Department details

Introduction

This administrative history covers the Countryside Agency (established in 1999), its successor, Natural England (established in 2006) and those bodies which are its predecessors: the Development Commission (1909-1988), Rural Development Commission (1988-1999), National Parks Commission (1949-1968), and the Countryside Commission (1968-1999). It therefore focuses on bodies involved in the development and protection of the countryside, primarily in relation to England. Agencies involved in the protection of wildlife and the natural environment (e.g. the Nature Conservancy Council and its successor, English Nature) are not covered. This reflects what one commentator has called the "great divide" in British government between agencies involved in landscape protection and those concerned with nature conservation. This is more relevant to England than to Scotland or Wales, where both functions have been combined since the creation of the Countryside Council for Wales and Scottish Natural Heritage in 1991 and 1992.1 Following the setting up of Natural England in October 2006 a unified body covering both landscape protection and nature conservation has been established. Natural England was formed by bringing together English Nature (EN), the landscape, access and recreation elements of the Countryside Agency (CA) and the environmental land management functions of the Rural Development Service (RDS).

Development Commission and Rural Development Commission

The Development Commission was established under the Development and Road Improvement Fund Act 1909, which was introduced by David Lloyd-George, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, as a measure to combat the effects of decades of agricultural depression in rural Britain. The Act established a Development Fund to assist the development of agriculture, rural industries, forestry, land drainage and reclamation, rural transport, harbours, internal navigation and fisheries. Grants or loans could be made from the Fund to government departments or to non-profit bodies to assist these purposes. The function of the eight Development Commissioners was to make recommendations to the Treasury on applications for advances from the Development Fund. Expenditure from the Fund continued to be subject to the Treasury's approval until 1971, when this role was transferred to the Department of the Environment.2

Although the Commission's remit was broad, in practice it was constrained by the requirement that it should not fund profit making organisations. Many of its functions were progressively transferred to other departments and agencies. In 1919 its powers in regard to forestry and transport were transferred to the Forestry Commission and the Ministry of Transport, respectively (for further information on these departments, see the Administrative Histories of the Forestry Commission and the Transport Departments). Functions with respect to agricultural research, education and advisory services were transferred in 1946 to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (see the Administrative History of the Agriculture Departments), which also received the Commission's powers to make grants and loans for fishery harbours in 1955. Functions in relation to marine and freshwater biology, and fishery research, were passed to the Natural Environment Research Council in 1965. Responsibility for the economic and social development of Wales was transferred to the Development Board for Rural Wales under the Development of Rural Wales Act 1976.3

Before the Second World War the Commission's activities were primarily focused on promoting agriculture. It supported the County Agricultural Committees, which were established to formulate schemes for developing rural industries and rural society. It also encouraged the work of the National Council for Social Service (established 1919), and the Rural Community Councils (independent charities providing advice and help to voluntary organisations and groups in rural areas), the first of which was established in 1920. The need for a central organisation to diffuse ideas through training and advisory services led the Commission to set up the Rural Industries Intelligence Bureau in 1921. In 1940 it created the Rural Industries Loan Fund to assist with the maintenance of machinery needed for food production, as part of the war effort.4

In the post-war period the Commission focused much of its energies on promoting rural industry, particularly through a programme of workshop and factory building. Much of this work was done through the Council for Small Industries in Rural Areas (CoSIRA), an agency of the Commission, which was established in 1968 by the amalgamation of the Rural Industries Intelligence Bureau and the Rural Industries Loan Fund. CoSIRA was charged with improving the prosperity of small businesses in the countryside by providing advisory, technical and managerial services. During the 1980s the Commission gained the power to designate Rural Development Areas (RDAs), in which an integrated approach to economic and social development would be encouraged, through Rural Development Programmes prepared by local authorities in conjunction with other agencies. The first RDA was established in 1984: by 2000 RDAs covered parts of 29 English counties, or about 35% of the total land area of England. The 1980s and 1990s also saw the Commission increasingly concerned with the promotion of affordable rural housing, and with research and experimentation in the provision of rural services.5 National surveys to measure the extent of rural services in England were conducted by the Commission in 1991, 1994 and 1997. Datasets for these surveys have been transferred to NDAD (see Records in NDAD).

