Natural England is facing mounting criticism after suspending its legal duty to handle complaints about harmful weeds, leaving farmers and landowners without any formal route to enforcement under the Weeds Act 1959.
The regulator, which is responsible for tackling the spread of injurious weeds such as ragwort, stopped accepting new cases on 25 July.
The act enables landowners to demand that weeds threatening their fields are controlled at source, but only through Natural England enforcement. With this avenue now closed, farmers are left reliant on neighbours’ goodwill to prevent spread.
Wiltshire farmer Christopher Jenkin, who has struggled with ragwort encroaching from a neighbouring field, said: “The complaint was made in early August but I understand now that Natural England ceased dealing with any new complaints on 25th July and no alternative complaints procedure has been put in place.”
He added that the decision “seem[s] to display a remarkable lack of understanding of rural issues”, pointing out that weeds from adjoining land were well within the 50-metre guideline set out in legislation.
Mr Jenkin has since raised the matter through his MP, Dr Roz Savage (South Cotswolds, LD), who tabled a parliamentary question to Defra. She asked how the Weeds Act was now being enforced in the absence of Natural England’s complaints system.
Nature Minister Mary Creagh MP confirmed that Natural England was “dealing with historic weeds complaints but is not currently taking new complaints”, describing the suspension as a “temporary measure” while Defra and the agency review their approach.
However, critics note that Natural England already has an annual “off season” for complaints between October and March. Suspending complaints from July has, they argue, further reduced an already limited enforcement window.
Defra’s own Code of Practice, still in place since 2004, warns that “ragwort poisoning can have a devastating effect on horses in particular, as well as being damaging to cattle and other animals”. It notes that ingestion of ragwort, whether fresh or dried in hay, can cause fatal liver damage.
David Bean, government relations manager at the Countryside Alliance, said: “Ragwort, as the government accepts, is dangerous to horses and other animals when allowed to spread unchecked.
"If the aim is to improve efficiency, then suspending a complaints scheme with no notice two months before it would have closed in any case is not a promising beginning.”
He added that both Defra and Natural England must explain “why it was necessary to close complaints early, how they plan to change enforcement activity, whether they will commit to re-opening for complaints on 1 April next year and what advice they give to landowners and communities threatened by the spread of injurious weeds in the meantime.”
A spokesman for Natural England said: “Natural England is committed to working with farmers to help manage the spread of certain weeds that might affect farming practices.
“We are reviewing our approach with Defra to ensure that complainants and land managers have the appropriate knowledge and tools to address issues in a swifter and more cost-effective way.”
The Countryside Alliance has pledged to continue pressing both bodies for answers. In the meantime, landowners say they are left to manage the problem themselves, with little clarity on how long the regulatory gap will last.
