Enhancing Urban Green Space

Transcription

1 Office of the deputy prime miister Ehacig Urba Gree Space REPORT BY THE COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL HC 935 Sessio March 2006

2 Office of the deputy prime miister Ehacig Urba Gree Space LONDON: The Statioery Office Ordered by the House of Commos to be prited o 27 February 2006 REPORT BY THE COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL HC 935 Sessio March 2006

3 cotets preface 1 Executive summary 2 This report has bee prepared uder Sectio 6 of the Natioal Audit Act 1983 for presetatio to the House of Commos i accordace with Sectio 9 of the Act. Joh Bour Comptroller ad Auditor Geeral Natioal Audit Office 22 February 2006 The Natioal Audit Office study team cosisted of: Phil Barard, Toby Evas, Phil Hyde ad Sarah Perryma uder the directio of David Corer This report ca be foud o the Natioal Audit Office web site at For further iformatio about the Natioal Audit Office please cotact: Natioal Audit Office Press Office Buckigham Palace Road Victoria Lodo SW1W 9SP Tel: equiries@ao.gsi.gov.uk Natioal Audit Office 2006 ANNEX 17 Part 1 Itroductio 18 Access to gree space ehaces urba life 19 I respose to a select committee report, the 19 Govermet set up a taskforce to idetify the reasos for declie ad recommed steps to brig about improvemet The Govermet has take forward a umber of 20 iitiatives with the aim of ehacig urba gree space, as part of a wider iitiative o civil reewal May bodies maage urba gree space but local 23 authorities take the lead i ehacig its provisio ad maagemet We examied whether progress has bee made i 24 ehacig urba gree space Part 2 Improvig the quality of urba 26 gree space I geeral, the quality of urba gree space 28 has improved Natioal targets ad idicators have bee set 28 which aim to help brig about ad track improvemet i the quality of gree space Residets satisfactio with urba space 29 varies widely Satisfactio levels have rise sice 2000 but 29 the icrease is ot evely spread

4 The Gree Flag scheme recogises ad helps 32 to drive up the quality of idividual gree spaces The Gree Flag Award scheme is discretioary 34 ad the spread of awards is ueve There is a risk that i the short term the 35 Gree Flag Award scheme will cocetrate resources o particular gree spaces ad wide the gap betwee the best ad the rest Commuity egagemet is key to sustaiable 36 ehacemet of urba gree space Local commuity groups make a substatial 38 cotributio to the ehacemet of urba gree space Progress i ehacig urba gree space 40 cotiues to be held back by skills shortages Part 3 Improvig the fiacial maagemet 44 of urba gree space We estimate that almost 700 millio was spet 45 o urba gree space i Local authority expediture o gree space has rise, 47 but more slowly tha spedig o evirometal, protective ad cultural services as a whole Additioal sources of fuds have bee made 47 available by cetral govermet ad the lottery distributio bodies It is easier to fid fudig for reovatio or ew 48 facilities tha for routie maiteace ad upkeep Some local authorities could make better use 51 of private sector fudig Curret performace reportig ad assessmet 53 regimes provide limited assurace o the ecoomy ad efficiecy of local authority gree space expediture The potetial of bechmarkig to drive up 54 efficiecy is ot beig realised Moder cotractig practices eed to be adopted 54 more widely Part 4 Plaig urba gree space 58 Plaig Policy Guidace sets out atioal 60 policies o plaig for gree space Local authorities play the key role i deliverig 61 atioal gree space policy at the local level Achievig atioal objectives for urba gree 61 space depeds o rigorous local assessmet of eed ad audits of provisio Local authorities have made slow progress i 62 udertakig assessmets of eed ad audits of provisio Gree space strategies should help to articulate a 62 local authority s visio for gree space A icreasig percetage of local authorities 64 have gree space strategies There is a wide rage i the quality of urba 65 gree space strategies Local authorities eed better guidace o the 68 software tools available to map gree space provisio ad access The fragmetatio of gree space maagemet 69 ad its low status costrais the capacity of some local authorities to establish a shared visio for gree space Appedix A Our methodology 71 B Photograph credits 74

5 preface preface

6 preface Why urba gree space is importat 1 For may years the eed for good-quality, well-maitaied urba parks, recreatio grouds ad other gree spaces was ot regarded as a priority ad declie i may eighbourhoods set i. But gree space makes a vital cotributio to the quality of urba life ad to the achievemet of a rage of Govermet objectives. Access to gree space is a powerful weapo i the fight agaist obesity ad ill-health, especially amogst childre. Neglected parks seem to attract ati-social behaviour ad have the potetial to udermie regeeratio of deprived eighbourhoods. I growth areas, good quality parks ad ope spaces are oe of the best ways to esure ew commuities bled harmoiously with old. 2 The Office of the Deputy Prime Miister, supported by other Departmets, has embarked upo a umber of iitiatives to raise the profile of gree space. It has required local govermet to approach the plaig of urba squares, parks, gree corridors ad ature reserves i a more comprehesive ad strategic maer. It has urged local authorities to improve the quality of their ope ad gree space ad set atioal targets to help achieve this. Ad it has established a ew uit withi the Commissio for the Built Eviromet to champio public space, ad specifically to develop best practice ad provide advice ad support to local govermet o public ad gree space issues. Value for Moey 3 Our report shows that iitiatives led by the Office of the Deputy Prime Miister have helped to reverse the declie i the quality of urba gree space i may of Eglad s urba eighbourhoods. New sources of fuds from cetral govermet ad the lottery have helped to brig about the refurbishmet ad reewal of may gree spaces. Some otable examples iclude Sheffield Botaical Gardes ad Kig Edward Memorial Park i East Lodo. Ad local commuities have a icreasig say i helpig to protect ad ehace gree space. 4 The atio speds almost 700 millio o urba gree space each year. Our report idetifies three mai risks to value for moey from this expediture: Resources eed to be targeted better 5 Without a strategic approach there is a dager that resources will be targeted badly for example by makig a good park eve better at the expese of improvig a ru dow gree space i a deprived area that desperately eeds improvemet. Oe third of urba local authorities still do ot have strategies for their gree space ad may existig strategies are weak, particularly i idetifyig costs ad demostratig efficiecy. Cetral govermet eeds to use performace data more methodically to support poorer performig local authorities with advice ad metorig. More moder ad iovative procuremet approaches are eeded 6 The limited iformatio o uit costs suggests some local authorities may sped five times as much as others maitaiig their gree space ad there is scope for improved efficiecy. May local authorities have respoded to iadequate performace by gree space maiteace cotractors by takig services back i-house. Fewer have tested the value for moey of their existig arragemets agaist some of the more iovative methods of supplyig gree services illustrated i this report. These iclude shared cotracts across local authorities or loger-term parterships with the private, volutary ad commuity sectors. Capacity ad skills eed stregtheig 7 Gree space is still too ofte treated as a Ciderella service. Its voice is ofte dissipated withi local authorities ad uderrepreseted i importat decisio-makig areas. Cetral govermet expects local gree space maagers to make the case for gree space expediture agaist other pressig priorities ad to forge liks with the private, commuity ad volutary sectors. Gree space maagers traiig eeds to be tailored to the ew role expected of them. Otherwise there is the dager that whe budgets are tight, the case for gree space will ot be made effectively, will slip dow the local priority list ad declie will set i agai. Ehacig urba gree space

7 executive summary executive summary 2 Ehacig urba gree space

8 executive summary Backgroud 1 Good quality gree space plays a vital role i ehacig the quality of urba life. Urba gree spaces help to make eighbourhoods more attractive to live i ad provide opportuities for city dwellers to relax, take exercise, play sport, ad meet frieds ad eighbours. The existece of high quality urba gree space cotributes to wider Govermet objectives such as improved health, more sustaiable eighbourhood reewal ad better commuity cohesio, especially i more deprived commuities. 2 Urba gree space icludes may types of lad i a urba settig from formally desigated areas such as parks to more atural areas such as corridors alog river baks. Such gree areas accout for aroud 14 per cet of urba space. We estimate that the cost of maitaiig ad reovatig urba gree space was about 700 millio i Local authorities have the key strategic role i esurig sufficiet local provisio of good quality urba gree space, although a umber of other bodies, particularly housig associatios, may be resposible for maagig elemets of gree space. 3 The quality of urba gree space declied durig the 1970s, 1980s ad 1990s. Reasos for this declie iclude the icreasigly competitive demads o local authority leisure ad other service budgets, iflexible ad isesitive cotractig out of maiteace work ad a fall i the local ad atioal political ad admiistrative priority give to gree space. 4 I 2001, the Govermet set up a Urba Gree Spaces Task Force to advise Miisters o how to go about raisig gree space quality ad esure it receives the priority that its importace to local commuities deserves. Improvig urba gree space is ow part of a wider liveability policy which is cocered with creatig high quality ad attractive places. The Office of the Deputy Prime Miister (OPDM) is resposible for leadig atioal policy o liveability ad gree space issues. The key policy iitiatives ad associated programmes desiged to brig about improvemets i urba gree space together with a timelie are show i Figures 1 ad 2 overleaf. Ehacig urba gree space 3

9 preface preface

10 preface Why urba gree space is importat 1 For may years the eed for good-quality, well-maitaied urba parks, recreatio grouds ad other gree spaces was ot regarded as a priority ad declie i may eighbourhoods set i. But gree space makes a vital cotributio to the quality of urba life ad to the achievemet of a rage of Govermet objectives. Access to gree space is a powerful weapo i the fight agaist obesity ad ill-health, especially amogst childre. Neglected parks seem to attract ati-social behaviour ad have the potetial to udermie regeeratio of deprived eighbourhoods. I growth areas, good quality parks ad ope spaces are oe of the best ways to esure ew commuities bled harmoiously with old. 2 The Office of the Deputy Prime Miister, supported by other Departmets, has embarked upo a umber of iitiatives to raise the profile of gree space. It has required local govermet to approach the plaig of urba squares, parks, gree corridors ad ature reserves i a more comprehesive ad strategic maer. It has urged local authorities to improve the quality of their ope ad gree space ad set atioal targets to help achieve this. Ad it has established a ew uit withi the Commissio for the Built Eviromet to champio public space, ad specifically to develop best practice ad provide advice ad support to local govermet o public ad gree space issues. Value for Moey 3 Our report shows that iitiatives led by the Office of the Deputy Prime Miister have helped to reverse the declie i the quality of urba gree space i may of Eglad s urba eighbourhoods. New sources of fuds from cetral govermet ad the lottery have helped to brig about the refurbishmet ad reewal of may gree spaces. Some otable examples iclude Sheffield Botaical Gardes ad Kig Edward Memorial Park i East Lodo. Ad local commuities have a icreasig say i helpig to protect ad ehace gree space. 4 The atio speds almost 700 millio o urba gree space each year. Our report idetifies three mai risks to value for moey from this expediture: Resources eed to be targeted better 5 Without a strategic approach there is a dager that resources will be targeted badly for example by makig a good park eve better at the expese of improvig a ru dow gree space i a deprived area that desperately eeds improvemet. Oe third of urba local authorities still do ot have strategies for their gree space ad may existig strategies are weak, particularly i idetifyig costs ad demostratig efficiecy. Cetral govermet eeds to use performace data more methodically to support poorer performig local authorities with advice ad metorig. More moder ad iovative procuremet approaches are eeded 6 The limited iformatio o uit costs suggests some local authorities may sped five times as much as others maitaiig their gree space ad there is scope for improved efficiecy. May local authorities have respoded to iadequate performace by gree space maiteace cotractors by takig services back i-house. Fewer have tested the value for moey of their existig arragemets agaist some of the more iovative methods of supplyig gree services illustrated i this report. These iclude shared cotracts across local authorities or loger-term parterships with the private, volutary ad commuity sectors. Capacity ad skills eed stregtheig 7 Gree space is still too ofte treated as a Ciderella service. Its voice is ofte dissipated withi local authorities ad uderrepreseted i importat decisio-makig areas. Cetral govermet expects local gree space maagers to make the case for gree space expediture agaist other pressig priorities ad to forge liks with the private, commuity ad volutary sectors. Gree space maagers traiig eeds to be tailored to the ew role expected of them. Otherwise there is the dager that whe budgets are tight, the case for gree space will ot be made effectively, will slip dow the local priority list ad declie will set i agai. Ehacig urba gree space

11 executive summary executive summary 2 Ehacig urba gree space

12 executive summary Backgroud 1 Good quality gree space plays a vital role i ehacig the quality of urba life. Urba gree spaces help to make eighbourhoods more attractive to live i ad provide opportuities for city dwellers to relax, take exercise, play sport, ad meet frieds ad eighbours. The existece of high quality urba gree space cotributes to wider Govermet objectives such as improved health, more sustaiable eighbourhood reewal ad better commuity cohesio, especially i more deprived commuities. 2 Urba gree space icludes may types of lad i a urba settig from formally desigated areas such as parks to more atural areas such as corridors alog river baks. Such gree areas accout for aroud 14 per cet of urba space. We estimate that the cost of maitaiig ad reovatig urba gree space was about 700 millio i Local authorities have the key strategic role i esurig sufficiet local provisio of good quality urba gree space, although a umber of other bodies, particularly housig associatios, may be resposible for maagig elemets of gree space. 3 The quality of urba gree space declied durig the 1970s, 1980s ad 1990s. Reasos for this declie iclude the icreasigly competitive demads o local authority leisure ad other service budgets, iflexible ad isesitive cotractig out of maiteace work ad a fall i the local ad atioal political ad admiistrative priority give to gree space. 4 I 2001, the Govermet set up a Urba Gree Spaces Task Force to advise Miisters o how to go about raisig gree space quality ad esure it receives the priority that its importace to local commuities deserves. Improvig urba gree space is ow part of a wider liveability policy which is cocered with creatig high quality ad attractive places. The Office of the Deputy Prime Miister (OPDM) is resposible for leadig atioal policy o liveability ad gree space issues. The key policy iitiatives ad associated programmes desiged to brig about improvemets i urba gree space together with a timelie are show i Figures 1 ad 2 overleaf. Ehacig urba gree space 3

13 executive summary 1 Key atioal policy iitiatives to ehace urba gree space Revised plaig rules, (Plaig Policy Guidace Note 17, July 2002) callig upo local authorities to assess the existig ad future eeds of their commuities for ope space ad to set local stadards for the maiteace ad adequate supply of facilities Establishmet i 2003 of a separate uit withi the Commissio for Architecture ad the Built Eviromet CABE Space to champio public spaces focussig iitially o parks ad gree spaces Promotio of a Gree Flag Award scheme to provide atioal stadards ad ecourage better gree space maagemet Commitmet of aroud 201 millio of ew cetral govermet direct fudig for liveability over to Itroductio i July 2004 of a ew Public Service Agreemet (umber 8) requirig the delivery of cleaer, safer ad greeer public spaces i deprived commuities ad across the coutry with measurable improvemet by 2008 Developmet ad spread of good practice i gree space developmet ad maagemet Ecouragemet of partership approaches betwee Whitehall departmets, betwee local authorities ad other local public bodies ad betwee local public bodies ad the commuity ad volutary sector Source: Natioal Audit Office 2 Urba Gree Space Timelie July 2002 February 2003 November 1999 Departmet of Eviromet, Trasport ad Regioal Affairs Select Committee report o Tow ad Coutry Parks published Jauary 2001 Urba Gree Spaces Task Force aouced Revisios to Plaig Policy Guidace Note 17: Sport, Ope Space ad Recreatio published A additioal 201 millio, part of which is for urba gree space, is aouced by ODPM withi the publicatio of Sustaiable Commuities: Buildig for the Future May 2003 CABE Space lauched April 2005 Jue 2005 Update of the Public Parks Assessmet PSA 8 starts Jue 2000 November 2000 May 2002 April 2003 July 2005 Public Parks Assessmet a survey of local authorities udertake by the Urba Parks Forum (ow Gree Space) Urba White Paper published Task Force fial report published by ODPM October millio Livig Spaces scheme lauched by ODPM Urba Gree Space policy statemet published by ODPM, as part of the public space report: Livig Places: Cleaer, Safer, Greeer July 2004 PSA 8 established i Spedig Review 2004 How to create quality parks ad ope spaces guidace published by ODPM Ehacig urba gree space

14 executive summary 1 Key atioal policy iitiatives to ehace urba gree space Revised plaig rules, (Plaig Policy Guidace Note 17, July 2002) callig upo local authorities to assess the existig ad future eeds of their commuities for ope space ad to set local stadards for the maiteace ad adequate supply of facilities Establishmet i 2003 of a separate uit withi the Commissio for Architecture ad the Built Eviromet CABE Space to champio public spaces focussig iitially o parks ad gree spaces Promotio of a Gree Flag Award scheme to provide atioal stadards ad ecourage better gree space maagemet Commitmet of aroud 201 millio of ew cetral govermet direct fudig for liveability over to Itroductio i July 2004 of a ew Public Service Agreemet (umber 8) requirig the delivery of cleaer, safer ad greeer public spaces i deprived commuities ad across the coutry with measurable improvemet by 2008 Developmet ad spread of good practice i gree space developmet ad maagemet Ecouragemet of partership approaches betwee Whitehall departmets, betwee local authorities ad other local public bodies ad betwee local public bodies ad the commuity ad volutary sector Source: Natioal Audit Office 2 Urba Gree Space Timelie July 2002 February 2003 November 1999 Departmet of Eviromet, Trasport ad Regioal Affairs Select Committee report o Tow ad Coutry Parks published Jauary 2001 Urba Gree Spaces Task Force aouced Revisios to Plaig Policy Guidace Note 17: Sport, Ope Space ad Recreatio published A additioal 201 millio, part of which is for urba gree space, is aouced by ODPM withi the publicatio of Sustaiable Commuities: Buildig for the Future May 2003 CABE Space lauched April 2005 Jue 2005 Update of the Public Parks Assessmet PSA 8 starts Jue 2000 November 2000 May 2002 April 2003 July 2005 Public Parks Assessmet a survey of local authorities udertake by the Urba Parks Forum (ow Gree Space) Urba White Paper published Task Force fial report published by ODPM October millio Livig Spaces scheme lauched by ODPM Urba Gree Space policy statemet published by ODPM, as part of the public space report: Livig Places: Cleaer, Safer, Greeer July 2004 PSA 8 established i Spedig Review 2004 How to create quality parks ad ope spaces guidace published by ODPM Ehacig urba gree space

