Our governance

The Natural England Board and the executive board are our main decision-making and managerial bodies.

Natural England Board

The board ensures that Natural England fulfils the aims and objectives set by the Secretary of State.

The main roles of the board are to create Natural England’s strategy, approve its direction and review performance.

The board acts in accordance with the strategic statement of board role (PDF, 31.2KB, 2 pages) . Members act in accordance with the board code of conduct (PDF, 117KB, 8 pages) , and subject to the board retained authority (PDF, 45KB, 3 pages) .

The current management statement and financial memorandum (PDF, 377KB, 60 pages) sets out the spending and how well the agency has met its objectives.

Terms of reference for the board’s committees and groups

audit and risk committee terms of reference (PDF, 92.7KB, 4 pages)
science advisory committee (PDF, 80.4KB, 2 pages)
health and safety steering group terms of reference (PDF, 29.3KB, 3 pages)
internal audit terms of reference (PDF, 93.1KB, 3 pages)
terms of reference for diversity steering group (PDF, 103KB, 3 pages)
portfolio review and approvals group (PDF, 310KB, 2 pages)
business assurance group terms of reference (PDF, 442KB, 2 pages)
communities of practice (PDF, 59.1KB, 4 pages)

Natural England board members

Andrew Sells (Chairman)
Professor David Hill (Deputy Chairman)
William Cockbain
Dr Joe Horwood
Nigel Reader CBE
Teresa Dent
Dr Simon Lyster
Dr Andy Clements
Dr Julia Aglionby

Board meetings

Natural England board meetings are open to the public. If you would like to attend and/or receive copies of the papers please email boardservices@naturalengland.org.uk.

The next board meeting is on 25 February 2015.

Board meeting agenda and papers:

25 February 2015 (PDF, 6.49MB, 89 pages)

For details of previous meetings see The National Archives.

Executive board

The executive board has a chief executive and 4 executive directors. The board assists the chief executive in carrying out their responsibilities. The executive board gives overall leadership by setting plans, reviewing performance and overseeing resourcing.

Executive board members

James Cross, Chief Executive
Guy Thompson, Executive Director, Local Delivery
Alan Law, Interim Executive Director, Strategy
Tim Hill, Interim Executive Director, Science and Evidence
Paul Lambert, Executive Director, Corporate Services