For the first time, we have a clear national articulation of how land can support economic growth, nature recovery, climate resilience and food production together. The Framework’s central insight is that England has sufficient land to meet these objectives if it is used more effectively. Its emphasis on multifunctional land use reflects a growing consensus across Broadway's trade association members: that better outcomes will come not from separating priorities, but from designing systems that deliver multiple benefits in the same place.

The Government has also recognised the importance of improved spatial coordination and more accessible data. A more joined-up view across sectors, supported by better information, is an essential foundation for more informed and confident decision-making, as we made clear in our consultation response.

The Framework takes an enabling rather than prescriptive approach, seeking to support better decisions across national, regional and local levels. This is a welcome position; our submission argued that land use decisions ultimately sit with a wide range of actors, and any national framework must provide clarity without constraining the flexibility needed to respond to local conditions.

The test will be how the Framework is applied in practice.

The Land Use Framework helps create a more coherent picture of how different land use priorities fit together. At the same time, its high-level nature means that it will not, and is not intended to, resolve all of the complexities of land use on the ground. Local priorities, community perspectives and individual land management decisions will continue to play a central role in shaping outcomes.

The Framework also sets out long-term signals about the direction of land use change, including the protection of the most productive agricultural land and a gradual shift towards more multifunctional systems. These signals are helpful in providing clarity, but will need to remain sufficiently flexible to reflect the diversity of land types, businesses and local contexts across England.

There are also encouraging signals around the potential for more spatially targeted approaches to land management, including the alignment of agricultural support with environmental outcomes such as water quality and resilience. Alongside this, the emphasis on practices such as improving soil health and integrating features like buffer strips reflects a practical route towards lower-impact, more multifunctional farming systems that can deliver benefits across sectors.

The commitment to improved data is particularly welcome. Ensuring that this data is usable, trusted and relevant at different scales will be an important part of making the Framework effective in practice.

The Land Use Framework and Environmental Markets

A central theme of Broadway’s submission was the need to align land use policy with investment signals. The Framework recognises the growing role of private investment and the potential for land managers to access multiple income streams alongside food production. This is a positive direction. However, further work will be needed to translate this into clear, practical pathways that connect public policy, private finance and land management decisions.

In particular, unlocking investment at scale will depend not only on the supply of environmental outcomes, but on strengthening demand. Businesses depend on nature for their operations and resilience, and there is an increasing opportunity to connect that dependency more directly to investment in land-based outcomes.

Creating the conditions for that investment through clear signals, credible markets and confidence in delivery will be a critical next step.

This is a central focus of the Broadway Initiative’s Nature Markets Dialogue, which is bringing together partners across sectors to explore how demand for nature can be strengthened and how investment can be mobilised at scale.

A strong foundation for the next phase

The Land Use Framework represents an important and welcome development. It establishes a shared language and a clearer sense of direction for how land can deliver multiple outcomes in an increasingly complex policy landscape.

The next phase will be about building on that foundation: ensuring that the Framework supports practical decision-making, aligns with investment, and continues to evolve in response to experience and evidence.

Broadway looks forward to continuing to work with Government and partners across sectors to support this next stage.