The 1980s and 1990s saw significant changes in the constitution of the Commission. It was reconstituted under the Miscellaneous Financial Provisions Act 1983, which incorporated the Commission as a body of up to twelve Commissioners with the function of advising the Secretary of State for the Environment on all matters relating to the economic and social development of rural areas in England. Its powers included making grants and loans, the ability to acquire land and property, to form and hold interests in bodies corporate, and to provide or facilitate the provision of industrial and commercial premises. In April 1988 the Commission merged with CoSIRA and became known as the Rural Development Commission, although without any change in its statutory functions. A significant change to the Commission's powers occurred in 1998, when the Regional Development Agencies Act established Regional Development Agencies in each of the nine regions of England, and empowered the Secretary of State to require the Commission to prepare schemes for the transfer of its property, rights and liabilities to the new Agencies. In the following year the Commission's responsibilities under the Miscellaneous Financial Provisions Act were transferred to the Countryside Commission (see "Countryside Commission", below), which was renamed the Countryside Agency (see "Countryside Agency", below). The Rural Development Commission's residual body was wound up in 2000.6

National Parks Commission

The establishment of national parks was first examined in 1931 by the Addison Committee, which reported in favour of a system of national reserves and nature sanctuaries, but came out against the establishment of American-style national parks. No government action resulted from the Committee's report. This led the Councils for the Preservation of Rural England and Rural Wales to establish a Standing Committee on National Parks, which pressed for the setting up of a national parks commission during the Second World War. The Committee's advocacy was reinforced by the Scott Committee on Land Utilisation in Rural Areas, whose report in 1942 stressed that national parks were long overdue. This was followed in 1945 by the Dower Report on National Parks in England and Wales (Cmnd 6628). The Dower Report advocated the creation of national parks which would combine protection of wildlife, the landscape and historic buildings and sites, with the encouragement of access and facilities for open-air enjoyment, and the maintenance of established farming use. This combination of conservation, recreation and economic activity acted as a model for the national parks which were established in England and Wales after the Second World War.7

The immediate impetus to the creation of national parks came from the report of the Committee on National Parks (the Hobhouse Committee), which was appointed in 1945 by the incoming Labour government. The Committee's report in 1947 built on the work of the Scott and Dower reports by examining in detail how national parks could be established. It led to the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, which covered England and Wales. In Scotland, the work of a similar committee (the Ramsay Committee) was stillborn due to opposition from landed interests. Five areas proposed by the Ramsay Committee as national parks were designated as National Park Direction Areas until 1980, when this was abolished.

The National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 created the National Parks Commission, whose main function was to establish national parks in England and Wales. Ten parks were designated by the Commission between 1951 and 1957. The Commission was also empowered to designate Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and to submit proposals for the creation of long-distance routes along public rights of way such as footpaths and bridleways. The Commission was replaced by the Countryside Commission in 1968 (see "Countryside Commission", below).8

Countryside Commission

The Countryside Act 1968 replaced the National Parks Commission (see "National Parks Commission", above) with a new agency, the Countryside Commission, which had a broader remit. The Commission was responsible for reviewing the provision and improvement of facilities for enjoying the countryside, for the conservation and enhancement of the natural beauty and amenity of the countryside, and for questions of public access. It had grant making powers and was empowered to acquire and sell property, conduct research, provide technical services to assist local planning or countryside services, and to exercise greater supervision over such services than had been the case with the National Parks Commission. Like its predecessor, the Countryside Commission was responsible for National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. In 1991 the Commission launched the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, which aimed to promote environmentally sensitive farming. The Scheme was administered by the Commission in conjunction with English Nature and English Heritage; its implementation was transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1994.

The Countryside Commission was responsible to the Minister of Housing and Local Government and the Secretary of State for Wales until 1970, when responsibility for the agency was transferred to the Department of the Environment and the Welsh Office. The Environmental Protection Act 1990 transferred the Commission's functions in Wales to a new body, the Countryside Council for Wales, which also inherited the Welsh functions of the Nature Conservancy Council. Previously the Commission had appointed a Committee for Wales in consultation with Secretary of State for Wales. After the 1990 Act the Commission's remit was limited to England. In 1999 the Commission was renamed the Countryside Agency (see "Countryside Agency", below), when it inherited powers from the Rural Development Commission (see "Development Commission and Rural Development Commission", above).9