15 executive summary 5 The impact of these iitiatives is the subject of this report. This report examies whether the barriers to the ehacemet of urba gree space have bee well idetified, ad after a itroductory part (Part 1), cosiders the progress: i ehacig ad trackig the quality of urba gree space (Part 2) i improvig the fiacial maagemet of urba gree space (Part 3) through the plaig system to protect ad ehace urba gree space (Part 4). 6 We carried out a survey of urba local authorities ad asked for data o the coditio of their gree spaces. This updated a previous survey commissioed by ODPM, the Heritage Lottery Fud, the Coutryside Agecy ad Eglish Heritage i 2000 called the Public Parks Assessmet. We asked the Ladscape Departmet of the Uiversity of Sheffield to review urba local authority gree space strategies. We ra six large focus groups of commuity groups ad gree space maagers, ad used a expert pael. We visited the orgaisatios ivolved i maagig ad fudig urba gree space, as well as workig closely with the Audit Commissio. We also surveyed may academic ad other studies ad reports. Our methodology is explaied i more detail at Appedix A. Ehacig urba gree space 5

16 FINDINGS Overall fidigs What is workig well 7 The declie i the quality of urba gree space has bee halted i most areas ad there are sigs of recovery i may places. Both those who maage ad those who use urba gree space agree. I 2000, maagers i less tha 44 per cet of urba local authorities believed the quality of their gree space was stable or improvig. This figure has icreased to 84 per cet i Ad urba residets satisfactio with gree space icreased by eight per cet betwee 2000 ad Cetral advocacy by the Office of the Deputy Prime Miister ad CABE Space has helped to raise the awareess of the importace of good quality urba gree space to local commuities ad wider Govermet objectives. Aroud 69 per cet of local authorities ow have a gree space strategy completed or i developmet. I 2000 the equivalet figure was 53 per cet. 9 New sources of fuds, especially from the lottery, have eabled local authorities ad other public bodies to brig about refurbishmet ad improvemet. Cetral fudig has ecouraged greater partership workig ad helped to brig about more egagemet of local commuities i refurbishmet programmes ad schemes (Figure 3 o page 8). 10 The Office of the Deputy Prime Miister has idetified the eed for local authorities to iovate ad pla to esure fudig to sustai improvemet is built ito refurbishmet schemes, ad is ecouragig them to do so. What eeds more developmet 11 The improvemet i the quality of urba gree space is ot yet uiversal. Our survey of parks maagers revealed that i some sixtee per cet of urba local authorities the quality of their gree space was cosidered to be i declie. Local authority surveys of residets show that there is wide variatio i the level of satisfactio with urba parks ad gree spaces. Some local authorities score oly 54 per cet satisfactio, whilst others achieve 92 per cet satisfactio. Ad residet satisfactio has rise faster i authorities where satisfactio levels were already relatively high i Maistream expediture by local authorities o upkeep required to sustai improvemet over the loger term has icreased, although ot at the rate of icreases spet o other local public services or the fudig made available. 13 The lessos from cetral govermet fuded projects to ecourage local authorities to iovate i service delivery have yet to be fully idetified ad spread. Ad local authorities eed to improve the iformatio they collect o the cost of their gree space maagemet to provide assurace o their efficiecy ad effectiveess. 14 Despite the higher profile of gree space, may urba local authorities have ot yet reflected this importace i well coceived ad well supported local strategies. There remais a eed to cotiue to promote urba gree space, ad to idetify ad apply good practice advice to secure a more widespread ad sustaiable improvemet. 1 The residet satisfactio survey is carried out every three years. 6 Ehacig urba gree space

17 executive summary Part two fidigs: Improvig the quality of urba gree space What is workig well 15 Eighty four per cet of urba local authorities believe the quality of their parks is stable or improvig. This compares to less tha 44 per cet i I 2000 more tha 55 per cet of urba local authorities cosidered their historic gree spaces were decliig i quality. We foud that this had falle to 16 per cet i The Govermet has set targets to track ad measure improvemets i gree space quality. Withi a broader aim to ehace liveability improvig the quality ad safety of public spaces ad local eviromets ad people s ejoymet of them the Govermet has set atioal targets to focus attetio, track progress ad measure achievemet uder the eighth Public Service Agreemet of the Office of the Deputy Prime Miister. Two of the sub-targets relate directly to gree spaces improvig residets satisfactio with gree spaces, ad icreasig the umber of areas with a gree space which have wo a Gree Flag Award (Figure 4 overleaf) by Other idicators are geeric ad iclude gree space issues but ot explicitly, such as the umber of local authorities whose evirometal services are judged to be performig well or performig strogly by the Audit Commissio as part of their Comprehesive Performace Assessmet. 17 I aggregate residets satisfactio with gree space has icreased. Betwee 2000 ad 2003 the proportio of residets across Eglad who were satisfied with their local parks ad ope spaces rose by eight percetage poits to 71 per cet. The overall target to icrease satisfactio to 75 per cet by 2008 is likely to be achieved. 18 The umber of idividual gree spaces recogised as beig of good quality is icreasig. The Gree Flag Award, which is admiistered by the Civic Trust o behalf of the Gree Flag Advisory Board ad the Office of the Deputy Prime Miister, is the atioal stadard for parks ad gree spaces i Eglad ad Wales. The umber of local authorities takig part i the award scheme has icreased steadily, ad the Civic Trust are cofidet that the PSA target for 60 per cet of local authority districts to receive at least oe award will be met. The Gree Flag Award scheme is well regarded by urba gree space maagers who believe that it has bee effective i raisig the profile of gree space ad icreasig visitors. 19 Wider participatio i the Gree Flag Award scheme could ehace the quality of gree space across a urba area. There is early evidece to suggest that better urba local authorities use the Gree Flag Award as a bechmark to drive up stadards across all of the spaces for which they are resposible. Ehacig urba gree space

18 executive summary 3 The reovatio of urba gree space; the example of Sheffield Botaical Gardes The site A 19 acre garde, origially desiged by Robert Marock i the Gardeesque style, which dates from It cotais a large collectio of listed buildigs icludig the Grade II* listed curviliear Glass Pavilios, oe of the earliest ever built. The problem Derelict listed buildigs, dilapidated glass pavilios, overgrow platig ad lost ladscape desig. The pla Sheffield City Coucil sought a restoratio i keepig with the spirit of the origial Victoria layout, but adaptig it to moderday eeds. To create a cetre for horticultural excellece ad educatioal opportuities. Phase Oe: reovatio of Grade II listed, derelict buildigs. Phase Two: restoratio of the Glass Pavilios. Phase Three: ladscapig. The fudig The majority of the fudig came from a Heritage Lottery Grat of 5.06 millio (75 per cet of the required sum), to be matched by 1.22 millio raised locally through fudraisig ad sposorship (25 per cet). Sheffield City Coucil cotributed 350,000 towards the project. Match fudig was raised by the Sheffield Botaical Gardes Trust ad the activities of the Frieds group. Doatios were made by busiesses; charities; societies; Ladfill Tax; bequests ad private idividuals; sposors. The achievemet The oly Botaical Gardes i the coutry udertakig a complete garde restoratio. Derelict buildigs reovated ad i use. Restored ad restocked Glass Pavilios officially opeed by HRH Price Charles, September Ladscape restoratio completed September Fial completio of the whole project expected November Source: Natioal Audit Office/Heritage Lottery Fud 4 The Gree Flag Award scheme assesses the quality of parks ad gree spaces agaist eight criteria The gree space must be: I additio the maagemet of the park should: Welcomig Make the most of its coservatio ad heritage potetial Healthy, safe ad secure Ecourage commuity ivolvemet Well maitaied ad clea Actively market the park Maaged i a sustaiable way Have strog maagemet plas i place Source: Natioal Audit Office, based o Civic Trust iformatio Ehacig urba gree space

19 executive summary 20 Local commuity groups make a substatial cotributio to the ehacemet of urba gree space. Govermet has lauched a series of iitiatives ad sposorship to support commuity egagemet. May commuity groups are Frieds groups (Figure 5). 2 Their mai role is to act as a voice for a particular park or gree space, ad they ofte act as a lik betwee the local authority ad the wider commuity. There are over 4,000 commuity groups ivolved i gree space across the coutry, ad it is estimated that the aual ecoomic value of their work across the UK could be as much as 35 millio. 3 Gree space maagers are icreasigly recogisig the eed to egage with such groups i order to respod adequately to the chagig eeds ad expectatios of local residets. 5 The CV of Frieds of Southwark Park What eeds more developmet 21 There is wide variatio i the level of satisfactio with urba parks ad gree spaces. Some local authorities score oly 54 per cet, whilst others achieve 92 per cet satisfactio. May local authorities would have to icrease residets satisfactio by cosiderable margis if the aggregate atioal target was applied locally (Figure 6 overleaf). 22 Work eeds to be doe to esure that urba commuities which have edured poor quality gree space for may years do ot miss out o improvemets. We foud that this group cotaied may deprived commuities i receipt of Neighbourhood Reewal Fuds for use o gree space, ad others attractig o special targetig. Much still eeds to be doe if the Office of the Deputy Prime Miister is to meet its specific target that all deprived commuities attai a average residet satisfactio score of 75 per cet by But there also eeds to be a focus o the others i the poorly performig group which are ot classified as deprived ad do ot receive Neighbourhood Reewal Fuds. Some deprived areas curretly receivig Neighbourhood Reewal Fuds are already achievig high quality gree space, ad it may be more productive to target fuds more carefully, or eve refie the target itself towards a atioal miimum residet satisfactio score. Their job : Formed i 1996 to improve a very ru-dow but much loved park for the whole commuity. Aims: To maitai ad provide the local commuity with a gree space to escape to, that they wat to use, ejoy ad feel proud of the origial reasos for buildig the park i Activities: Ivolved with Southwark coucil i decisio ad policy makig. Assistig with ruig the Youg Frieds of Southwark Park for 8 15 year olds. Producig ad implemetig the Suday summer free badstad cocerts. Applyig for fudig. Tours ad talks for civic visitors ad commuity groups. Role: Everythig from helpig to set the budgets to sweepig the pathways! Totally ivolved ad committed. Successes: Turig aroud a virtually abadoed park. Helpig shape the directio of the Heritage Lottery restoratio project. Seeig that local campaigig ca brig about positive chage. Issues: Gettig more people ivolved with the group. Raisig staffig levels ad maiteace issues ad esurig that Southwark Park remais a focal poit for the commuity. Source: Frieds of Southwark Park 2 Commuity Networkig Project, GreeSpace, November Commuity Networkig Project, GreeSpace, November Ehacig urba gree space 9

20 executive summary 6 May local authorities residet satisfactio ratigs are well below the target for 2008 Already exceeds the PSA target Already at the PSA target To meet the target, eed to icrease user satisfactio by: 1 5 percetage poits 6 10 percetage poits percetage poits percetage poits More tha 20 percetage poits Percetage Source: Natioal Audit Office aalysis of 2003 residet satisfactio data 23 Despite the icreasig umber of authorities takig part i the Gree Flag Award scheme, accredited space is still scarce. Across urba Eglad, there are 7.3 Gree Flag Award wiig spaces for every millio people. Participatio i the Gree Flag Award scheme is discretioary ad the spread of awards is ueve. Urba residets i the North West have 17.7 Gree Flag spaces per millio people, compared with oly 2.8 i the West Midlads. 24 Give the recet rapid growth i the umbers takig part, cocer has bee expressed about maitaiig the quality ad comparability of judgig stadards. The Civic Trust has plas i place to maitai the credibility ad cosistecy of the award ad the Office of the Deputy Prime Miister should moitor this carefully. 25 There is a risk that i the short term the Gree Flag Award scheme may help to wide the gap betwee the best parks ad gree spaces ad the rest if it is oly see to recogise already good spaces. Authorities pursuig a Gree Flag for oe space may be tempted to divert resources away from others. About 40 per cet of urba gree space maagers told us that the pursuit of a award had bee sigificat i divertig resources away from other gree space i the area. 26 The Gree Flag Award scheme may ot yet have drive up the stadard of the poorest parks oe quarter of the parks which maagers had rated as good i 2000 have bee awarded a Gree Flag, compared with oly two per cet of parks which had bee i poor coditio i The Office of the Deputy Prime Miister recogises that such a award scheme will represet the top ed of park ad gree space maagemet, ad the Gree Flag Advisory Board is cosiderig how the uderlyig priciples ca be used to support poor ad failig spaces to improve. 27 Progress i ehacig urba gree space cotiues to be held back by skills shortages. I 2002, the Urba Gree Spaces Task Force cocluded that there had bee a declie i the umber of experieced idividuals employed i parks ad other gree space. Our research ad work by CABE Space has cofirmed the cotiuig widespread deficit i skills (particularly maagemet skills) ad relevat traiig at all levels i the sector. The Govermet has established a ew Academy for Sustaiable Commuities which aims to help tackle the skills issue for the sector. Due to the wide rage of orgaisatios ivolved, progress o a atioal skills strategy has bee slower tha aticipated. CABE Space had plaed to produce a skills strategy by 2005, but it is likely to be published i Part three fidigs: Improvig the fiacial maagemet of urba gree space What is workig well 28 We estimate that almost 700 millio was spet o urba gree space i Eighty five per cet of fudig came from the public sector ad the bulk of private fudig came from plaig gai cotributios from private developers (Figure 7). The majority of cetral govermet fudig is chaelled through the local authority reveue support grat to local authorities. Programmes supported by the Departmet of Culture, Media ad Sport, ad the Departmet for Eviromet, Food ad Rural Affairs cotribute 12 millio. The Office of the Deputy Prime Miister is the mai other departmetal fuder. The atioal lottery distributio bodies have made a sigificat cotributio to revitalisig parks ad gree spaces through sustaied gree space programmes. 10 Ehacig urba gree space

21 executive summary 7 Aroud 700 millio was spet o urba gree space i % Local authorities Cetral govermet ad Europea Uio Natioal Lottery 58 8 Private sector 34 5 Third sector 13 2 Total Source: Natioal Audit Office 29 Additioal sources of fuds have bee made available by cetral govermet ad the lottery distributio bodies. The majority of additioal fudig comes via cetral govermet grats ad Natioal Lottery fuded programmes. Lottery programmes are targeted at reovatio or ew facilities rather tha for maiteace ad upkeep of gree spaces. Local authorities, third sector ad commuity groups have welcomed these additioal moies as they are effectively targeted at improvig gree space. The cetral allocatio of these additioal fuds to differet local groups has led to icreased partership workig betwee local authorities ad others i the delivery of gree space. 30 Local authority expediture o gree space has rise. Over the last six years cash expediture by local authorities o gree space has icreased by aroud five per cet a year o average, or aroud 2.5 per cet a year i real terms. Betwee ad , local authority expediture o gree space rose by 19 per cet (10 per cet after iflatio). 31 Some local authorities are begiig to experimet with iovative ways of deliverig gree space services. For example, oe local authority has developed a publicprivate partership approach ad aother has haded the maagemet of oe of its parks to a volutary sector orgaisatio. 32 A umber of local authorities have developed volutary bechmarkig clubs or associatios to compare the ecoomy ad efficiecy of aspects of gree space maagemet, either locally, or betwee like authorities. The data collected by these bechmarkig clubs suggests a wide variatio i the uit cost of maagig gree space. For example, the average cost of maitaiig oe hectare of gree space varies by a factor i excess of five, suggestig there is cosiderable scope for improved value for moey i some local authorities. What eeds more developmet 33 Local authority expediture o gree space, which makes up four-fifths of public sector spedig, has icreased by 19 per cet i cash terms sice , but has evertheless ot kept pace with the icreasig level of overall local authority spedig or the icreasig amouts spet o other evirometal ad cultural services. Fudig is made through formula grat 4, which is uhypothecated ad its use is therefore withi local authority discretio. Gree space, alog with most other evirometal ad cultural services, is o-statutory ad its fudig is ofte uder severe pressure from other services. 34 Curret performace reportig ad assessmet regimes provide limited assurace o the ecoomy ad efficiecy of local authority gree space expediture. Uder Comprehesive Performace Assessmets, gree space maagemet is ot subject to the same level of scrutiy as built evirometal services. Of the 23 idicators used by the Audit Commissio to assess the performace of local authority evirometal, protective ad cultural services, the sole idicator relatig specifically to gree space, measures local residets satisfactio with gree space. The paucity of measures meas that gree space maagemet is ot subject to the same level of scrutiy as built evirometal services. Ad this i tur may mea that seior officers ad local politicias do ot give gree space maagemet the priority it deserves. 4 Formula grat is the pot of moey which local authorities use to fud their services. It comprises reveue support grat, redistributed busiess rates ad primary formula police grat. Ehacig urba gree space 11

22 executive summary 35 Local authority budgetig ad reportig o gree space expediture eeds to be stregtheed to eable better measuremet of ecoomy ad efficiecy. We foud that the curret budgetig, accoutig ad fiacial reportig procedures ad practices of may local authorities make it difficult to devise appropriate ecoomy ad efficiecy measures for gree space. These weakesses iclude: Relevat costs of differet directorates or divisios withi local authorities cotributig to gree space maagemet are ot brought together. Exteral sources of fudig are ot brought together with maistream expediture i a cosistet maer to demostrate total resources devoted to gree spaces. Costs o idividual gree spaces or categories of gree space are ot allocated or apportioed. Cotracts with exteral suppliers may ot provide for reportig to allow allocatio of costs across differet activities or areas of gree space. At the level of detail required, expediture is ot accouted for o a accruals basis ad does ot iclude o-cash costs such as depreciatio. Costs are ot related to uits of activity or outcome, such as hectares maitaied to recogised quality stadards. 36 A atioal framework for improved fiacial maagemet is eeded to stregthe the performace of urba gree spaces. We would expect local authorities to build upo existig fiacial guidace ad procedures so as to be able to accout for expediture for each gree space so as to support improvemet plas ad fudig allocatios to achieve desired outcomes. The Aex to the Executive Summary sets out a framework for local authorities to use to improve their fiacial maagemet. 37 Moder cotractig practices eed to be adopted more widely. We foud that may authorities have respoded to the service problems brought about by iflexible cotracts by brigig services back i-house. Few have adopted iovative approaches. There is scope for may local authorities to cosider more moder cotractig practices based o flexible measures of outcome ad closer parterig. Part four fidigs: Plaig urba gree space What is workig well 38 Eighty-three percet of urba gree space maagers cosider that the work of ODPM ad CABE Space has raised the status of gree space issues. This has bee achieved through a combiatio of improved policy guidace by ODPM ad better strategic iformatio ad guidelies to gree space maagers provided by CABE Space. 39 ODPM's revised policy plaig policy guidelies have set clear objectives for plaig authorities that are desiged to: Protect ope space, playig fields ad gree spaces i cities ad tows, ad Provide clarity for plaig authorities, developers ad ladowers i terms of what ca be expected to preserve ad ehace ope space, sport ad recreatio provisio i the future. 40 CABE Space have worked closely with ad supported gree space maagers i may local authorities. They have provided oe-to-oe support ad guidace i key areas such as the beefits of gree space ad how to produce a gree space strategy. 41 Achievig atioal objectives for urba gree space depeds o rigorous local assessmet of eed ad audits of provisio. Those authorities that have audited their curret provisio of gree space as required uder policy plaig guidace 17 are better able to: Meet the curret eeds of residets Idetify the quality, shortfalls ad surpluses of ope space, ad Determie how best to meet future eeds arisig from developmets. 42 Today, eighty-oe per cet of local authorities have completed or are i the process of udertakig a audit of their curret provisio of ope space as recommeded i Plaig Policy Guidace 17. Two-thirds of authorities have completed or started their eeds assessmets. 12 Ehacig urba gree space

