District Level Licensing: an expert opinion and an evaluation framework and monitoring strategy aligned and agreed by all providers across England

Descriptions

A 3 month contract (January - March 2024) to rapidly review Natural England's District Level Licensing (DLL) Theory of Change and Evaluation Framework and make recommendations. To collaboratively develop the Evaluation Framework with all DLL providers to agree a joint Framework for all scheme areas with clear indicators of success that can be monitored by all DLL providers. To develop a jointly agreed monitoring strategy that ensures data collection is aligned across all DLL providers to agreed common standards. District Level Licensing for Great Crested Newts (GCN) is a strategic approach for species licensing. The scheme is operated by different providers across England but the underlying principle is developers have the choice to buy into the scheme instead of securing a traditional licence involving on-site assessments and mitigation actions for GCN. The compensation paid by developers is used to create habitat in areas where it will have the greatest benefit to GCN. Since 2019 Natural England has built nearly 3000 ponds for the benefit of this species. Natural England is the largest provider, operating DLL across 19 geographic areas, NatureSpace provides across 10 areas and three local authorities provide for their own authority areas. The overall objective is to have all providers of DLL aligned and collecting data that contributes towards one evaluation framework with a single set of success indicators. The contractor will work remotely with all meetings held virtually.