Countryside Agency

• Recreation and leisure: policies in relation to rural tourism and recreation, access and rights of way, and National Trails. A National Countryside Access Forum was set up by the Agency to advise on policy, procedures and implementation with respect to the Countryside and Rights of Way Bill, published in March 2000.11
• Rural communities: policies in regard to village shops (including grants to shopkeepers under the Village Shops Development Scheme), the development of market towns, and combatting social exclusion in rural areas; administration of the Millennium Greens programme (an initiative funded by the Millennium Commission to create open spaces) and the Local Heritage Initiative (a grant scheme to help local groups investigate, explain and care for their local landscape, landmarks, traditions and culture). The Survey of Rural Services, started by the Rural Development Commission (see "Development Commission and Rural Development Commission", above), was inherited and continued by the Countryside Agency.12
• Rural planning: policy in regard to rural planning, including the Village Design Scheme to encourage local communities to produce Village Design Statements as guidance for planning in their areas.13
• Farming and land use: the encouragement of environmentally sustainable farming and land use, including reform of the European Commission's Common Agricultural Policy; a Land Management Initiative which "aims to test and demonstrate how England's land management and farming systems can respond to the changing demands on agriculture in ways that will maintain a healthy, attractive environment and contribute to thriving rural economies and communities"; a Local Products Programme intended to secure improvements in the market for agricultural products which contributed to the diversity and environmental quality of the countryside; sponsorship (with the Forestry Commission) of the Forests of the Community Programme; and membership (with other conservation departments) of the Land Use Policy Group.14
• Protection of the countryside: including National Parks, Heritage Coasts and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.15
• Rural transport: policies in relation to rural transport, including the administration of grants from the Rural Transport Development Fund and the Rural Transport Partnership Scheme; the Quiet Roads Initiative, aimed at making minor rural roads safer and more attractive for those not in motor vehicles; and the development of Greenways ("a network of largely car-free off-road routes . . . for shared use by people of all abilities on foot, bike or horseback, for car-free commuting, play or leisure").16

New Countryside Agency

In November 2003, the report of a review of rural delivery arrangements commissioned by the government from Lord Haskins recommended that aspects of the activities undertaken by the Countryside Agency, English Nature and DEFRA's Rural Development Service should be brought together to create a new "integrated agency" with responsibility for delivering the government's policies in rural areas. While the Rural Delivery Review recommended the abolition of the Countryside Agency, in her acceptance of the review's findings, Margaret Beckett (Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) stated that she saw a continuing role for the Agency as "a much smaller organisation, with a new, well focused role providing independent policy advice to Government from a national perspective on issues affecting people in rural communities, and analysing and reporting on best practice in the delivery of the Government's rural policies". In February 2004 the government announced that the new integrated agency would be established as an executive non-departmental public body to ensure its independence.17

The new Countryside Agency is now operating as a statutory body working to improve the quality of both the Countryside and the lives of the individuals who reside there. It is a non-departmental body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The Agency is still undergoing some significant changes in response to DEFRA's Rural Strategy published in July 2004 and the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill currently (ie February 2006) before Parliament:

1. The Commission for Rural Communities has been established as a division of the Agency, to act as a rural advocate, expert adviser and independent watchdog with a particular focus on disadvantage. It is intended that this Commission will become an independent body once the Bill is passed as law.
2. Landscape, access and recreation teams are working both regionally and nationally with with new partners, English Nature and the Rural Development Service. Efforts are being harnessed and coordinated across the key activities to improve services, partnerships and contribute to sustainable development as incremental steps are taken towards the formation of a new integrated agency, to be known as 'Natural England'. The inception of this new agency is expected in October 2006.
3. Most of the Department's current socio-economic delivery functions have been transferred to Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and DEFRA for delivery through Government Offices.18

The Local Heritage Initiative (LHI) was launched in 2000 with the aim of helping communities bring their local heritage to life by providing small grants of £3,000 to £25,000 to community heritage projects. LHI provided funds, advice and support to enable communities to investigate, explain and care for their local landmarks, landscape, traditions and culture. The LHI programme was administered by the Countryside Agency and funded through the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), with additional sponsorship from Nationwide Building Society. It awarded grants of over £23 million to more than 1,400 communities between 2000 and 2006. For a more detailed review of the work of the Local Heritage Initiative see the Dataset Documentation Catalogue, reference CRDA/67/DD/2.

Survey of Rural Services: reference CRDA/30

The Survey of Rural Services was undertaken by the Rural Development Commission and its successor, the Countryside Agency (see General) in 1991, 1994, 1997 and 2000, to measure the provision of services in rural areas of England. In each case, information was gathered via postal questionnaires sent to the clerks of parish councils, supplemented in 2000 by an analysis using GIS software of a variety of external datasets on the location of service outlets. Datasets for these surveys and related documentation have been transferred to NDAD: see the Series Catalogue for further details.

Local Heritage Initiative project directory: reference CRDA/67

NDAD holds a dataset created out of the Local Heritage Initiative (LHI) small grants programme, launched in 2000 to help communities bring their local heritage to life. This was administered by the Countryside Agency. LHI awarded funds and provided advice and support to the projects and collected the records and stories from the projects in an archive based around the LHI website. The dataset held by NDAD is derived from the project directory section of this website, and contains information about each project, including its name, contact details, a description and details of the grant awarded. In addition, NDAD holds supporting images, documents and multimedia files for many of the LHI projects. See the Series Catalogue for further details.

Vital Villages Project Database: reference CRDA/68

NDAD holds one dataset in this series, for the period April 2001 - March 2005 (reference CRDA/68/DS/1). The dataset was generated from the Countryside Agency's Vital Villages Programme which was set up to provide advice, funding and support for rural communities, ranging from community services to interpreting and conserving local heritage. See the Series Catalogue for further details.