23 executive summary 43 Gree space strategies help to develop a shared visio betwee politicias, officers, key parters ad stakeholders to support, protect ad ehace gree space. Nearly sevety per cet of urba authorities have produced or are i the process of developig a gree spaces strategy. What eeds more developmet 44 Oe i five urba authorities has yet to start auditig their curret provisio of gree space. Ad some 35 per cet have yet to start examiig what their future eeds are likely to be (see Figure 8). 45 Sixty per cet of urba local authorities have ot yet formally adopted gree space strategies. About 30 per cet of urba local authorities have yet to produce a gree space strategy ad do ot expect to do so withi the ext year (Figure 8). 46 There is a wide rage i the quality of curret gree ad ope space strategies. Commo aspects that eed to be improved iclude: Coverage of gree space maaged by bodies other tha the local authority. Cosideratio of the eeds of all users of gree space, matched to the socio-ecoomic profile of the area. Clearer allocatio of resposibilities for actio betwee differet bodies. Settig a miimum stadard for access to gree space. Likig gree space strategy with other local govermet service strategies. Prioritisatio of spedig optios ad cosideratio of skills ad traiig eeds. Providig for the moitorig ad review of strategies ad a timetable for implemetatio. 8 May local authorities could improve the way they pla for urba gree space eeds May local authorities do ot yet have a gree space maager represeted o the Local Strategic Partership... have yet to produce gree space strategy... have yet to audit future eeds... have yet to audit curret provisio Percetage Source: Natioal Audit Office surveys of urba local authorities 47 Local authorities eed better guidace o the software tools available to map gree space provisio ad access. We foud that less tha oe fifth of urba local authorities had used geographic iformatio systems i the productio of the strategies we examied. We foud urba gree space maagers had limited kowledge of the usefuless of such systems for mappig the provisio of gree space with demographic ad other data to help develop a strategy. The Office of the Deputy Prime Miister is developig a gree-space database for Eglad, which will allow the sharig of a full rage of gree space iformatio through a map-based iteret tool. This should form the first step towards a cosistet base-lie that plaers ad maagers of gree spaces could use for their gree-space audits ad assessmets. ODPM plas to lauch a pilot database i mid The fragmetatio of gree space maagemet ad its low status costrais the capacity of some urba local authorities to establish a shared visio for gree space. We foud that gree space maagers were ot represeted o half of urba local strategic parterships (see Figure 8). Gree space maagemet is ot usually represeted at cabiet or chief officer level withi local authorities. Chief Officers of parks ad ope space services usually report to a more seior officer withi a Leisure Services or Eviromet Directorate. Ad gree space maagemet may be spread across two or more Directorates. Ehacig urba gree space 13

24 recommedatios New sources of fuds ad better cetral govermet advocacy have helped to halt, ad i some places reverse, a sigificat declie i the quality of urba gree space. But the profile of gree space issues i may urba eighbourhoods remais relatively low ad the commitmet ad resources to maitai the may ehacemets that have take place i recet years are ot guarateed. More ca ad should be doe to esure the revival i urba gree space gais mometum ad is more widespread ad sustaiable. 1 Quality targets eed to be better focused to drive up performace where it is eeded ad to be owed more locally Natioal targets to improve residets satisfactio with urba gree space ad to icrease the umber of Gree Flag Award wiig gree spaces ca help to ecourage improvemet. But there are risks i the curret approach that whilst success i some places will be celebrated, failure i others might be allowed to cotiue. Moitorig of the delivery of PSA 8 should esure risks are maaged ad problems idetified ad tackled. ODPM, workig with CABE Space should: Use performace data to target more methodically poor performig local authorities for advice ad metorig. (See paragraph 2.14). ODPM, workig with local authorities, should: Ecourage the developmet of locally owed gree space targets withi Local Area Agreemets. (See paragraph 4.9). ODPM, workig with the Gree Flag Advisory Board ad the Civic Trust, should: Make sure that traiig stadards for judgig Gree Flag Awards are upheld, ad that judgemets are of a cosistet high stadard; (See paragraph 2.19). Take actio to address the regioal imbalace i the Gree Flag Award scheme. (See paragraph 2.22). 2 More eeds to be doe to improve the status ad skills of gree space maagers Gree space maagemet is still too ofte treated as a Ciderella service. Its voice is ofte dissipated withi local authorities ad uderrepreseted i importat decisiomakig areas. Improvig the status ad skills of gree space maagers will help to put gree space at the heart of local authority decisios. ODPM should: Ecourage ad support a gree space champios etwork; (See paragraphs 4.24 ad 4.25). CABE Space, workig with LANTRA ad others should: Make sure the atioal gree space skills strategy addresses the eed to equip maagers with the skills to thik ad pla strategically ad egage successfully with commuities, local politicias ad their fellow officers. (See paragraph 2.38). 14 Ehacig urba gree space

25 executive summary Local authorities should: Address the fragmetatio of gree space maagemet withi their orgaisatioal structures so that a sigle gree space champio is idetified; (See paragraph 4.25). Cosider re-bradig the parks departmet i order to give proper strategic weight to the role ad to attract good quality idividuals; (See paragraph 4.24 ad Figure 35). Check that gree space strategies address the eed to ehace skills. (See paragraph 4.19 ad Figure 58). Local Strategic Parterships should: Make sure that a local gree space champio is represeted o the board; (See paragraph 4.26). Make sure their Commuity Pla ad Local Area Agreemet reflect gree space ambitios. (See paragraphs 4.9, 4.14 ad 4.26). 3 More practical help eeds to be provided to ehace commuity egagemet i urba gree space projects A icreasig umber of commuity ad volutary groups are helpig to ehace urba gree space, supported by ew sources of fuds. The ability of such groups to orgaise themselves ad to quickly come to grips with dealig with public ad other services is crucial to their success. ODPM should: Esure, through their web-sites i particular, that they provide good ad easily accessible iformatio o how to set up, orgaise ad admiister a commuity group (See paragraph 2.30 ad Figure 33), ad Provide oe-stop shop iformatio o how commuity groups ca access advice ad fudig that may be available to them, ad preset clearer ad more immediate guidace o eligibility criteria for fuds. (See paragraph 2.33 ad Figure 33). Idetify a omiated officer to promote ad co-ordiate frieds of parks groups ad to act as a focal poit for advice ad assistace to these groups; (See paragraph 2.29 ad Figure 33). Work with frieds groups to maximise syergies betwee them ad lik them ito wider commuity group etworks ad the local strategic partership. (See paragraph 2.33 ad Figure 33). Ehacig urba gree space 15

26 executive summary 4 More eeds to be doe to idetify the most efficiet ad effective ways of sustaiig urba gree space New sources of fuds, particularly from the lottery, have helped to brig about the refurbishmet of much urba gree space. Sustaiig these improvemets will require local authorities to commit to o-goig maiteace ad upkeep. The lack of a geerally agreed framework for assessig the efficiecy ad effectiveess of gree space maagemet makes it difficult for atioal ad local govermet to assess appropriate maistream fudig levels ad the value for moey obtaied. ODPM, workig with the Chartered Istitute of Public Fiace ad Accoutacy, should: Promote ad build upo the guidace, already established i the Best Value Accoutig Code of Practice by relatig costs to quality ad outcomes; (See paragraphs 3.23, 3.25 ad Figure 43). For example: Aggregatig all spedig streams withi a area to be able to accout for total resources committed to urba gree space. This would iclude all iteral directorates ivolved withi local authorities, ad exteral streams of fudig; Total costs should be apportioed amogst idividual gree spaces ad types of gree spaces, ad also betwee uits of activity or output such as hectares maitaied; ad All should be accouted for o a accruals basis. The Aex to this Executive Summary sets out the key steps local authorities eed to follow to obtai more reliable data o the costs of maagig their gree space. Local Authorities should: Use the reliable data o costs to embed efficiecy measures, such as those curretly used i the work of the Associatio for Public Service Excellece ad other bechmarkig clubs, ito their maagemet of gree space (see paragraph 3.25).These might iclude for example the cost per hectare of maitaiig to quality stadards: differet types of parks ad recreatioal grouds; lad withi affordable housig areas; highway maiteace. Review curret gree space maagemet cotracts to esure they take advatage of the priciples of partership workig ad achieve best value. (See paragraph 3.31 ad Figure 45). 5 Plaig for urba gree space eeds to be stregtheed There is o statutory requiremet for local authorities to provide good quality urba gree space. It frequetly falls dow the local political ageda, ad is ot plaed for as rigorously as other services. Where local officers methodically idetify existig ad future eed for gree space, ad determie the best way to meet that eed, they are more likely to wi the support ad commitmet of local plaers, politicias ad commuities. ODPM should: Require evidece of robust ad well supported local strategies as a coditio of cetral govermet grats ad ecourage similar requiremets of other fuders such as the lottery distributio boards; (See paragraphs 3.13, 4.13 ad Figure 40). Review the adequacy of gree space strategies withi local commuity plas to iform targetig of cetral advice ad support where it is most eeded. (See paragraphs 4.19 ad Figure 58). ODPM, workig with CABE Space, should: Provide a clearer lead o the types of tools that local authorities eed to use i order to assist their gree space plaig; (See paragraph 4.21 to 4.23). Develop a programme to improve local politicias awareess of the importace of gree space to the delivery of commuity priorities. (See paragraphs 3.22 ad 4.24). Local authorities should: Udertake assessmets, as required by Plaig Policy Guidace Note 17, of existig gree space provisio ad future eed, as a precursor to developig a effective strategy; (See paragraph 4.13). Work more closely with other providers of gree space, especially housig associatios, to idetify the best ways of ehacig local provisio; (See paragraph 4.19 ad Figure 59). Make sure that their gree space strategies have clear ad achievable objectives ad timetables for implemetatio. (See paragraph 4.19 ad Figure 58). The recommedatios i this report if implemeted will result i cost savigs because they will reduce waste i the local procuremet of gree space services ad improve the targetig of resources ad support where they are most eeded. They will also help to avoid the costs of failure due to lack of capacity of local authorities, workig with commuity ad volutary groups, to achieve expectatios. 16 Ehacig urba gree space

27 aex Aex Fiacial Maagemet of Urba Gree Space It is importat that local authorities have a commo uderstadig of the costs of maagig their gree space, ad how this is essetial to drive up value for moey. We have set out the key stages they eed to follow i order to achieve this. As part of their fiacial maagemet of urba gree space, each urba local authority should do the followig: Categorise each existig gree space 1 Categorise each existig gree space ito oe of the categories give i Plaig Policy Guidace Note 17 (Aex: Defiitios), amely: a b c d e Parks ad gardes Natural ad semi-atural urba gree spaces Gree corridors Outdoor sports facilities Ameity gree space (most commoly, but ot exclusively aroud housig) f g h i Provisio for childre ad teeagers (icl. playgrouds ad skateboard parks) Allotmets, commuity gardes ad city (urba) farms Cemeteries ad churchyards Accessible coutryside i urba frige areas With each category to be measured i Hectares. Calculate total costs of gree space Allocate total costs 2 Calculate total costs of gree space for the fiacial year, usig the priciples outlied i both the SORP (Code of Practice o Local Authority Accoutig i the Uited Kigdom A Statemet of Recommed Practice SORP 2, pages 7-10), ad the BVACOP (Best Value Accoutig Code of Practice 2005, Eglad ad Wales, Sectio 2: The Defiitio of Total Cost) guidace. These costs should iclude both direct LA costs ad idirect LA costs bore through cotractors, ad all exterally sourced spedig, icludig: i ii Staff wages ad costs, for all LA departmets/ directorates ivolved icludig, for example, plaig, parks, cotractig, seior maagemet etc Traiig costs iii Costs of materials 3 Allocate total cost figure i 2) to categories i 1) above, by usig direct ad idirect apportiomet methods as outlied i guidace, ad also by fuctio: A B Maagemet ad admiistratio Groud maiteace iv Depreciatio of all ew ad existig assets withi gree space v Cost of capital vi Apportioed overheads vii Exteral sourced spedig whether or ot depedet o matched icome D E Supervisio (i.e. wardes) Liaiso with commuity C Refurbishmet ad reovatio Ad also betwee capital ad reveue Aalyse data ad use iformatio strategically 4 With stadardised total costs allocated by stadard gree space category, service fuctio, ad by capital ad reveue, the authority will be i a positio to: relate costs to exteral variables (such as head of populatio, umber of childre etc) to produce robust ecoomy measures relate costs to existig quality measures (such as Gree Flags ad residet satisfactio) to produce robust efficiecy measures relate costs to wider objectives (such as participatio i healthy activities) to produce robust effectiveess measures Compare results of both ecoomy ad efficiecy measures to other Local Authorities, assess relative performace ad devise actio plas to improve relatively weak performig areas Devise budgets for future maiteace expediture, usig Life Cycle Costig based o robust capital ad reveue costs Produce credible ad coget plas for more fudig from exteral bodies, if eeded, ad Demostrate improvemets to value for moey of their urba gree space Ehacig urba gree space 17

28 part oe Part oe Itroductio 18 Ehacig urba gree space

29 part oe Access to gree space ehaces urba life 1.1 Over 80 per cet of Eglad s populatio lives i a urba eviromet that is, i tows ad cities of over 10,000 people. 5 Urba life ca be excitig ad full of opportuities. But the urba eviromet ca also be oisy, crowded ad less healthy. Gree spaces offer the chace for city dwellers to fid calm, be sociable, take exercise ad escape the pressures of city life. 1.2 Urba gree space icludes may types of lad i a urba settig from formally desigated areas such as parks, gardes, playgrouds, sports facilities ad allotmets, to more atural areas such as corridors alog river baks, urba forests ad gree wastelad (see Figure 9 overleaf). Take together, these areas accout for aroud 14 per cet of urba space. 6 These valuable resources require ogoig maiteace ad repair, ad we estimate that the atio spet 693 millio i o urba gree spaces. 1.3 I total, there are over two billio visits to urba parks ad gree spaces each year, ad over 70 per cet of people claim to visit frequetly. Others ejoy gree spaces just because they are there, ad otice if they are well looked after. Aroud 85 per cet of people feel that the quality of public space has a direct impact o their lives. 7 The wider beefits of gree space are summarised i Figure 10 o page 21. I respose to a select committee report, the Govermet set up a taskforce to idetify the reasos for declie ad recommed steps to brig about improvemet 1.4 The Eviromet, Trasport ad Regioal Affairs Select Committee report of November 1999 o Tow ad Coutry parks cocluded that it was shocked at the weight of evidece, far beyod our expectatios, about the extet of the problems parks have faced i the last 30 years. It is clear that if othig is doe may of them will become albatrosses aroud the eck of local authorities. The committee called for comprehesive improvemet, as parks are key features i the reaissace of our urba areas. 1.5 I respose the Govermet set up the Urba Gree Spaces Taskforce to advise Miisters o a rage of issues impactig o parks ad gree spaces. The Taskforce was chaired by the the Miister for Regeeratio, ad was made up of represetatives from cetral ad local govermet, charities ad trusts, evirometal groups ad private sector bodies. The Urba Parks Forum (ow GreeSpace) udertook a survey of local authorities to determie the coditio of gree space o which the Taskforce drew (the Public Parks Assessmet ). 5 Urba White Paper Our Tows ad Cities: the Future, DTLR (2001). 6 Gree Spaces, Better Places, DTLR (2002). 7 Improvig Urba Parks, Play Areas ad Gree Spaces, Uiversity of Sheffield (2002). Ehacig urba gree space 19

30 part oe 9 Mai types of urba gree space Parks ad gardes icludig urba parks, coutry parks ad formal gardes Natural ad semi atural gree spaces (such as woodlads, urba forestry, scrub, grasslads ad wetlads) Gree corridors icludig river ad caal baks, cycle ways, ad rights of way 1.6 I May 2002, the Taskforce published its report o the coditio of urba gree spaces. It cocluded that there had bee a worryig declie i the quality of may urba parks ad gree spaces, ad that urget actio eeded to be take. More specifically, it foud that: May parks had declied through uder-ivestmet, loss of status ad failure to meet the eeds of the local commuity. Good decisio-makig was made difficult because of fragmeted iformatio, poor data-recordig ad deficiecies i the dissemiatio of good practice. There was o strategic policy framework withi which all decisio-makers could operate. Urba parks ad gree spaces suffered from split resposibilities i atioal Govermet (see Figure 11 o page 22), ad a absece of strog local champios. Outdoor sports facilities Ameity gree space most commoly, but ot exclusively i housig areas icludig iformal recreatio ad other spaces i ad aroud housig, domestic gardes ad village grees Provisio for childre ad teeagers icludig play areas ad skateboard parks Allotmets, commuity gardes ad city (urba) farms Cemeteries ad churchyards Accessible coutryside i urba frige areas The Govermet has take forward a umber of iitiatives with the aim of ehacig urba gree space, as part of a wider iitiative o civil reewal 1.7 I October 2002, the Govermet set out its visio for public space, icludig its respose to the Urba Gree Spaces Taskforce s report. 8 It stated that parks ad gree spaces are as much a part of the urba fabric as its buildigs. It also made clear that these spaces are vital for a wide rage of local ad atioal Govermet priorities, such as reewal ad housig programmes, healthy livig ad commuity cohesio. Govermet set out its commitmet to the creatio of a etwork of accessible, high-quality parks ad gree spaces for all commuities. Sice the the Govermet has: Revised plaig rules to promote sustaiable gree spaces i urba developmets ad called upo local authorities to assess the existig ad future eeds of their commuities for ope space, sports ad recreatioal facilities, ad to set local stadards for the maiteace ad adequate supply of facilities. Set up a separate uit withi the Commissio for Architecture ad the Built Eviromet CABE Space to champio urba space issues, (see Figure 12 o page 23). Source: Office of the Deputy Prime Miister Plaig Policy Guidace 17 8 Livig Places: Cleaer, Safer, Greeer, ODPM (2002). 20 Ehacig urba gree space

