asked Her Majesty's Government:

What has been the cost of delivering access since the implementation of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. [HL3356]

The National Audit Office's 2006 report, The right of access to open countryside, indicated the total cost of implementing the right of access under Part 1 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 to be £69 million from 1999 to March 2006.

In 2006-07, National Park authorities were allocated £2.875 million to implement open access, and the Planning Inspectorate funded £4,000 to deal with restriction appeals. An additional £4.64 million has been spent by Natural England towards open access, including £372,000 which was allocated to the Access Management Grant Scheme.