A trade union report warns that the UK’s ability to reach net zero pledges is being threatened by the low wages of people who work for the government conservation watchdog.
According to Prospect unions the real-world fall in the salaries of Natural England employees has been 20% over the past decade. The starting pay for these individuals is thousands of Pounds lower than the equivalents in the private and charity sectors. Natural England 2022 report.
According to the report, low pay and increasing levels of stress mean that the agency is unable to fulfill its duties of protecting nature.
Poor pay continues to be a major and worsening threat to Natural England’s work. Comprehensive reform is needed, supported by true additional funding.
Natural England has responsibilities that include looking after some of the country’s most important wildlife areas, paying farmers to help protect wildlife, and advising on planning applications. The report warns that while the government claims that protecting wildlife is a key component of its environmental policy it has not taken any action to protect the people who care about the environment.
Prospect’s deputy general secretary Garry Graham said that Cop26 was not about carbon and electricity, but about protecting biodiversity, the natural environment, and the natural world. If you don’t invest in this, it raises questions about your commitment to other aspects such as energy efficiency and low-carbon generation.
Natural England is responsible in maintaining many carbon-rich habitats, such as peatlands and wetlands, which will be a critical component to reaching net zero targets.
Graham said that if you don’t properly fund the stewards who manage our natural environment, you lose skills and capabilities, which makes it harder to achieve your environmental objectives, including net zero.
It comes as a result of a 2020 report warning that staffing levels have been cut to the bone due to years of employees being underpaid or overworked. Natural England’s funding agency, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has injected more money in the last two year, but its overall budget has fallen by 49% since 2008-09.
The report recommends a comprehensive pay reform. It concludes that Natural England staff deserve better. They should not be forced to work for free to use their complex skillsets to advise the government or to service the Environment Act 20201. This must change.
Amelia Womack, deputy leader for the Green party, stated: This is another indication of how little the government really values tackling climate change and the ecological emergency. Low pay is threatening the highly skilled staff at Natural England, which works hard to protect our environment for the benefit citizens, businesses, and agriculture.
The latest IPCC report warns that climate change is rapidly accelerating and the government must prioritize the jobs of those who work at the frontlines of the fight against it.
A spokesperson for Natural England stated that the agency was working with trade associations to reform the pay of Natural England staff, but that the agency was limited by the Treasury’s pay rules.
We value our employees highly and have since acknowledged and acknowledged many of these issues. While the budget has been shrinking in recent times caused some problems for our teams, the wellbeing of staff is still a top priority.
We have been able to secure more resources for the environment in the last two-years. The multi-year funding through the spending review will help us tackle workloads. Along with our plans to reform the grades of staff and their pay bands, we can also make significant investments in infrastructure.
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