31 part oe 10 The beefits of urba gree space Carbo Sik trees have sigificat capacity to absorb carbo mooxide. Oe hectare of woodlad ca absorb emissios equivalet to 100 family cars. Trees for Cities (2003) Pollutio cotrol vegetatio has a sigificat capacity to atteuate oise ad filter air pollutio from vehicles. Street trees ca remove sulphur dioxide ad reduce particulates by up to 75 per cet. Noise atteuatio ca be as much as 30dB per 100 metres. Wetlad eco systems are also effective i filterig polluted ru off ad sewage. Johsto & Newto/Lodo Ecology Uit (1993) Buildig Gree Air coditioig i urba areas the heat islad effect ca icrease temperatures relative to ope coutry side by 5ºC. Vegetatio provides atural air coditioig. A sigle large tree ca be the equivalet of five room air coditioers ad will supply oxyge for 10 people. Hough M (1995) Cities ad Natural Process; Johsto & Newto (1993) Buildig Gree; Lodo Ecology Uit (2003) Trees for Cities Micro-climate cotrol vegetatio ca improve local micro climate cotrol by providig shade i summer. It ca also reduce wid effects created by streets ad wid loads o buildigs, potetially reducig heatig requiremets by up to 25 per cet. BRE (1990) Climate ad site developmet parts 1-3, Digest 350 Health ad well beig access to gree spaces improves people s quality of life, reducig stress, ecouragig relaxatio, ad providig a sese of freedom. Accessible gree space creates opportuities for recreatio ad exercise, ad studies have show that it icreases childre s creative play, social skills ad cocetratio spa. These ca also reduce healthcare costs. Jorgeso A (2001) Why is it importat to ecourage ature ad wildlife ear the home?; RSPB (2003) Gree space ad physical activity promotio Social cohesio atural gree spaces ca ecourage greater social iteractio. The more active use of gree space, icludig streets ad commual spaces, ca help cotribute to a livelier public realm. Participatio i the desig ad stewardship of gree spaces ca help stregthe commuities. Nature reserves ca create focal poits for lifelog learig about ature. Jorgeso A (2001) Why is it importat to ecourage ature ad wildlife ear the home? Eglish Nature (2004) Nature for People, research report 56; Duet N, Swaick C & Woolley H, Improvig urba parks, play areas ad ope spaces Research report DTLR 2002 Property values street trees ad views of atural ladscapes ad waterways ca icrease property values by betwee 6 per cet ad 18 per cet, as well as helpig to sustai values over the log term ad improvig the image of difficult to develop brow field sites. Shoppers may also be willig to pay up to 10 per cet more to shop i tree lied streets. Johsto & Newto (1993) Buildig gree; Natioal Urba Forestry Uit (1998) Trees matter! The beefits of trees ad woods i tows; Uiversity of Washigto (1998) Trees i busiess districts: positive effects o cosumer behaviour; Cetre for Urba Horticulture, Huma dimesios of the urba forest, fact sheet 5; CABE Space (2005) Does Moey Grow o Trees? Maagemet costs traditioally our gree spaces have bee itesively maaged requirig sigificat ad costly iputs of utriets, herbicides ad pesticides. Experiece has show that ecologically self sustaiig ladscapes ca sigificatly reduce the eed for these iputs. Hough M (1995) Cities ad Natural Process Source: Adapted from Tow ad Coutry Plaig Associatio Biodiversity by desig Ehacig urba gree space 21

32 part oe 11 A idicatio of the complexity of resposibility for urba gree space at atioal level, as set out i the Taskforce report The Office of the Deputy Prime Miister as part of its Sustaiable Commuities programme, is resposible for developig the Govermet s policies ad strategic framework o urba parks ad gree spaces. Through its local govermet ad lad-use plaig fuctios, it is resposible for the adequate provisio, maagemet ad improvemet of quality parks ad other public spaces, ad for policies for the maagemet ad improvemet of these spaces. It admiisters a umber of programmes which impact o gree spaces, icludig the Livig Spaces scheme, gree space fud for growth areas, Special Grats Programme; Neighbourhood Reewal Fudig. ODPM also sposors key orgaisatios ad programmes to deliver better gree spaces, icludig CABE, Groudwork, ad the Gree Flag Award scheme. Departmet for Media, Culture ad Sport is resposible for formal playig fields, sportig, ad recreatioal ad childre s play spaces. It sposors Sport Eglad, which has supported the Gree Spaces ad Sustaiable Commuities scheme. DCMS has resposibility for the historic eviromet ad sposors Eglish Heritage ad the Natioal Heritage Memorial Fud, through which the Heritage Lottery Fud which has supported a Urba Parks Programme operates. I additio, DCMS is resposible for the care ad maagemet of the Royal Parks, which is carried out by the Royal Parks Agecy. CABE, sposored by both DCMS ad ODPM, cotributes to gree spaces throughout its Desig Review ad eablig programmes. Departmet for Educatio ad Skills iterests iclude how urba gree spaces cotribute to educatio across the Natioal Curriculum, icludig sciece, PE ad school sport, sustaiable developmet educatio, citizeship ad geography, ad to persoal ad social developmet ad play both withi ad beyod school hours. DfES is also resposible for approval of ay sale of school playig fields. The iter-departmetal Childre ad Youg People s Uit based i the DfES aims to esure that all Govermet policies impact positively o youg people. Departmet for the Eviromet, Farmig ad Rural Affairs has resposibility for iformal coutryside recreatio ad ladscapes, commo lad, tow ad village grees, coutry parks, ad rights of way. It is also cocered with the promotio of safe routes to gree spaces ad promoted policies for protectig urba gree spaces for their wildlife iterest ad the wider biodiversity beefit. DEFRA is also cocered with Commuity Forests ad various aspects of the maagemet of gree spaces, such as litter ad dog foulig. It sposors the Coutryside Agecy, Eglish Nature ad the Eviromet Agecy, all of which have programmes of work which have liks to urba gree spaces. DEFRA also has a policy iterest i the Ladfill Tax Credit Scheme for which the Treasury has overall resposibility. Urba Gree Space Home Office. The Active Commuity Uit provides strategic ad project fudig to volutary ad commuity orgaisatios that support the developmet of strog ad active commuities. I additio, the Race Equality Uit has resposibility for the Race Relatios (Amedmet) Act The stregtheed legislative framework will help public authorities provide their services, icludig gree spaces, i a way that is fair ad accessible to all. The Home Office also has resposibility for reducig crime, disorder ad ati-social behaviour which will improve the safety ad preserve the attractiveess of all public space, icludig urba gree spaces. The Forestry Commissio is particularly cocered with the sustaiable maagemet ad expasio of atural gree spaces, greeig of urba, vacat ad derelict lad ad private gree spaces which beefit the public. It also has expertise i techiques for the restoratio of previously developed lad for sustaiable public use. Departmet for Work ad Pesios. The Eviromet Task Force (EFT) is oe of four optios available uder the New Deal for Youg People. It aims to help youg people back to work ad improve their skills base whilst improvig the eviromet by helpig to regeerate deprived, mostly urba, areas through a variety of projects. Source: Adapted from Urba Gree Spaces Taskforce (2002) Gree Spaces, Better Places, Aex Two 22 Ehacig urba gree space

33 part oe 12 CABE Space: a atioal champio for gree space Followig the recommedatios of the Urba Gree Spaces Taskforce, CABE Space was established i 2003 as a separate uit withi the Commissio for Architecture ad the Built Eviromet. CABE Space orgaises its work ito five themes: eablig ad delivery, stadards ad best practice, policy ad research, campaigs ad advocacy, ad skills developmet. It has committed itself to: Supportig the delivery of quality spaces through the expadig Gree Flag programme. Developig a ew Public Cosultatio Tool to allow everyoe to evaluate the state of public spaces. Providig good practice ad free expert advice to local authorities to develop a strategic approach to gree space maagemet ad project delivery. Workig with parters to deliver exemplar projects. Achievig a better uderstadig of how we measure ad evaluate risk i desigig our spaces, particularly i respect of childre s play. Publishig a sigle skills developmet programme for the gree spaces sector, ad begiig delivery of that programme. Assistig the public i campaigig for higher quality gree spaces withi their eighbourhoods. Source: Natioal Audit Office Promoted a Gree Flag Award scheme to ecourage best gree spaces admiistratio. The scheme is ow maaged by the Civic Trust o behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Miister ad the Gree Flag Advisory Board. Committed aroud 201 millio of ew cetral govermet direct fudig over to , icludig sposorship of CABE Space, Groudwork, Livig Spaces ad the Liveability Fud. Give the Office of the Deputy Prime Miister resposibility to lead the delivery of cleaer, safer ad greeer public spaces i deprived areas ad across the coutry, with measurable improvemet by This PSA was agreed i 2004 ad itroduced i Cotiued to work with the Improvemet ad Developmet Agecy to support performace improvemet ad actio learig, icludig lessos derived from the Beaco Coucils ad the Liveability Fud pilots. Ecouragemet of partership approaches betwee Whitehall departmets, local authorities ad other local public bodies ad betwee local public bodies ad the commuity ad volutary sector. Workig with local authorities through the How to programme to raise the quality of gree spaces. The How to create quality parks ad gree space guide was published i July These programmes are part of the wider Govermet ageda to create cleaer, safer, greeer commuities, providig high quality places with attractive ad sustaiable public spaces for all. Creatig better eighbourhoods is part of the overall drive for sustaiable commuities, ad specifically civic reewal a cross departmetal iitiative to empower people to take part i the democratic life of their commuity ad help shape their local public services. The Office of the Deputy Prime Miister has worked with several other Departmets i pursuit of a umber of Public Service Agreemets (see Figure 13 overleaf). May bodies maage urba gree space but local authorities take the lead i ehacig its provisio ad maagemet 1.9 May local bodies maage urba gree space (see Figure 14 o page 25). However local authorities play a key strategic role. They are resposible for the upkeep ad ehacemet of the vast majority of urba gree space ad for over 90 per cet of atioal public sector sped. I their plaig ad commuity leadership roles, local authorities have a wider resposibility for ehacig gree space provisio ad maagemet withi their areas. Withi a local authority, may departmets have a iterest i gree spaces ad ofte there is o sigle lead Aroud 693 millio is curretly ( ) beig spet o ehacig ad maitaiig urba gree space each year. Aroud 85 per cet of fudig ( 588 millio) comes from the public sector. Of this, the Reveue Support Grat to local authorities accouts for 82 per cet ad 11 per cet comes from grats ad programmes supported by the Office of the Deputy Prime Miister. The bulk of other fudig comes from programmes supported by the Departmet of Culture, Media ad Sport ad the Departmet for Eviromet, Food ad Rural Affairs. Other services such as the Police ad health professioals provide a importat cotributio to sustaiig gree space (see Figure 11). Ehacig urba gree space 23

34 part oe 13 The gree space iitiatives supported by the Office of the Deputy Prime Miister have helped deliver beefits to other Govermet departmets with which it shares outcomes, Public Service Agreemets or commitmets Departmet Departmet for the Eviromet, Food ad Rural Affairs Home Office Departmet of Culture, Media ad Sport Departmet of Health PSA Number ad Aim 1 Promotig sustaiable developmet across Govermet ad i the UK ad iteratioally 2 To reassure the public, reducig fear of crime ad ati-social behaviour ad buildig cofidece i the Crimial Justice System without compromisig fairess 3 Icreasig take up of cultural ad sportig opportuities by adults ad youg people 4 Haltig the rise i obesity amog childre ad the populatio as a whole Joit iitiative Livig Spaces With OPDM fudig, 600 commuity spaces have bee trasformed over the last three years. Projects have raged from woodlads ad wildlife areas to pocket parks. Applicatios for fudig were expected to cosider the log term maiteace of the fiished resource, ad to show that the desig addressed local eeds. This programme is maaged by Groudwork with the support of GreeSpace. Operatio Gate It Operatio Gate It aims to deliver physical evirometal improvemets to areas which are ru dow, badly desiged or poorly maitaied ad have become magets for ati-social behaviour. The scheme helps local residets take actio o areas such as alleyways behid houses, bi stores, garages ad derelict lad ear housig estates. This programme is maaged ad delivered through Groudwork. Barclays Spaces for Sports This programme is maily fuded by Barclays ad aims to work with commuities to deliver more tha 150 ew or improved sports facilities, to help icrease physical activity i those areas, ad ecourage youg people to take part i positive activities. The scheme is delivered by a partership betwee Groudwork (partly fuded by ODPM) ad the Football Foudatio. Gree Gyms Gree Gyms address persoal health issues through practical evirometal coservatio activities that have a prove impact o health ad wellbeig. May Gree Gyms aim to address some of the health iequalities that exist i areas with high levels of social deprivatio. This programme is delivered by BTCV which works i partership with a rage of agecies, icludig Primary Care Trusts, local authorities ad others, with grat fudig from ODPM. Source: Natioal Audit Office We examied whether progress has bee made i ehacig urba gree space 1.11 This report examies whether the barriers to the ehacemet of urba gree space have bee well idetified ad the progress: Part 2 i ehacig ad trackig the quality of urba gree space; Part 3 i sustaiig urba gree space by fudig it efficietly ad effectively; Part 4 through the plaig system to protect ad ehace urba gree space Our methodology is set out i full at Appedix A. Our work icluded: surveyig parks maagers i 154 urba local authorities, to geerate iformatio about the coditio of urba gree space i 2005 ad treds over the last five years. This survey built upo the Public Parks Assessmet survey of 2001, ad was expaded to iclude a greater rage of iformatio about parks departmets strategic priorities ad ivolvemet i decisio makig; comparig the data from the survey with a variety of existig sources of data o parks ad ope spaces, icludig sped ad outcomes; holdig five workshops i the Eglish regios, brigig together 100 urba gree space maagers ad represetatives of urba parks ad ope space user groups; 24 Ehacig urba gree space

35 part oe 14 May local bodies maage urba gree space Royal Parks Agecy ad Heritage Orgaisatios (historical parks ad gardes) Network Rail/Eviromet Agecy/Water Boards (wildlife corridors) Woodlad Trust/ Forestry Commissio/ Eglish Nature/ Coutryside Agecy (Commuity forests ad urba frige) Housig Services Local Authority (ameity gree space ad pocket parks) Educatio Local Authority (school playig fields ad grouds) Property compaies (idustrial estate grouds) Parks ad Leisure Local Authority (traditioal ad pocket parks) Highways Dept Local Authority (verges, street trees) Allotmet holders/ Local Authority (allotmets) Evirometal Services Local Authority (geeral clealiess) Housig Associatios (ameity gree spaces ad pocket parks) Volutary ad commuity groups (traditioal ad pocket parks, commuity gardes, city farms) Golf Club (golf courses ad grouds) Source: Natioal Audit Office. GLUD basemap produced by PLUS1, Plaig & Lad Use Statistics Divisio, Office of the Deputy Prime Miister commissioig the Departmet of Ladscape at the Uiversity of Sheffield to review urba local authorities gree space strategies; iterviewig stakeholders from a wide rage of orgaisatios that cotribute towards fudig ad maagig urba gree space. appoitig a pael of five experts to help determie the most importat issues, advise o the directio of the research ad review prelimiary fidigs; ad ENHANCING URBAN GREEN SPACE 25

36 part two Part two Improvig the quality of urba gree space 26 Ehacig urba gree space

37 part two 2.1 Parks ad gree spaces ca become eglected if ot well maaged. Spaces with broke seats ad shelters covered with graffiti, grass covered with dog dirt ad litter ad bedraggled shrubs ad dead flowers are less likely to be visited, more likely to be usafe ad a spiral of declie ca set i (Figure 15). Spaces like these become depressig ad ca drag eighbourhoods dow. 15 The ideal urba gree space Researchers asked focus groups of both users ad ousers what they cosidered would be i their ideal urba gree space. The most frequetly metioed compoet was vegetatio, followed by water, play opportuities, comforts like seatig, toilets ad shelters, good access particularly a issue for people with disabilities sport, ad evets. Refreshmets of a good quality ad reasoable price, evirometal quality issues such as litter bis, lightig ad vadalism, ad specific features such as sculptures ad mazes were also metioed. Aimals were cosidered to be importat for childre, opportuities for wheeled activities were desired by wome ad youg people while the presece of idetifiable ad approachable staff, was also a feature of the ideal urba gree space. People with disabilities metioed sesory stimulatio. The improvemets that people wat to see i urba gree spaces are related to: good desig ad maagemet focused o meetig people s eeds, overcomig barriers to use ad providig a high quality ad varied experiece for the whole rage of differet groups i the commuity as a whole. People showed cosiderable awareess of the eeds of others ad wated the ideal gree space to be iclusive a space for all. Source: Office of the Deputy Prime Miister Focus Group Research, Improvig Urba Parks, Play Areas ad Ope Spaces, Urba Research Paper, DTLR, May Followig the report of the Urba Gree Spaces Taskforce, the Govermet ackowledged that i geeral the quality of gree space had declied i recet years. The Govermet committed to a visio of a etwork of quality gree spaces for all commuities ad a programme of work to brig about improvemets. I 2005, it committed itself to atioal targets to achieve measurable improvemet i public ad gree spaces by The Govermet sought to ecourage greater commuity egagemet to brig about more sustaiable improvemets i the quality of urba gree space (Figure 16 overleaf) ad ackowledged the eed to improve skills. 2.3 This Part of the report examies: the extet of improvemet sice 1999 i the quality of urba gree space reported by local authorities; the success of the atioal target framework i helpig to brig about ad track improvemet i the quality of urba gree space ad i particular the performace measures for: residets satisfactio Gree Flag Awards. progress o two key factors ecessary for drivig up quality: improved commuity egagemet ehaced gree space skills. Ehacig urba gree space 27