The National Archives holds records of the Development Commission and the Rural Development Commission in classes with the prefix "D", and records of the National Parks Commission and the Countryside Commission in classes with the prefix "COU".

For additional information on the work of the Countryside Agency and its predecessors, contact The Countryside Agency, John Dower House, Crescent Place, Cheltenham, Glos GL50 3RA (telephone: 01242 521381; email: info@countryside.gov.uk), or visit the Agency's website.

1. Michael Winter, Rural Politics: Policies for Agriculture, Forestry and the Environment (London: Routledge, 1996), pp. 199-200, 216.

2. Public Record Office, Public Record Office Current Guide (Kew: Public Record Office, 1996), part 1, section 513/1/1; Chris Minay, "The Development Commission and English Rural Development", Rural Development: Problems and Practices, ed. Henry Buller and Susan Wright (Aldershot: Avebury, 1990), pp. 211-212.

3. Public Record Office, Public Record Office Current Guide, part 1, section 513/1/1; Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone, ed., Halsbury's Laws of England: Fourth Edition Reissue, vol 47 (London: Butterworths, 1994), p. 508 n. 4.

4. Minay, "Development Commission", pp. 213-214, 221.

5. Public Record Office, Public Record Office Current Guide, part 1, section 513/1/1; Minay, "Development Commission", pp. 216-220; Countryside Agency, "Rural Development Areas" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/what/rda1.htm( (accessed: 4 July 2000).

6. Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone, ed., Halsbury's Laws of England: Fourth Edition Reissue, vol 47 (London: Butterworths, 1994), pp. 507-508; Minay, "Development Commission", p. 224; Halsbury's Laws of England: Fourth Edition: Cumulative Supplement 2000, part 2 (volumes 19-52) (London: Butterworths, 2000), p. 47/57.

7. Public Record Office, Public Record Office Current Guide, part 1, section 517/1/1; Winter, Rural Politics, pp. 193-195.

8. Public Record Office, Public Record Office Current Guide, part 1, sections 517/1/1-517/1/2; Winter, Rural Politics, pp. 195-197.

9. Public Record Office, Public Record Office Current Guide, part 1, section 517/1/3; Winter, Rural Politics, pp. 197, 216, 235.

10. Halsbury's Laws of England: Fourth Edition: Cumulative Supplement 2000, part 2 (volumes 19-52) (London: Butterworths, 2000), pp. 34/4 and 47/57; Countryside Agency, "More about the Agency" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/reception/more_01.htm( (accessed: 31 July 2000).

11. Countryside Agency, "Access and Rights of Way" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/access/rightsway_01.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000), "National Trails" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/access/nationaltrails_03.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000), and "Tourism and Recreation" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/access/tourism_01.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000).

12. Countryside Agency, "Village Shops" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/rural/villageshops_01.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000), "Market Towns" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/rural/markettowns_01.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000), "Millennium Greens" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/speacial/milleniumgreens_01.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000), "Local Heritage Initiative" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/speacial/lhi_01.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000) and "Social Exclusion" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/rural/socialexclusion_01.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000).

13. Countryside Agency, "Rural Planning Policies" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/farming/ruralplanning_01.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000), and "Village Design Statements" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/rural/villagedesign_intro.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000).

14. Countryside Agency, "Farming: the land use policy group and other web links" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/farming/farming_03.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000), "Farming: farming policy" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/farming/farming_02.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000), "Farming: local products programme" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/farming/farming_14.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000), "Community Forests: Introduction" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/farming/communityforests_02a.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000), and "Farming: Land Management Initiatives" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/farming/farming_04.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000).

15. Countryside Agency, "National Parks" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/landscapes/nationalparks_01.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000), "Heritage Coasts" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/landscapes/heritagecoasts_01.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000), and "Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/landscapes/aonb_01.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000).

16. Countryside Agency, "Quiet Roads" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/transport/quietroads_01.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000), "Greenways and Quiet Roads" (http://www.greenways.gov.uk/site/index.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000), and "Rural Transport" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/activities/transport/ruraltransport_01.htm) (accessed: 31 July 2000).

17. DEFRA website, news release 'Margaret Beckett confirms new agency will have strong independent status' (http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/latest/2004/integratedagency-240204.htm) consulted 11 March 2004; page 'Lord Haskins review of rural delivery: Secretary of State Margaret Beckett's statement of 11 November 2003' (http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/ministers/statements/mb031111.htm) consulted 11 March 2004.

18. Countryside Agency website, Who We Are section, page titled "Changes at the Countryside Agency" (http://www.countryside.gov.uk/WhoWeAreAndWhatWeDo/changing.asp) consulted 21 February 2006