets out clearly that the new National Park in north east Wales will be provided with additional budget long term. The funding for new and existing National Parks is coupled with the new Ffermio Bro scheme which sees an additional £1.5m of investment to allow farmers to work in partnership with the 5 Designated Landscape management bodies to deliver bigger and better outcomes for the environment.  

As for England’s 10 National Parks, Defra have still not confirmed the core budget for National Park Authorities, despite being only weeks away from the start of the new financial year. What’s even more concerning is National Parks England are suggesting they expect a 9% cut to National Park Authority funding, which would harm delivery of crucial services and almost certainly lead to job cuts. Some of the smaller Authorities such as Dartmoor and Northumberland have indicated that such cuts could be existential and the Peak District have already announced job cuts. At a time when we should be investing in our Parks, in rangers and education services, to enable green growth and improved health outcomes, government should be ensuring that Authority operating budgets are properly resourced and ring-fenced. The National Park Authority budget in England equates to less than 1% of the overall Defra budget, it’s madness that this long-depleted pot is raided for departmental savings.

There may be a glimpse of silver in this very dark cloud over England’s National Parks. There are rumours suggesting Defra are poised to announce a grant scheme for National Park Authorities to deliver more for nature and access. This would be a very welcome step, given our Health Check report found that little of the Authority core grant is invested in nature recovery. Alongside the extension of the £30m Farming in Protected Landscapes, this investment would be an important step to deliver nature-rich National Parks for everyone. 

Image: Crib Goch, Eryri © Rachel Roberts