38 part two 16 Turig aroud the quality of urba gree space Tucked behid Cricklewood high street, up util recetly Mapesbury Dell Doorstep Gree was oe of those patches of gree space that had the potetial to drag a eighbourhood dow. Surrouded by high garde feces, the area was uder lit ad uderused. Fear of crime meat it was a o-go area for families, ad it was maily used for drug-dealig, a dog-toilet ad a scrappy tag display. The well-established local residets associatio saw the site s isolatio as a stregth rather tha a problem ad evisioed a traquil secret garde that could be discovered ad used by the whole commuity. A separate special purpose commuity Trust (Mapesbury Dell Coservatio Area Trust) was costituted by residets to fid fudig ad reovate the Dell. The Trust was awarded a project preparatio grat i 2002 by the Coutryside Agecy s Doorstep Gree programme. Luckily a award-wiig ladscape desiger lived locally, ad after full public cosultatio with locals delivered a blue-prit of what the area could be. Doorstep Grees followed up with a project completio grat i Fully supported by Lodo Borough of Bret s Park Services, the Trust the successfully bid for a Livig Spaces grat. With top ups from Bret s capital budget ad a ijectio of Sectio 106 ( plaig gai ) moey, work bega i Mapesbury Dell is still owed by Bret. The Coucil coveated to the Trust the site as a local park for 80 years. It is ow joitly maaged by the Coucil ad the Trust uder a 80 year framework agreemet. The park reopeed i November 2005 ad ow hosts commuity evets ad has a pod, ship-themed play area, stylish but vadal proof seatig, excitig platig ad fully accessible pathways. The Trust has bee omiated for a Quee s Award for Services to the Commuity. CHICHELE ROAD CRICKLEWOOD BROADWAY KEYES LANE HOVEDEN RD WALM LANE Mapesbury Dell Doorstep Gree Source: Natioal Audit Office/Mapesbury Dell Coservatio Area Trust NOTE Full details from I geeral, the quality of urba gree space has improved 2.4 We updated the results of the 2000 Public Parks Assessmet survey for urba local authorities by askig parks maagers for their views o progress. I per cet of urba local authorities believe the quality of their parks is stable or improvig. This compares to less tha 44 per cet i I per cet of urba local authorities cosidered their gree spaces were decliig i quality. We foud that this had falle to 16 per cet i 2005 (Figure 17). Natioal targets ad idicators have bee set which aim to help brig about ad track improvemet i the quality of gree space 2.5 The Office of the Deputy Prime Miister, workig with other Govermet departmets ad local authorities, is resposible for deliverig Public Service Agreemet 8, to: Lead the delivery of cleaer, safer, greeer public spaces ad improvemet of the quality of the built eviromet i deprived areas ad across the coutry, with measurable improvemet by Ehacig urba gree space

39 part two 17 Percetage Parks maagers believe that the declie of their parks has bee reversed Decliig Stable Improvig Source: Natioal Audit Office survey of urba local authorities 2.6 This Public Service Agreemet target was itroduced i April 2005 to cover the period to It addresses the Office of the Deputy Prime Miister s cotributio to the Govermet s wider Cleaer, Safer, Greeer Commuities strategy to ehace liveability improvig the quality ad safety of public spaces ad local eviromets ad people s ejoymet of them. 2.7 Overall performace ad success agaist the Public Service Agreemet target is measured ad assessed usig evidece from surveys, data sources ad idicators. They are desiged as a package to measure progress agaist the target as a whole. 2.8 May of these idicators are ot specific to the quality of gree space but measure other issues of liveability, such as the umber of abadoed vehicles. Others are geeric ad iclude gree space issues but ot explicitly, such as the umber of local authorities whose evirometal services are judged to be performig well or performig strogly by the Audit Commissio as part of their Comprehesive Performace Assessmet. 2.9 Two idicators cover gree space explicitly. These idicators, their data sources, baselie, treds ad success criterio are summarised i Figure 18 overleaf. Residets satisfactio with urba space varies widely 2.10 Satisfactio is a relative ad subjective measure. Local authorities maitai gree ad ope spaces for the ejoymet of their commuities but differet commuities will have differet levels of eed ad expectatio. However satisfactio levels offer a useful yardstick for measurig the progress of local authorities i ehacig urba gree space i their areas, especially over time The Public Service Agreemet target is set for the proportio of citizes across Eglad that is satisfied with their gree ad ope space. The local level of satisfactio with urba parks ad ope spaces varies widely. Whe surveyed by local authorities i 2003, less tha 54 per cet of Bristol s residets were satisfied compared to 92 per cet of the residets of Cambridge. Oe i te urba local authorities have satisfactio levels of less tha 60 per cet. Nearly half of these are Lodo boroughs. Oe i te urba local authorities have satisfactio scores of 85 per cet or above (see Figure 19 overleaf). May urba local authorities would eed to icrease residets satisfactio levels by cosiderable margis if the aggregate atioal target was applied locally (see Figure 20 o page 31). Satisfactio levels have rise sice 2000 but the icrease is ot evely spread 2.12 Betwee 2000 ad 2003 the proportio of residets across Eglad who were satisfied with their local parks ad ope spaces rose by eight percetage poits to 71 per cet This improvemet i residet satisfactio is ot evely spread. Residets i deprived commuities 9 have ot shared equally i the improvemet see. We compared the progress betwee 2000 ad 2003 i those areas with the highest ad lowest residet satisfactio i 2000 (Figure 21 o page 32). We foud that satisfactio levels had icreased the most i those areas where satisfactio was already relatively high i Local people thought the coditio of parks i the poorest performig authorities had ot improved. 9 As measured by the Idex of Multiple Deprivatio. Ehacig urba gree space 29

40 part two 18 Idicators used to measure improvemet i gree space for Public Service Agreemet 8 Idicator 1 To icrease the percetage of residets satisfied with local parks ad ope spaces by four percetage poits atioally, ad by six percetage poits overall for residets livig i local authority districts i receipt of Neighbourhood Reewal Fuds, above the baselie year Data Source Baselie Treds Success criterio Oe of the user satisfactio survey Best Value Performace Idicators (BV119e) measures the percetage of residets satisfied with local authority parks ad ope spaces i their area. BVPI user satisfactio surveys are carried out every three years, through a sample survey withi each local authority district, usig a methodology ad timetable agreed by the Office of the Deputy Prime Mister. The achieved sample i each area is at least 1,100. I the baselie year , 71 per cet of residets atioally ad 69 per cet i the local authority districts i receipt of Neighbourhood Reewal Fuds were satisfied with local parks ad ope spaces. The previous survey was carried out i , whe 63 per cet of residets atioally ad 62 per cet i the Neighbourhood Reewal Fud districts were satisfied with parks ad opes spaces. Satisfactio has icreased by eight percetage poits atioally ad seve percetage poits i Neighbourhood Reewal districts betwee ad To achieve success o this idicator, the aggregate level of satisfactio of residets atioally with local parks ad ope spaces, as measured by BV119e, will have icreased to 75 per cet by The aggregate level of satisfactio of residets across local authority districts i receipt of Neighbourhood Reewal Fuds will also have icreased to 75 per cet by the BV119e survey, thereby closig the gap betwee them ad the rest of the coutry. Idicator 2 Icrease to 60 per cet the proportio of local authority districts atioally, ad to 60 per cet the proportio of local authority districts i receipt of Neighbourhood Reewal Fuds, with at least oe park or gree space that meets Gree Flag Award stadard. Data Source Baselie Success criterio Gree Flag Awards provide a atioally ad locally recogised stadard of excellece i maagig ad maitaiig parks, gree spaces ad play areas. The scheme is admiistered by the Civic Trust, who publish the results of the aual awards scheme. I , there were 25 per cet of relevat local authority districts with at least oe park or gree space with a Gree Flag Award. Of the local authority districts i receipt of Neighbourhood Reewal Fuds, 40 per cet had at least oe park or gree space with a Gree Flag Award. By the ed of September 2008, 60 per cet of relevat local authority districts atioally ad 60 per cet of those i receipt of Neighbourhood Reewal Fuds, should have at least oe park or gree space with a Gree Flag Award. Source: Office of the Deputy Prime Miister 19 Satisfactio with local parks ad ope spaces varies widely amog urba local authority Proportio of local residets who were satisfied or very satisfied with parks ad ope spaces. Less tha 60 per cet Barkig ad Dageham Bolsover Bristol Harrow Hilligdo Houslow North East Licolshire North Tyeside Redcar ad Clevelad Sadwell Tower Hamlets 85 per cet or more Cambridge Chelteham Crawley Eastboure Kesigto ad Chelsea Oxford Poole Richmod upo Thames Westmister 2.14 There is a risk that the residet satisfactio atioal PSA idicator may be met through further improvemet i those areas i which residets are already relatively satisfied with the quality of their gree ad ope space such as Worthig ad Oxford whilst satisfactio levels stay the same or declie i the areas where satisfactio is relatively low such as Bristol ad Bradford. The performace data could be used by ODPM ad CABE Space to target more methodically poor performig local authorities for advice ad metorig. Source: Natioal Audit Office aalysis of Best Value Performace Idicator data 30 Ehacig urba gree space

41 part two 2.15 To cotribute to the levellig up of relatively deprived areas, the Public Service Agreemet target requires a higher percetage icrease i the aggregate level of satisfactio with gree ad ope space of residets i local authorities i receipt of Neighbourhood Reewal Fuds. But we foud that some of the urba local authorities with the poorest satisfactio levels such as Darligto, Haverig ad Houslow were ot i receipt of Neighbourhood Reewal Fuds, ad some deprived areas curretly receivig Neighbourhood Reewal Fuds are already achievig high quality gree space. It may be more productive to target fuds more carefully, or eve refie the target itself towards a miimum atioal residet satisfactio score. 20 May urba local authorities would have to icrease residets gree ad ope space satisfactio levels by cosiderable margis if the aggregate atioal target was applied locally Per cet of Distace to be travelled Urba Neighbourhood Reewal Areas Other urba authorities local authorities 1 Needs to icrease Bristol North East Licolshire satisfactio by more tha 20 percetage poits 6 Needs to icrease Barkig ad Dageham; Bolsover; Harrow; Hilligdo; Houslow satisfactio by North Tyeside; Redcar ad Clevelad; percetage poits Sadwell; Tower Hamlets 13 Needs to icrease Barsley; Bradford; Covetry; Corporatio of Lodo; Gloucester; Havat; satisfactio by Hammersmith ad Fulham; Kowsley; Haverig; Slough; Thurrock percetage poits Oldham; Rochdale; Salford; Stoke-o-Tret; Wakefield; Walsall; Waltham Forest; Wolverhampto 19 Needs to icrease Birmigham; Bolto; Bret; Docaster; Darligto; Merto; North Licolshire; satisfactio by 6-10 Dudley; Ealig; Hackey; Harigey; Redbridge; Rushmoor; Worcester percetage poits Kirklees; Lambeth; Lewisham; Luto; Masfield; Newcastle upo Tye; Newham; Sedgefield; Sefto; Southwark; St. Heles; Stockto-o-Tees; Tameside; Wiga 27 Needs to icrease Blackbur with Darwe; Blackpool; Amber Valley; Baret; Bromley; Broxtowe; satisfactio by 1-5 Croydo; Derby; Gateshead; Greewich; Bury; Durham; Gedlig; Gosport; Harlow; percetage poits Halto; Isligto; Kigsto upo Hull, Ketterig; Kigsto upo Thames; Leeds; Leicester; Liverpool; Machester; Medway; North East Derbyshire; Nottigham; Presto; Rotherham; North Somerset; Norwich; Oadby ad South Tyeside; Suderlad Wigsto; Readig; South Gloucestershire; Steveage; Sutto; Tamworth; Telford ad Wreki; Trafford 5 Already at the Licol; Sheffield Calderdale; Redditch; Solihull; PSA target Stockport; West Berkshire 29 Already exceed the Brighto ad Hove; Camde; Efield; Bath ad North East Somerset; Bexley; PSA target Hartlepool; Kesigto ad Chelsea; Bouremouth; Brackell Forest; Cambridge; Middlesbrough; Plymouth; Portsmouth; Chelteham; Chesterfield; Chorley; Crawley; Southampto; Wadsworth; Eastboure; Eastleigh; Epsom ad Ewell; Westmister; Wirral Exeter; Guildford; Ipswich; Isle of Wight; Milto Keyes; Northampto; Oxford; Peterborough; Poole; Richmod upo Thames; Southed-o-Sea; Swido; Tauto Deae; Torbay; Warrigto; Watford; Widsor ad Maidehead; Wokigham; Worthig; York Source: Natioal Audit Office aalysis of Best Value Performace Idicator data Ehacig urba gree space 31

42 part two 21 Residets satisfactio with parks ad ope spaces i 2000 ad Trafford Ecology Park: A Gree Flag Award Wier By 2003, parks were better same worse Net chage % % % Areas with lowest Noe residet satisfactio i 2000 Areas with highest Overall residet satisfactio icrease i 2000 Source: Natioal Audit Office aalysis of Best Value Performace Idicator data The Gree Flag scheme recogises ad helps to drive up the quality of idividual gree spaces 2.16 The Gree Flag Award is the atioal stadard for parks ad gree spaces i Eglad ad Wales. The discretioary award scheme bega i 1996 as a meas of recogisig ad rewardig the best gree spaces i the coutry (see Figure 22). It was also see as a way of ecouragig others to achieve the same high evirometal stadards, creatig a bechmark of excellece i recreatioal gree areas The scheme is admiistered by the Civic Trust o behalf of the Gree Flag Advisory Board ad the Office of the Deputy Prime Miister, with support from a umber of other bodies. The Trust makes Gree Flag Awards to idividual gree spaces. Judgig, by peer-review, takes place oce a year. Awards are give o a aual basis ad etrats must apply each year ad be re-assessed to reew their Gree Flag Award status. The awards recogise excellece i eight key areas (see Figure 23) The scheme has grow. The icreasig umber of etries ad awards made uder the scheme is show i Figure 24. I , about two i five local authorities have received a Gree Flag Award for oe or more of their spaces. The umber of orgaisatios gaiig more tha oe award has icreased from 17 per cet to 45 per cet of wiig orgaisatios sice I about 46 per cet of applicatios came from sites which had also applied i Whe it comes to coservatio of atural features, wild faua ad flora, Trafford Ecology Park withi oe of Europe s largest idustrial estates i Machester has excelled. Gree Flag Award judges praised the 4.5 hectare site as makig outstadig use of a former derelict site i a upromisig idustrial locatio with outstadig coservatio policies ad practices. Sice opeig to the public i 1990 uder the maagemet of Groudwork Salford ad Trafford i partership with Trafford Coucil ad several other orgaisatios, the park, which was previously built o derelict lad i the 1970s, has become a have for visitors, comprisig a broad rage of habitats co-existig across a relatively small area. Part of the site is a desigated Site of Biological Importace ad the park as a whole boasts a outstadig array of flora ad faua species. The success of this is through a actively maitaied ad moitored partership approach. The aquatic life is probably the most outstadig feature of the site. All three species of British ewts the Smooth, Palmate ad Great Crested Newts were itroduced to the site i Maagemet of the site esures udisturbed breedig, foragig ad hiberatio areas to complete their full life cycle. Grasslad areas were established ad sow with wildflower seeds. Ecology staff costructed three of the pods usig differig liig material, which are importat for ewt coloizatio ad at varyig stages of maturity. Oe of the pods uderwet elargemet, providig a more useful habitat for aquatic ivertebrates. Pioeer plat species foud i this pod icludes water mit, water forget-me-ot ad yellow iris. A sesory garde comprisig raised beds located ear a su gazig machie is plated with herbs. Laveder ad buddleia have also bee plated, attractig a plethora of butterflies ad isects. Followig o from the creatio of woodlad glades, a woodlad wildflower ursery is beig established this year, with platig of seeds i March ad April. Rabbit proof fecig has already bee istalled to protect the area. A full time head gardeer has completed a NVQ level 2 i Evirometal Coservatio, paid for by Trafford Coucil. Gree Flag judges said Trafford Ecology Park was successful by a sigificatly large margi gaiig exceptioally high marks for its clear ad positive maagemet pla which details the area, sets out aims ad determies how they are to be achieved over a five-year period. Source: Civic Trust 32 Ehacig urba gree space

43 part two 23 Gree Flag Award criteria The gree space will be a welcomig place, with good ad safe access, effective sigs, ad offerig somethig to everyoe. It will be a healthy, safe ad secure space. The equipmet ad facilities must be safe to use, the site must be secure for all members of the commuity ad dog foulig must be dealt with. Proper health ad safety policies must be i place, used ad reviewed. The park should have toilets, drikig water, first aid, phoes ad ay ecessary emergecy equipmet either i or ear the park, ad these facilities should be well sigposted. The park will be well maitaied ad clea. Litter ad waste will be dealt with, the grouds, buildigs ad equipmet will be well maitaied. There must be a active policy o tacklig litter, vadalism ad maiteace. The space will be maaged i a sustaiable way. The Gree Flag stadard is exactig o the use of pesticides ad peat. Parks maagers must make sure that gree waste is recycled, ad that the trees ad plats are carefully chose ad well cared for. The Park Maager is expected to stay abreast of the latest evirometal techiques, for example i eergy coservatio, reducig pollutio, ad coservig resources. Coservatio ad heritage will be to the fore. The park will look after its wildlife, ladscape features, buildigs, etc. Commuity ivolvemet will be actively ecouraged. The Park Maager will kow about the local populatio ad who uses the park, ad will esure that park users are ivolved i developig ad maagig the space. What the park offers will be actively marketed. Iformatio will also be provided to park users about the way the space is maaged, ad how they could get ivolved. Strog maagemet plas will be i place, to set out the priorities for the park. The pla will make the most of parters cotributios, have a realistic time scale ad show how the park will cotribute to the eighbourhood as a whole. The pla will demostrate good fiacial maagemet ad will be regularly updated. Source: Natioal Audit Office based o Civic Trust publicatios 24 The Gree Flag scheme has grow rapidly ad i 2005, 400 applicatios were received Applicatios submitted Awards made Source: Natioal Audit Office aalysis of Civic Trust data Ehacig urba gree space 33

