AWARDED CONTRACT

Summary

Protected Site Strategies are an important element of the Government's ambition to deliver a better Environment within a generation, as set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan (25YEP). They are a statutory power in the Environment Act 2021 for Natural England (NE) to bring together key stakeholders to make long-term collaborative commitments that address impacts on the species, habitats and geophysical interest of Protected Sites. To test the full potential for PSS mechanisms and inform the statutory guidance for PSS, NE are running five local pilots from mid-2022.There will be a requirement to refine the overarching Theory of Change (ToC) for the project and, in addition each pilot will require the formation of a bespoke ToC and development of an evaluation framework. The pilot themes to be investigated can be summarised as: Overcoming community concerns over tree felling and re-wetting of bogs; supporting planning authorities with limited ecological resources to realise the value of protected sites; setting the framework for farmers to transition to low pollution farm systems; putting the economic case for reducing pollution to land-based enterprises; management of deer to improve woodland health and deer health. In concert with this evaluation of impact and process, each pilot requires rapid desk reviews and social science insights in order to ensure social aspects are appropriately incorporated into the evaluations, and to inform and learn from the implementation of pilots so as to maximise their effectiveness in relation to stakeholder engagement. This may include the development and testing of social indicators. The resulting social science insights will be included and expanded upon in PSS advisory toolkits. It is also likely to involve stakeholder mapping exercises.

In Phase 1 (by March 2023), Natural England is looking for a supplier to develop Theories of Change and Evaluation Frameworks for each of five local PSS pilots and for the overarching project. It is anticipated that each of the frameworks will look at shorter-term process and longer-term impact evaluations as well as explore value for money. The contractors will also inform the evaluation frameworks through deep dive case studies for the pilots and key cross-cutting themes - we anticipate this requiring 50% of contract time.

Phase 2 will involve delivery of the evaluation for each of the pilots and identification or testing of key levers to secure commitments from stakeholders. We anticipate Phase 2 requiring 50% of contract effort by March 2024.

Depending on project needs and context there may be a further option to extend and expand the contract to cover a 12-month period of monitoring, data collection and evaluation for each of the five pilots. This will require a similar amount of contractor effort to each of the previous phases.