44 part two 2.19 The Civic Trust has cotacted all local authorities about their itetios to participate i the Gree Flag Award scheme. Their results suggest that the PSA 8 target for 60 per cet of local authority areas to have a Gree Flag Award wier by September 2008 will be achieved (Figure 25). The Civic Trust has expaded the umber of judges to service the sigificat recet ad predicted growth i participatio i the Gree Flag Award scheme. With more idividuals ivolved i judgig, there is a risk that the stadards applied may lack cosistecy, ad the award loose credibility. Urba gree space maagers attedig our workshops expressed cocer about comparability of stadards. However, the Civic Trust i cosultatio with the Gree Flag Advisory Board is actively addressig these cocers with more detailed assessmet of applicats for judgig positios, ad by improvig the traiig arragemets for ew ad existig judges We foud that the Gree Flag scheme was well regarded by urba gree space maagers. Almost 90 per cet of award-wiig, urba gree space maagers believed that the scheme has bee successful at raisig the profile of gree space with local politicias. About 60 per cet believed it had also raised the profile amogst the geeral public ad 40 per cet believed it had led to icreased umbers of people visitig gree space. The Gree Flag Award scheme is discretioary ad the spread of awards is ueve 2.21 Gree Flag accredited space is rare. Across urba Eglad, there are oly 7.3 Gree Flag Awarded gree spaces for every millio people. The Gree Flag Award scheme covers aroud 17 per cet of historic parks ad recreatioal spaces ad less tha oe per cet of the total hectarage of gree space Across the coutry, urba people have ueve access to Gree Flag Awarded space (Figures 26 ad Figure 27 overleaf). The North West is particularly well edowed with Gree Flag space, ad the West Midlads has relatively few. The Civic Trust believes that a umber of factors may lie behid the North West s higher ivolvemet, amely: A good etwork of parks maagers Rivalry betwee local authorities A umber of large authorities with a sigificat umbers of parks Higher levels of local marketig, as the Gree Flag Award team is based i Liverpool. 25 The Civic Trust data idicates that the PSA 8 target to icrease the umber of Gree Flag awards made to local authority districts will be met achieved achieved mid poit of predicted rage mid poit of predicted rage mid poit of predicted rage PSA 8 Target Source: Natioal Audit Office aalysis of Civic Trust data 34 Ehacig urba gree space

45 part two 26 I 2005, 15 authorities wo over 100 Gree Flag awards betwee them Bexley 5 Gledale Grouds 5 Maagemet/Lewisham Halto 5 Nottigham 5 Oldham 5 Sheffield 5 Southed-o-Sea 5 Warrigto 5 Stockport 6 Bouremouth 7 Bury 8 Liverpool 10 Trafford 11 Machester/ 11 Machester Leisure Corporatio of Lodo 14 Source: Natioal Audit Office aalysis of Civic Trust data There is a risk that i the short term the Gree Flag Award scheme will cocetrate resources o particular gree spaces ad wide the gap betwee the best ad the rest 2.23 The Gree Flag Award scheme is desiged to reward well maaged, good quality idividual urba gree spaces. It is ot ecessarily a good idicator of the geeral quality of urba gree space i a particular area. We foud there was o correlatio betwee the umber of Gree Flag Awards a particular urba authority had wo ad the levels of residet satisfactio with their gree ad ope space (Figure 28 o page 37) There is a risk that the Gree Flag Award scheme may help to wide the gap betwee the best parks ad gree spaces ad the rest, at least i the short-term. About 40 per cet of urba gree space maagers told us that the pursuit of a award had bee sigificat i divertig resources away from other gree space i the area. Oe quarter of the parks which were rated as good by their maagers i the 2000 Public Parks Assessmet have bee awarded Gree Flags. But oly two per cet of the parks which were rated as poor i the same survey have applied for ad bee awarded Gree Flags. Ehacig urba gree space 35

46 part two 27 Local authority urba gree space with Gree Flag awards is ot evely spread North East 15 Gree Flag parks 7.6 Flags per millio populatio North West 84 Gree Flag parks 17.7 Flags per millio populatio Yorkshire ad Humber 14 Gree Flag parks 3.4 Flags per millio populatio East Midlads 12 Gree Flag parks 6.2 Flags per millio populatio West Midlads 9 Gree Flag parks 2.8 Flags per millio populatio East of Eglad 7 Gree Flag parks 5.6 Flags per millio populatio South West 14 Gree Flag Parks 6.1 Flags per millio populatio Lodo 52 Gree Flag parks 7.0 Flags per millio populatio South East 13 Gree Flag parks 4.1 Flags per millio populatio Source: Natioal Audit Office aalysis ad Civic Trust data 2.25 Better local authorities will use a Gree Flag Award as a bechmark to raise stadards across the space for which they are resposible. We foud a high proportio of urba gree space maagers thought that wiig a award could improve practices across a local authority. I the logerterm if additioal local authorities apply for awards, ad local authorities with awards omiate gree spaces that are less obvious cadidates, the scheme will have a wider impact. Next year ( ) a further 106 additioal local authorities ited to omiate gree space for a award. Commuity egagemet is key to sustaiable ehacemet of urba gree space 2.26 The Office of the Deputy Prime Miister sees the volutary ad commuity sector as havig a vital role to play i the delivery ad maagemet of good quality, well desiged, safe public spaces. They regard the sector as a major source of skills, kowledge ad expertise, ad believe it ca facilitate commuity egagemet ad empowermet. 36 Ehacig urba gree space

47 part two 28 Number of Gree Flag awards Source: Natioal Audit Office aalysis of BVP1 119e ad Civic Trust data NOTE There is o correlatio betwee the satisfactio of urba local authorities residets with local gree ad ope space ad the umber of Gree Flags Awards it has wo Correlatio co-efficiet Residet satisfactio 2003 (per cet) 100 help to geerate greater social cohesio for example by icludig all members of the commuity i the desig ad use of gree spaces (Sprig Boroughs Park ad Carter Commuity Park, Figure 39); facilitate the ivolvemet of youg people i decisios about their gree space (Frieds of Southwark Park, see Figure 5); keep a watchful eye o the stadards of maiteace ad staffig levels i a gree space (Frieds of Southwark Park, Figure 5); raise fuds to which Local Authorities do ot have access (Sheffield Botaical Gardes Trust, Figure 3); address very local evirometal problems for example ati-social behaviour ( Operatio Gate It, Figure 13); ad provide voluteer labour (Sheffield Botaical Gardes Trust, Figure 3) I additio, volutary sector orgaisatios ca play a umber of roles which overlap. They ca articulate the desires of local people, they ca support public service delivery, directly deliver services or projects ad, like commuity groups, raise fuds to which Local Authorities do ot have access (see Kig Edward Memorial Park, Figure 47) Both commuity groups ad volutary sector orgaisatios play a importat role i improvig the local eviromet. The ivolvemet of commuity groups ca: help idetify the eed for ew facilities, ad suggest appropriate sites for reovatio (Easter Gardes, Figure 32); desig or redesig gree space so that it is appropriate to local eeds (Mapesbury Dell Doorstep Gree, see Figure 16); brigig ew life to gree spaces by ecouragig a wider rage of uses (Frieds of Southwark Park, see Figure 5); ecourage a greater sese of owership by local people (Mapesbury Dell Doorstep Gree, see Figure 16); Ehacig urba gree space 37

48 part two 2.29 The eed to reach out ad egage with local commuities ad relevat user groups is widely accepted as beig a prerequisite to effective ad sustaiable ehacemet of urba gree space. Gree space maagers eed to egage with commuities i order to respod adequately to the chagig eeds ad expectatios of people ad their commuities for urba gree space. Key Govermet iitiatives ad sposorship that supports commuity egagemet are set out i Figure We foud that more tha 90 per cet of urba local authorities had ivolved the commuity to some extet i drawig up gree space strategies. However oly 12 per cet could be uderstood to have udertake this cosultatio i a maer that fully reflected the social demographic cotext of the authority. Less tha 15 per cet had ivolved parters, such as Frieds of Parks groups or Groudwork, to a great extet while 49 per cet had to a lesser extet ad 37 per cet had ot at all (see Figure 58 part 4). 29 Cetral govermet support for iitiatives to promote commuity ivolvemet i urba gree space Sposorship of the Federatio of Groudwork Trusts whose local parterships ad projects iclude the commuityled creatio ad improvemet of gree space, both larger areas of eglected ad derelict lad as well as small areas i eighbourhoods. Support through ODPM s Special Grats Programme for volutary orgaisatios egaged i evirometal actio. Icludig British Trust for Coservatio Voluteers ad the Wildlife Trusts ad the Federatio of City Farms ad Commuity Gardes i workig with commuities to improve gree space. A Commuity Eablers (Livig Spaces) scheme a ope grat scheme providig practical support ad expert advice to local groups ad local voluteers egaged i creatig ad improvig local gree space ad evirometal projects. Support for GreeSpace (formerly the Urba Parks Forum), icludig the developmet of a register of commuity ad frieds groups ivolved i local projects. Local commuity groups make a substatial cotributio to the ehacemet of urba gree space 2.31 There are over 4,000 commuity groups with a average membership of 135 ivolved with parks ad gree space across the coutry. More tha 70 per cet of these groups have bee formed sice 1990 with the largest umbers formig betwee 1998 ad GreeSpace has estimated that the aual ecoomic value of their work across the UK is betwee 17 millio ad 35 millio. The types of work coducted by these groups are show i Figure 30 ad illustrates the rage of beefits that they ca ad do cotribute to improvig urba gree space About 40 per cet of these commuity groups are Frieds Groups whose primary remit is to act as a voice for a particular park or gree space ad frequetly act as a lik betwee the local authority ad the wider commuity. They are commoly ivolved with the larger more traditioal civic parks. We foud that parks with Frieds groups were more likely to have bee awarded a Gree Flag Award ad to be rated i good or improvig coditio by urba gree space maagers, see Figure 31 overleaf. About oe third of commuity groups are evirometal coservatio groups whose mai objective is to improve the local eviromet with a ecological bias to their work. The Gree Peat Award scheme ackowledges the achievemet of the volutary ad commuity sector, see Figure 32 overleaf. May teats ad residet associatios also have a iterest i gree space but their focus is usually o the broader iterests of a residetial area We held focus groups with members of urba commuity groups ad gree space maagers to idetify the hurdles to improved commuity egagemet ad how they might be overcome. Our fidigs are summarised i Figure 33 o page 41. CABE Space have provided guidace ad support to local authorities o best practice i commuity egagemet. The How to programme promotes commuity egagemet ad empowermet ad sets out some of the tools available to practitioers for ivolvig commuities. Source: Natioal Audit Office 10 Commuity Networkig Project, GreeSpace, November Ehacig urba gree space

49 part two 30 Type of work coducted by volutary ad commuity groups ivolved i gree space Operatio of facilities Teats/Residets' Associatios Evirometal Coservatio Groups Frieds Groups Customer surveys Direct maagemet Site security Political lobbyig Capital projects Iterpretatio Maiteace Fudraisig Cosultee Preservatio Orgaisig evets Improvemet plas Promotio Source: GreeSpace, Percetage Ehacig urba gree space 39

50 part two 31 Percetage Source: Natioal Audit Office survey of urba local authorities 32 Frieds groups are associated with better quality parks With Frieds Awarded a Gree Flag Rated by park s maager as i good coditio Without Frieds Judged by park s maager as improvig over last five years The Gree Peat Award scheme ackowledges the achievemet of the volutary ad commuity sector Lauched i 2002 the Gree Peat Award recogises ad rewards the high quality gree spaces maaged by volutary ad commuity groups. I 2004, 27 awards were made to commuity gardes, city farms ad other gree spaces. The award is part of the Gree Flag Award scheme, ad is judged i a similar way. The criteria used to assess applicats have bee adapted from the Gree Flag scheme, to reflect the volutary ature of maagig groups ad the type of site ivolved. Easter Garde i Bristol (above) has wo three cosecutive Gree Peats. This small park was created by the commuity o derelict ad disputed lad i Located i a busy area of tow, the terraces of trees, shrubs ad flowers offer visitors a gree ad peaceful retreat. Source: Natioal Audit Office based o Civic Trust material Progress i ehacig urba gree space cotiues to be held back by skills shortages 2.34 The 2002 Urba Gree Spaces Taskforce cocluded that there had bee a declie i the umber of experieced idividuals employed i parks ad other gree space. Employer-led appreticeship schemes aimed at producig skilled crafts people were largely phased out followig the itroductio of compulsory competitive tederig. Compaies brought i to maage ladscape cotracts failed to maitai support for employer or college-based traiig ad appreticeship schemes I April 2004 the Govermet published The Ega Review - Skills for Sustaiable Commuities. It ackowledges that these skills eed to iclude those that will help to deliver urba places which offer, amogst other aspiratios, well-maitaied, local, user-friedly public ad gree spaces with facilities for everyoe icludig childre ad older people. I respose, the Academy for Sustaiable Commuities, fuded by the Office of the Deputy Prime Miister, was lauched oe year later to create a ew atioal skills cetre for sustaiable commuities, ad to help tackle the skills issue for the sector CABE Space is resposible for leadig o the promotio ad developmet of skills ad traiig eeds for deliverig ad supportig improvemets i gree space. This aspect of the uit s work relies o close parterships with the relevat professioal istitutes, as well as local govermet bodies, sector skills coucils ad the Chief Culture ad Leisure Officer Associatio. The uit is already supportig skills developmet through its advisory scheme, good practice ad traiig semiars, ad latterly its Parkforce campaig to ecourage staff ito parks. This has bee reiforced by the Govermet s How to programme which provides iformatio ad guidace for practitioers o issues such as leadership, strategic plaig ad workig i partership. I additio it plas to establish a leadership programme for seior strategic maagers of public space ad recogises the eed to raise awareess ad develop skills amogst those service sectors that ofte iadvertetly erode public space quality through their actios i other areas, such as utilities, highways ad housig. Supported by a wide rage of parters, it also plas to publish a strategy for addressig the atioal gree space skills problem. CABE Space had plaed to produce a atioal skills strategy by 2005, but it is likely to be published i Due to the wide rage of orgaisatios ivolved, progress o a atioal skills strategy has bee slower tha aticipated. 40 Ehacig urba gree space

51 part two 33 Hurdles to commuity egagemet ad how they might be overcome Hurdles Limited support ad developmet of commuity groups how they might be overcome Advice poit. Local authorities should have a advertised ad cosistet poit of cotact for liaiso ad cosultatio with commuity groups o gree space issues. Goverace of commuity groups. ODPM or CABE Space should provide sig-posts to sources of iformatio coverig the goverace of commuity groups icludig simple committee procedures o, for example, how to ru a meetig ad how to collate formal miutes. Gree space maagemet skills. Maagers eed ew skills to liaise ad egage with frieds ad other groups. Complexity ad plurality of fudig streams A gree space fudig portal. A sigle website should have liks to each of the potetial gree space ehacemet fud providers. simpler eligibility assessmets so that frieds groups do ot waste time buildig busiess cases that would ever achieve fudig requiremets. more stadardisatio ad cosistecy betwee fuds. Applicatios should be stadardised ad laguage/termiology made cosistet. The amout of detail required for each applicatio would be depedet upo the size of moey requested. Feedback. All fuders should provide simple feedback to groups whether or ot they get their fudig. Maagig the tesio betwee represetative ad participative democracy Local authorities eed to ecourage frieds groups to wide their base ad take accout of the wider views of local residets. coveig authority-wide forums of commuity groups help such groups uderstad competig gree space priorities. Frieds groups eed to be pro-active i ecouragig diversity i their membership. frieds groups eed to promote active coucillor ivolvemet by ivitig them to atted meetigs, awards, ope days, evets, etc. ad attedig coucillors meetigs. Turig egative motivatio to positive Reluctace for public bodies to reliquish power Sustaiig commuity iterest Local authorities eed to egage groups i decisio-makig where appropriate. May groups come ito beig for egative reasos, because of a gap or shortfall i local authority provisio. Egagig groups i decisios over blueprits for improvemet helps such groups to uderstad local authority costraits ad develop positive shared agedas. direct fudig helps to put local groups more i cotrol. Where local groups raise fuds directly they are more likely to have real ifluece. Match fudig with local authority resources helps to create better parterships betwee local authorities ad commuity groups. cotiually improve gree space. May commuity groups come ito existece for a particular reaso ad disbad whe immediate issues are addressed. Cotiuous modest improvemet is ofte better tha oe-off spectacular improvemets for sustaiig commuity pressure. providig goals ad timetables of works so that local people have positive outcomes to which to work. fid a issue the commuity ca egage with which will promote commuity iterest ad ivolvemet. promote the positives. Icrease the umber ad variety of evets ad school use i gree space. Source: Natioal Audit Office workshops Ehacig urba gree space 41

52 part two 2.37 Recet CABE Space research (with Eglish Heritage, the Coutryside Agecy, Sport Eglad, Eglish Nature ad LANTRA 11 ) idetified the cotiuig widespread deficit i skills ad relevat traiig, eve amog authorities with exemplary gree space services (Figure 34) Our survey of urba gree space maagers ad the focus groups of members of commuity groups ad gree space maagers cofirmed CABE Space s fidigs. Skills shortages were idetified as oe of the most sigificat barriers to the improvemet of gree space by gree space maagers. The eed for a strategic approach to addressig the skills gap ad improvig the career structure of those employed i parks was a commo theme i suggestios for tacklig the problem (Figure 35). We foud support for traiig that was ot cetred exclusively o horticultural skills, but which equipped gree space maagers with the skills to thik ad pla strategically ad egage successfully with commuities, local politicias ad officers. 34 Research published by CABE Space i 2004 foud that, eve amog the seve Beaco Coucils those local authorities recogised for achievig exemplary gree space services parks departmets are strugglig i the face of a serious skills shortage ad lack of relevat traiig. Their fidigs, based o 36 i-depth iterviews ad 64 replies to a detailed questioaire, icluded the followig: Successive local govermet restructurigs have led to a loss of status of parks departmets. I most cases, they are ow a sub-sectio of a larger departmet, makig it more difficult to compete for fuds. Parks staff are also ofte ot etirely aware of how they fit ito the coucil s maagemet structure. The Beaco Coucils are typically reliat o a small umber of highly skilled ad dedicated staff, beyod whom there is a deficiecy i specific skills at all levels. At the operatioal ad supervisory levels, this is attributed to the lack of appreticeships or the provisio of aythig more tha basic, madatory (e.g. health ad safety) traiig. At the maagerial level, there is a clear eed for traiig i strategic thikig, visio ad leadership. Career prospects are rated as poor, very poor or oexistet by 54 per cet overall. Aroud 60 per cet of staff have bee i the same post for more tha 10 years. The cotiuig skills shortage i the parks sector Low pay ad a poor public image of the work add to the difficulties for departmets seekig to recruit ew staff. Source: Parks Need People Need Parks, CABE Space, Gree space maagers suggestios for addressig the skills gap Strategic ad co-ordiated approach to traiig ad developmet at a atioal, regioal ad local level that is appropriately resourced ad fuded Focus o quality ad use this to drive recruitmet ad traiig eeds. Build up esteem ad recogitio of parks ad gree space-related employmet as a career Develop good pay ad career structures Comprehesive Performace Assessmet referece ad targeted fudig to address this issue Appreticeship scheme less reliace o short term employees G/NVQ for parks maagemet or revamp of ILAM Cotiuig Professioal Developmet scheme Cosider formal requiremet to lik traiig scheme to outsourced maiteace cotracts Ivest i staff to help them realise potetial Career structure i ladscape/horticulture to attract high calibre people New courses, cotaiig elemets of horticulture, coutryside recreatio ad maagemet, ladscape desig ad leisure maagemet Source: Natioal Audit Office survey of urba local authorities 11 The Sector Skills Coucil for the Evirometal ad lad-based sector. 42 Ehacig urba gree space

53 part two Ehacig urba gree space 43

54 part three Part three Improvig the fiacial maagemet of urba gree space 44 Ehacig urba gree space

55 part three 3.1 I 2002 the Urba Gree Spaces Taskforce 12 reported that uder-ivestmet i gree space had resulted i a serious declie i the ifrastructure ad coditio of parks ad gree spaces i may areas. Resources for parks services were spread thier as local authorities acquired greater amouts of gree space to maage whilst fudig was costraied. The taskforce estimated that there was a cumulative udersped o ifrastructure over the precedig twety years of aroud 1.3 billio ad that aroud 100 millio extra would be eeded over the followig five years to begi to make a real impact. The taskforce also estimated that there was a aual maiteace fudig deficit of aroud 126 millio. 3.2 I respose the Govermet committed to takig further steps to focus more resources to improve the quality of local eviromets, especially i deprived areas. It poited out that a rage of ew fudig opportuities were available to complemet local authority expediture o gree space icludig cotributios from Govermet departmets, lottery programmes, developers ad local busiesses. It called o ew ivestmet for parks ad gree spaces to focus o makig more effective use of the fudig available. The Govermet s stated approach has bee to support local authorities ad others to fid better ways of targetig existig resources ad to help them develop the skills ad provide support to secure resources from a variety of sources. 3.3 This Part of the report examies how effectively curret fudig systems sustai urba gree space ad i particular covers: Natioal sped o gree space Local authority sped o gree space The impact, advatages ad disadvatages of ewer fudig methods Makig more effective use of fudig. We estimate that almost 700 millio was spet o urba gree space i Estimatig the total sped o ehacig ad maitaiig urba gree space is difficult because of the large umber of differet sources of fudig across the public, private ad commuity sectors, the large umber of differet programmes ad the variability i methods of reportig ad quality of iformatio o expediture betwee these programmes. For these reasos oly a broad estimate is possible (Figure 36 overleaf). 3.5 We estimate that almost 700 millio was spet o urba gree space i Aroud 85 per cet of fudig, 588 millio, came from the public sector, four-fifths of which ( 482 millio) came from local authorities through the formula grat 13. ODPM programmes 12 Fial Report of the Urba Gree Spaces Taskforce, Gree Spaces, Better Places. 13 Formula grat is the pot of moey which local authorities use to fud their services. It comprises reveue support grat, redistributed busiess rates ad primary formula police grat. Ehacig urba gree space 45

56 part three 36 We estimate that about 693 millio was spet o urba gree space i Sector departmet Orgaisatio/Programme m Public Sector Urba local authorities ODPM Liveability Fud 15.0 Livig Spaces 10.4 Regioal Developmet Agecies 6.5 CABE Space 6.0 Urba Desig Fud 5.7 Housig Corporatio 5.0 Neighbourhood Reewal Fud 5.0 New Deal for Commuities 5.0 Eglish Parterships (icl. Lad Restoratio Trust) 5.3 Special Grats Programme 2.3 Civic Trust (Gree Flag Award scheme) 0.5 DCMS Sport Eglad 3.5 Eglish Heritage 0.2 DEFRA Coutryside Agecy (Doorstep Grees) 3.5 Forestry Commissio Eglish Nature 0.3 HM Treasury Ladfill Tax Credit Scheme 20.3 Europea Uio Europea Regioal Developmet Fud 7.7 Natioal Lottery Heritage Lottery Fud 30.0 New Opportuities Fud 28.0 Big Lottery Fud (Ja 06) 0.0 Private Sector Plaig gai cotributios 30.0 Sposorship 3.0 Private Fiace Iitiative 1.0 Third Sector Local Volutary ad Commuity groups 11.0 Groudwork GreeSpace 0.0 ENCAMS 1.5 Total Source: Natioal Audit Office Notes 1 The Forestry Commissio is a separate Govermet departmet whose vote is fuded from the DEFRA settlemet. 2 Groudwork spet 26 millio, ad GreeSpace just uder 1m, o urba gree space i These moies are accouted for i the table uder the several orgaisatios which fud these two bodies. 46 Ehacig urba gree space

57 part three cotributed early 10 per cet ( 66 millio). Programmes supported by the Departmet of Culture, Media ad Sport, the Departmet for Eviromet, Food ad Rural Affairs accouted for 12 millio (two per cet). The Lottery Distributio bodies made a large amout of fuds available to gree space projects, gratig aroud 58 millio i The bulk of private fudig came from plaig gai cotributios from private developers ( 30 millio). 3.6 Local authorities have discretio to use their formula grat i accordace with atioal ad local priorities. Other fuds are provided to support commuity ad volutary sector work or to help fud specific gree space projects or programmes. Local authority expediture o gree space has rise, but more slowly tha spedig o evirometal, protective ad cultural services as a whole 3.7 Local authorities expediture o gree space is i part supported by cetral govermet through the reveue support system. There is o specific fudig for parks ad gree spaces, although traditioally spedig is measured as part of the evirometal, protective ad cultural services block. This block covers a wide rage of services, i additio to parks ad gree spaces. These iclude, for example, libraries, museums, cosumer protectio, refuse collectio ad disposal, cocessioary fares, ad plaig cotrol ad implemetatio. 3.8 From to cash spedig o the evirometal, protective ad cultural services block (which cotais gree spaces) rose by 32 per cet (22 per cet after iflatio). Spedig o gree space rose by oly 19 per cet (10 per cet after iflatio) durig the same period (Figure 37). Over the last six years cash expediture by local authorities o gree space icreased by aroud five per cet a year o average, or aroud 2.5 per cet a year i real terms. 3.9 The majority of the services covered i the evirometal, protective ad cultural services block are statutory but spedig o parks ad gree spaces is ot madatory as there is o statutory duty to provide them. Local Authority spedig o gree space has lost out to other services withi the reveue support block. 37 Percetage Local authority spedig o Evirometal, Protective ad Cultural Services has icreased by 32 per cet sice while spedig o gree space has icreased by 19 per cet Block grat Ope space sped Source: Natioal Audit Office aalysis of Office of the Deputy Prime Miister data Additioal sources of fuds have bee made available by cetral govermet ad the lottery distributio bodies 3.10 Additioal sources of public sector fuds have bee made available for gree space projects by cetral govermet departmets ad lottery distributio boards (See Figures 36 ad 41). Some 17 per cet of parks i our survey received additioal fuds. The additioal moies, some 26.5 millio, matched the local authority estimated gross sped o these parks i The lottery cotributed almost 65 per cet of the supplemetary fudig urba local authorities had bee able to raise to support gree space i The private sector provided about five per cet of additioal fuds, the great majority of which was provided by developers through plaig gai agreemets (Figure 38 overleaf). Further fuds are available to support gree space improvemets i deprived areas through the Neighbourhood Reewal Fud. Ehacig urba gree space 47

58 part three 38 Source: Natioal Audit Office survey of urba local authorities NOTE Relative cotributio of differet supplemetary sources of fuds to urba local authority expediture o gree space Lottery 64% Base: parks that received Govermet fudig. Direct departmetal grats 18% Other 9% Plaig gai 4% Regioal 2% Neighbourhood Reewal Fud 2% Private sposorship 1% 3.11 May programmes make fuds available directly to commuity groups for their local projects. For example, the Office of the Deputy Prime Miister s Livig Spaces fud was set up i 2003 to ru for three years with a budget of 30 millio i total. Groudwork, which is partly fuded by the Office of the Deputy Prime Miister, workig with GreeSpace, admiisters the fud o behalf of ODPM. Commuity groups apply to Groudwork for fudig ad their project ideas are assessed agaist criteria such as the level of commuity egagemet, specificity of eed ad value for moey. If grated, the moies are allocated to the commuity project with advice ad supervisio from the charity Groudwork. The scheme has bee very popular with applicatios outstrippig fuds available Aother aspect of much of the ew fudig is the emphasis o partership workig. May of the schemes require orgaisatios to work together with grat makig authority delegated to a umbrella group of parters workig o a project. For example the Big Lottery Fud s programme, Gree Spaces ad Sustaiable Commuities, lauched i Jauary 2000, appoited 11 orgaisatios, ofte operatig as part of a wider partership, to maage grat programmes ad/or umbrella schemes. For the Coutryside Agecy s Doorstep Grees programme, volutary ad commuity groups must match the fudig provided by the scheme, by usig their ow fuds or moies from other fudig streams (Figure 39) We foud that i geeral local authorities welcomed the icreased umber of fudig streams recogisig that they had removed some of the fudig burde from them, helped to icrease overall fudig ad stimulated commuity egagemet. There were cocers over the log-term sustaiability of may of the improvemets fuded, that objectives set by fudig bodies atioally ofte did ot accord with local priorities makig it more difficult to adopt a local strategic approach ad over the time ad resources that were required to establish ad support parterships. The advatages ad disadvatages of direct, rig-feced fudig schemes are summarised i Figure 40 o page 51. It is easier to fid fudig for reovatio or ew facilities tha for routie maiteace ad upkeep 3.14 We foud that most of the direct fudig schemes provided capital moies to purchase, reovate or refurbish gree space. Reveue expediture was ofte allowed but to support operatig ad ruig costs of the refurbishmet schemes. Very few provided reveue for ogoig future maiteace ad upkeep of the refurbishmet. Some ew fudig, available to commuity groups, requires match fudig from local authorities, but these too were for capital fuds (Figure 41 o page 52) Both urba gree space maagers ad members of commuity groups expressed cocer that it was much more difficult to idetify ad secure fuds for log term, routie maiteace tha for major refurbishmet or ew capital projects. Local authorities told us there were some steps they could take to esure their capital ivestmet lasted loger, such as usig stailess steel rather tha woode beches, to prolog the life of assets ad reduce maiteace costs. Despite a icrease i maistream expediture, cocers were expressed about the additioal pressure that ew capital projects place o the maiteace budget i the loger term. Iadequate maiteace ca lead to asset declie ad the risk that gree spaces fall quickly ito disrepair, perhaps to a poit where further substatial capital ivestmet is required. (Figure 41 ad Figure 42 o page 53). 48 Ehacig urba gree space

59 part three 39 Examples of the differet cetral fuds available to support gree space Public Parks Iitiative Fud admiistrator: Heritage Lottery Fud Duratio of programme: Ogoig Value: 400 millio to 2005 The Heritage Lottery Fud has supported the regeeratio of over 270 urba or rural public parks, gardes, squares, promeades ad historic cemeteries across the UK. A park may trace its history back to a older private estate or garde, or may have bee desiged ad built for the purpose of public ejoymet ad recreatio i the 19th or 20th ceturies. Fudig is available for plaig ad developmet projects, for capital works, reveue activities, support for ew staff, ad cost of icreased maagemet ad maiteace. I 2005 the programme will be exteded with a extra 90 millio over three years from the Big Lottery Fud for regeeratio of public parks i Eglad to support more local parks, ecourage commuity parterships, ad icrease voluteer ad traiig opportuities. Sustras Fud admiistrator: Sustras Duratio of programme: Value: 7.4m Delivered a programme of 170 sustaiable trasport projects. The project has worked mostly i partership with local authorities. Schemes cosidered iclude Gree Trasport Corridors creatig safe walkig ad cyclig routes to ad withi gree spaces. Example of fuded projects: Docaster Greeway A 5.5 km log traffic-free gree corridor joiig Docaster to Scawthorpe, Highfields ad Woodlads, i associatio with Docaster Coucil. People s Places Fud admiistrator: BTCV ad supported by Eglish Nature ad Rio Tito Duratio of programme: Value: 6.5m The programme provides a opportuity for local people to make a differece to their commuity by trasformig a derelict, uder-used or usightly buildig or area of lad ito a evirometal resource for everyoe to ejoy, ad cotiue to be ivolved i its sustaiable developmet. Grats of betwee 3,000 ad 10,000 have bee made available, for project costs, traiig, commuity cosultatio, isurace, metorig ad other support ragig from tools to childcare. Example of a fuded project: Sprig Boroughs Pocket Park, Northampto Awarded 9,740. The area to be rejuveated is a Pocket Park withi a tower block estate. The aim is to improve the quality of life for local residets by makig the park more accessible ad people friedly. This will be achieved by improvig access with a textured path for wheelchairs, ad by thiig vegetatio to discourage ati-social behaviour. Biodiversity of the site will be improved through platig a wildlife garde, sesory area ad herb garde. Ehacig urba gree space 49

60 part three 39 Examples of the differet cetral fuds available to support gree space cotiued Wildspace! Fud admiistrator: Eglish Nature Duratio of programme: Value: 7m The Wildspace! scheme helps local commuities to improve the quality of the local eviromet by creatig ad improvig local ature reserves.175 grat awards have bee made. Example of a fuded project: Gree spots for jobs black-spot. Middlesbrough is oe of the 10 most deprived boroughs i Eglad ad did ot have a sigle local ature reserve. Over the ext few years, Middlesbrough Coucil s Wildspace! will be workig to make sure that every residet will be o more tha a kilometre away from a Local Nature Reserve. Playig Fields ad Commuity Gree Spaces Fud admiistrator: Sport Eglad Duratio of programme: Value: 28.5m Sport Eglad admiisters the fud to eable commuities to improve access to playig fields, gree spaces, ad commuity play areas. I additio they are fudig School Playgroud improvemets through the Learig Through Ladscapes Grouds for Improvemet scheme. The scheme has fuded 226 playig field improvemet schemes, 29 commuity youg peoples play schemes, 61 playig pitch strategies ad 326 playgroud improvemets. Half of the 651 projects fuded are located i deprived commuities. Doorstep Grees Fud admiistrator: Coutryside Agecy Duratio of programme: Value: 33.6m (38% Big Lottery Fud; 11% Coutryside Agecy; 51% Partership Fudig) The Coutryside Agecy, with the help of Lottery fudig from the Big Lottery Fud is helpig 200 urba ad rural commuities i Eglad improve their quality of life. By creatig or ehacig gree spaces ear to people s homes, they are helpig people who experiece disadvatage, ad places where regeeratio of the local eviromet is crucial. Example of fuded projects: Carter Commuity Park. I a deprived area with little iformal recreatio or meetig space, the West Lae Neighbourhood Commuity Associatio, with Middlesbrough Coucil ad the help of Groudwork Middlesbrough have created a ladscaped park from derelict lad. The reovatio set out to ivolve all geeratios, ad the park ow showcases local arts ad skills. Source: Natioal Audit Office 50 Ehacig urba gree space

61 part three 40 Advatages The advatages ad disadvatages of direct fudig from cetral govermet Fudig is dedicated to aspects of gree space ehacemet ulike reveue support grat it caot uder the terms of grats be diverted to other local services Fudig is i may cases made direct to the volutary ad commuity sector ad ecourages commuity egagemet i gree space ehacemet May fuders require match fudig from a umber of parters as a coditio of the grat. This ecourages partership workig The applicatio processes impose rigorous objective settig ad plaig disciplies o applicats. For may local authorities these may be of a higher stadard that they might otherwise adopt Disadvatages May of the fuds are time limited for three to five years. This ecourages short-term projects ad iitiatives Scheme objectives set atioally may ot accord with local priorities ad make it more difficult for local authorities to adopt a strategic approach to gree space Havig a rage of potetial fudig sources each with their ow applicatio ad validatio requiremets icreases bureaucracy ad admiistrative costs with adverse implicatios for efficiecy Fuds are limited ad a first come first served approach may ot always be equitable Time ad resources eed to be put ito formig ad supportig parterships Source: Natioal Audit Office 3.16 As part of its strategy to egieer positive chage i the way i which local authorities deliver public space services, the Office of the Deputy Prime Miister itroduced a pilot programme called the Liveability Fud. Whilst 77 millio was earmarked for capital improvemets, a further 12 millio i reveue fudig was made available to support chages i service delivery methods. Local authorities were required to idetify ad implemet iovatio i their approach to tacklig public spaces ad local evirometal issues ad to put i place service delivery mechaisms to sustai improvemets I total, 27 projects, spread evely across the regios were selected. They rage from the creatio of ie Neighbourhood Grees i Blackbur to improvig Havat tow cetre. The service improvemets promised raged from creatig a ot-for-profit orgaisatio to maage the parks ad ope spaces i Leicester to fudig of street ispectors i Covetry. The lessos from the Liveability Fud, CABE Space ad Groudwork projects to ecourage local authorities to iovate i service delivery have yet to be fully idetified ad spread. Evaluatio of the success of the Liveability Fud should start later i Some local authorities could make better use of private sector fudig 3.18 We foud that o average oly five per cet of the additioal fudig local authorities had bee able to raise to support gree space came from the private sector (Figure 38). The bulk of this came from Sectio levies from developers as a cotributio to beefit the area i which a developmet occurs May authorities use moey from developers to create or refurbish gree space oly withi ew housig developmets. Some prefer to use the fudig to improve eighbourig existig parks or gree spaces, rather tha creatig ew spaces which would become a maiteace liability i future years. Others, such as Wiga, require developers to cosider both optios. I Wiga, for developmets of 100 dwelligs ad above, ameity ope space ad play space is ormally required o site but for smaller developmets cotributios are expected for off site spaces. Capital cotributios to off-site play space are required at 517 per ew build dwellig, whilst ogoig reveue requiremets preseted by the ew capital are captured through a commuted sum of 258 per dwellig. A cotributio of 413 per dwellig is also required for off site ameity ope space. All cotributios rise each year agaist the retail price idex. 14 Tow ad Coutry Plaig Act Ehacig urba gree space 51

62 part three 41 Few fudig streams offer moey for routie maiteace ad repairs Scheme capital Reveue fudig available? iteded to fudig support routie available? maiteace? ODPM: Liveability Fud Yes To ecourage 27 pilot authorities to implemet service No reforms to sustai capital improvemets, ad to cocurretly idetify ad dissemiate good practice for all local authorities Livig Spaces Yes For developmet ad implemetatio grats. Though No o fuds were available for routie maiteace, the applicatio process sought to esure that resposibility for maiteace was agreed Heritage Lottery Fud: Public Parks Iitiative Yes For park activities which ecourage greater No (from 2006, ew joit ivolvemet by local commuities i their park programme with Big Lottery Fud) For ew staff i the park Yes, if relevat to improved stadards For icreased cost of maagemet ad Yes, for maiteace for up to 10 years after upkeep of project complete refurbishmet Big Lottery Fud: Awards for All Yes Activities that promote educatio, the eviromet ad No health i the local commuity Livig Ladmarks Yes Reveue or edowmet fudig may be grated to Yes, limited to help towards operatig costs for example developmet 10% of the total ad ruig costs capital fudig People s Places (with British Yes Costs of traiig for group members to develop their No Trust for Coservatio Voluteers) skills, expertise ad kowledge as well as for commuity cosultatio, expert metorig, ad other support ragig from tools ad equipmet to childcare Coutryside Agecy: Doorstep Grees Yes Commuity cosultatio to develop a Project Preparatio Yes, limited to (with Big Lottery Fud) Pla ad support for local commuity maagemet 3 years Eglish Nature: Wildspace! Yes Towards the maagemet of local ature reserves No (with Big Lottery Fud) Sport Eglad: Playig Fields Yes For the developmet of playig field strategies No (with Big Lottery Fud) Source: Natioal Audit Office 52 Ehacig urba gree space

63 part three 42 The eed for log-term plas to sustai gree space ehacemet: the case of Liverpool Iteratioal Garde Festival Early 1980s Derelictio 1982 The Pla 1984 The Festival takes place Declie ad derelictio Fidig a ew use 2006 owards The future The Merseyside Developmet Corporatio decided to regeerate the old South Docks a derelict ad polluted area of Digle, Liverpool. A Garde Festival aimed to revitalise Liverpool ad create uique riverside parklad gifted to the city ad available to all. The festival was billed as a five moth pageat of horticultural excellece ad spectacular etertaimet. The Merseyside Developmet Corporatio ivested 20 millio. The site opeed i May It had sixty idividual gardes, a Festival Hall, public pavilios, a miiature railway, ad a Pathway of Hoour creditig local celebrities. Over three millio people visited i five moths. After the festival the gardes closed to the public i 1986 ad became derelict. The site was leased to several orgaisatios i the late 1980s ad 1990s. Vetures like theme parks tried ad failed. Housig was built o part of the site as plaed. Various plas were put forward for the remaiig lad. Residets created a campaig group i 2002 i respose to proposals for redevelopmet. The site is curretly leased to developers. CABE Space gave advice ad expert assistace to the Lad Restoratio Trust ad Liverpool City Coucil regardig proposals from developers. The Lad Restoratio Trust is egotiatig a public/private agreemet to take resposibility for reovatig ad maagig the site, icludig the restoratio of the Chiese ad Japaese gardes. The plas iclude access to some of the gree space, ad a edowmet to secure log term maiteace moey. Source: Natioal Audit Office 3.20 Local authorities ofte have to maage the tesio betwee usig Sectio 106 levies for the beefit of the commuity as a whole ad what developers wat to provide i terms of commercial attractiveess of ew developmets. Where local authorities had coducted a robust assessmet of curret provisio ad eed ad had developed a more strategic approach they were able to take a more creative approach to the use of plaig gai. Local authorities such as Bret diverted fudig to areas where uder-provisio of gree space had bee idetified. Sadwell Metropolita Borough Coucil used Sectio 106 moies as the match-fudig required to secure Natioal Lottery fudig, ad have created a well used ad widely acclaimed skateboard facility at Victoria Park, Tipto which draws users from across the borough ad beyod. Curret performace reportig ad assessmet regimes provide limited assurace o the ecoomy ad efficiecy of local authority gree space expediture 3.21 Uder Best Value 15 local authorities are required to seek to achieve cotiuous improvemet by havig regard to the efficiecy, effectiveess ad ecoomy of their service delivery. To see if local authorities are achievig Best Value, cetral govermet departmets set measures of performace agaist key service delivery areas. The Audit Commissio examie these idicators as well as other evidece i makig their comprehesive performace assessmet of each local authority. 15 Came ito effect uder the Local Govermet Act Ehacig urba gree space 53

64 part three 3.22 Of the 23 idicators used to assess the performace of local authority evirometal, protective ad cultural services uder Best Value, all but oe cocetrates o local authorities performace o the built eviromet. The idicator relatig to gree space measures local residets satisfactio with gree space (Figure 17, Part 2). There are o idicators that measure ecoomy by relatig resources to activity or efficiecy by relatig activity to outputs. A umber of urba gree space maagers told us that the lack of measures meat that gree space maagemet was ot subject to the same level of scrutiy as built evirometal services uder comprehesive performace assessmet. Ad this i tur meat that seior officers ad local politicias did ot give gree space maagemet the priority it deserved We foud that the curret budgetig, accoutig ad fiacial reportig procedures ad practices of may local authorities made it difficult to devise appropriate ecoomy ad efficiecy measures for gree space (Figure 43). Ad recet CABE Space research 16 has foud that lack of data meat that it is hard to establish a lik betwee expediture ad quality. A framework for cost accoutig at a more detailed level is provided by the Best Value Accoutig Code of Practice, which has bee developed by the Chartered Istitute of Public Fiace ad Accoutacy ad has recetly bee give statutory backig. 17 Applyig BVACOP is a essetial first step i improvig fiacial maagemet, although i apportioig costs to idividual gree spaces, providig detailed cotract reportig, ad relatig costs to outcomes, local authorities should go further tha strict adherece to this code (See Aex o page 17). The potetial of bechmarkig to drive up efficiecy is ot beig realised 3.24 Despite the weakesses idetified i Figure 43, a umber of local authorities have developed volutary bechmarkig clubs or associatios to compare the ecoomy ad efficiecy of aspects of gree space maagemet. Oe of these clubs is ru by the Associatio for Public Service Excellece ad has 51 district authority members from aroud Eglad. But most of the clubs are iformal, regioal or ivolve eighbourig authorities ad membership by some authorities is sporadic. I Lodo for example, 27 authorities take part i these clubs. There is little cotact or co-ordiatio betwee the differet clubs. 43 Weakesses i local authority budgetig ad reportig o gree space expediture that prevet better measuremet of ecoomy ad efficiecy Relevat costs of differet directorates or divisios withi local authorities cotributig to gree space maagemet are ot brought together. Exteral sources of fudig are ot brought together with maistream expediture i a cosistet maer to demostrate total resources devoted to gree spaces. Costs o idividual gree spaces or categories of gree space are ot allocated or apportioed. Cotracts with exteral suppliers may ot provide for reportig to allow allocatio of costs across differet activities or areas of gree space. Expediture o idividual sites is ot accouted for o a accruals basis, ad does ot iclude o-cash cost such as depreciatio. Costs are ot related to outcomes, such as hectares maitaied to a specific quality stadard, i lie with eeds of the commuity. Source: Natioal Audit Office 3.25 The data that the Associatio for Public Service Excellece collects suggests a wide rage of efficiecy betwee local authorities (Figure 44). But the potetial for local authorities to test ad demostrate their efficiecy is beig held back by the lack of a more widely agreed framework for collectig ad aalysig performace data i this way. Moder cotractig practices eed to be adopted more widely 3.26 Oce local authorities have decided what services eed to be delivered o their gree spaces, they must decide how best to deliver them for example, the balace betwee usig their ow staff to carry out the work ad buyig them i from outside, what the work should cosist of, ad how performace should be measured. 16 Yet to be published. 17 Regulatio 31 of the Local Authorities (Capital Fiace ad Accoutig) (Eglad) Regulatios 2003 (Statutory Istrumet 2003/3146). 54 Ehacig urba gree space

65 part three 44 Examples of gree space data collected by bechmarkig clubs Ecoomy measures ad data Commetary Sped o gree space, per hectare maitaied 10,000 7,500 5,000 The average Associatio for Public Service Excellece (APSE) local authority speds 4,100 per hectare, but this hides great variatio. A quarter of local authorities sped less tha 2,500 per hectare, ad the same proportio sped over 5,100. (APSE members ted to iclude a greater proportio of metropolita coucils, ad it has better represetatio i the east of the coutry tha the west.) 2,500 0 Sped o parks per head of populatio The amout spet o gree space o behalf of each local residet also varies greatly. O average, APSE local authorities sped 1.53 per perso to maitai parks. I some cases though, authorities sped three times this amout. It seems likely that these differeces reflect, i part, the wide variety of parks. This highlights the eed to collect bechmarkig data which relates closely to the type of space beig maitaied for example, a prestige Victoria park is likely to cost more per hectare to maitai tha a simple recreatio groud. Expediture by gree space service area, per head of populatio Bechmarkig data ca also be used to look at differeces betwee aspects of the service delivered withi a authority. This chart is draw from the Lodo Bechmarkig Group data set. It shows that its member authorities sped a greater amout o maitaiig parks tha they do cemeteries Cemetries Educatio Highways Housig Traditioal parks Source: Natioal Audit Office aalysis of Associatio for Public Service Excellece ad Lodo Bechmarkig Group data NOTE: Box plots The thick horizotal lie shows the media exactly half of all local authorities sit either side of this lie. Half of all authorities fall betwee the top ad bottom limits of the blue area (this is the iter-quartile rage). The whiskers show highest ad lowest authorities. Ehacig urba gree space 55

66 part three 3.27 Durig the late 1980s Compulsory Competitive Tederig was the mai istrumet by which cetral govermet required local authorities to demostrate value for moey i gree space services. Grouds, horticultural, grass cuttig ad other maiteace services were submitted to competitive tederig. The iflexible implemetatio of competitive tederig ca have a disproportioately damagig ifluece o the capacity of local authorities to deliver ad maage gree spaces. I may cases it ca lead to the loss of site-based staff ad ca favour cotractors that are prepared to bid low ad survive by disregardig the specified level of maiteace Withi may local authorities cliet fuctios of maagemet, policy ad strategy were separated from cotractor or operatioal fuctios of grouds maiteace ad service delivery. Not oly did this result i a coceptual separatio of parks fuctios, but i may istaces the cliet ad cotractor roles were physically separated i differet divisios of the local authority The itroductio of the Best Value approach to service delivery i the 1990 s ecouraged local authorities to give greater weight to factors other tha price i their choice of cotractor. The ew approach promoted flexible methods of delivery rather tha prescriptive solutios, ad the emphasis o outcomes, such as the expected stadard of clealiess (Figure 45). Some local authorities are developig loger term parterships with exteral suppliers. This ca be doe across authorities, so that cotracts are shared, as, for example, is happeig i Machester ad other parts of the North West, where a group of authorities have joied together to explore the possibility of shared cotracts i such areas as arboriculture ad weed cotrol We foud that may local authorities have abolished the cliet-cotractor split, ad three quarters of authorities do ot sub-cotract their commuity parks ad ope spaces at all, may brigig former cotracted-out services i-house. Data collected by the Associatio for Public Service Excellece suggests that very few authorities use exteral cotractors for more tha 30 per cet of their gree space However there is still some way to go i may local authorities to adopt better procuremet ad cotract maagemet practices. Problems still occur where local authorities fail to adopt more moder cotractig practices. Best Value ispectios by the Audit Commissio show that i oe authority for example the rage of maiteace work specified i cotracts was so limited ad restrictive that local authority staff had bee uable to get the cotractors to remedy a rage of problems reported 45 Developig cotractual parterships for gree space maagemet Traditioal approach Specifies activities to be udertake by the cotractor ad their frequecy, for example how ofte grass is to be cut or litter-bis emptied Provides for formal separatio of duties betwee local authority ad cotractor s staff, for example so that grass cuttig is the resposibility of the cotractor but litter collectio the resposibility of park wardes Compliace with terms of cotract has to be moitored o a regular basis by local authority gree space maagers Cotractor is accoutable ad resposible to the local authority, ot local residets Cotract has to be reegotiated i the light of chagig eeds Ecourages cotractor to do the least to meet stadards specified i the cotract ad pass risk of local residet s dissatisfactio to local authority Provides oly for protracted legal resolutio to ay disagreemets over resposibilities Partership approach Specifies output or outcome expected, for example how short the grass should be kept or the stadards of clealiess expected Ecourages joit workig betwee local authority ad cotractor s staff ad frequet commuicatio, for example so that park wardes ad cotractors are joitly resposible for maitaiig stadards Cotractor s ad local authority staff ecouraged to work together i self-directed teams Cotractor has discretio to respod to requests made directly by local residets Cotract builds i flexibility to allow cotractor to chage workig practices i the light of the local authority s chagig requiremets Local authority ad cotractor share risk ad work together to meet stadards expected by local residets Provides for immediate resolutio of potetial coflicts through active egagemet of cotactor ad local authority staff Source: Natioal Audit Office from examiatio of local authority maiteace cotracts 56 Ehacig urba gree space

67 part three by local residets, icludig the emptyig of dog ad litter bis. Ad a recet review by the Coutryside Agecy of its Doorstep Grees programme foud examples of iflexible delivery i oe case gag mowig grass ot yet grow, creatig clouds of dust. Oly oe local authority has adopted a full public-private partership approach (Figure 46), ad aother has give over the maagemet of oe park to a volutary sector orgaisatio (Figure 47). 47 Parterig to ehace urba gree space the example of Kig Edward Memorial Park 46 Recet iovative iitiatives to ehace urba gree space Lewisham Kig Edward Memorial Park is a traditioal tow park i Shadwell, East Lodo. Sice the summer of 2004, this park has bee maaged by a charity, Trees for Cities. The local authority, the Lodo Borough of Tower Hamlets, approached the charity to take the park over, followig te years of collaboratio o projects throughout the borough. Tower Hamlets pass the budget they would have spet o the park to the charity. The agreemet represets a move away from iput specificatios to outcomes, through the developmet of a mutually agreed maagemet pla for the park. For example: The Lodo Borough of Lewisham is i year five of a 10 year public-private partership with Gledale Grouds Maagemet for the maagemet ad maiteace of the coucil s 43 parks. The cotract is iovative i approach i that it covers the total maagemet of the parks service icludig parks patrols ad the evets programme. The cotract brought with it 1.5 millio of up frot ivestmet to be spet o parks withi the first three years. This has resulted i ew facilities i the parks, improved sigage ad improvemets to park ifrastructure icludig footpaths, walkways ad play areas. The Coucil set the cotractor objectives to achieve success i the Lodo i Bloom ad subsequetly the Britai i Bloom competitio as well as securig Gree Flag status for a umber of the parks. The authority has sice achieved Gold status i the Lodo i Bloom competitio ad Broze atioally as well as securig Gree Flag status for five parks. Coucil surveys show that user s satisfactio ratigs have improved from 36 per cet before the award of the Gledale cotract to 52 per cet i The Parks team iformed us that the commitmet to the cotract from local politicias ad officers has helped brig about a log-term improvemet pla ad a associated gree space maiteace budget. Source: Natioal Audit Office/Lodo Borough of Lewisham Icreased fudig for the park: As a charity, Trees for Cities have draw i tes of thousads of pouds i fudig from the private sector to ivest i the park ad its maiteace. Cotributors iclude Thames Water, Deutsche Bak ad News Iteratioal. Icreased traiig: Addressig the skills shortage, Trees for Cities uses the park as a base for practical traiig i ladscapig, horticulture ad arboriculture. Courses are offered to NVQ1 ad NVQ2 levels, ad participats iclude those o the New Deal programmes. Staff presece: Durig the day Trees for Cities staff are visible i the park. Tailored maagemet: The two parters are puttig together a maagemet pla for the park. Higher stadards: Trees for Cities have put i place a itesive maiteace programme, ad they have used their expertise i ecology ad arboriculture to make the park a eve greeer place. More cosultatio with park users: Trees for Cities are facilitatig the ivolvemet of local people through user surveys, evets ad other activities so that the maagemet of the park reflects local eeds ad desires. Wider use: A umber of commuity based evets have take place i the park sice the agreemet was established, helpig to build a stroger sese of local pride. Good practice: Trees for Cities are ow presetig the lessos from the Kig Edward Memorial Park arragemet to other Lodo boroughs. Source: Natioal Audit Office/Trees for Cities Ehacig urba gree space 57

68 part four Part four Plaig urba gree space 58 Ehacig urba gree space

69 part four 4.1 The plaig system has a key role i esurig there is sufficiet high quality urba gree space. The pressure for additioal housig ad busiess i tows ad cities makes existig urba gree space attractive as potetial developmet sites (Figure 48). Plaers ot oly eed to esure gree space is protected ad ehaced where appropriate but also to help to esure suitable opportuities are take to provide ew gree space whe developmet ad regeeratio schemes go ahead. 4.2 To help balace the eeds of urba developmet ad gree space provisio, plaig authorities eed to develop a visio of the value ad role of gree space which is shared by local key parters ad citizes ad is clear to local developers. This i tur eeds to be based o a rigorous assessmet of the adequacy of existig gree space provisio ad the ways it might if ecessary be improved. 48 Weavers Fields The competig demads of urba gree space ad housig provisio Tower Hamlets is a ier city East Lodo borough, which, as part of the Mayor of Lodo s Lodo Pla, has a target of creatig 42,000 ew homes withi the Borough by While some of the ew housig ca be achieved by redevelopig existig housig blocks more itesively, pressure will fall o existig ope space ad ameity lad. The Borough curretly has 1.2 hectares of ope space per 1,000 populatio, ad wats to maitai this ratio if it ca. With the ew housig this would mea creatig at least 29 hectares of ew ope space over the ext 10 years. To address the tesios arisig from these competig demads, the Coucil has declared that as a miimum there should be o overall loss of gree play or recreatioal space o ew housig sites, ad ideed existig sites must be improved. But with such ambitious house creatio plas i a limited space, some tesios are boud to surface as the followig example shows. Two housig associatios withi the Borough have recetly applied for plaig permissio to elarge a existig sheltered hostel for homeless youg people. The proposed developmet site is curretly part of Weavers Fields District Park which is classified as a site of ature coservatio importace. The Borough s policy, as metioed above, is that i geeral ope space sites such as Weavers Fields should be protected. However the ew developmet would help to improve the authority s ability to house a group who fid it difficult to obtai accommodatio i the Borough. A local commuity actio group has formed to object to the developmet o the grouds of the loss of recreatioal facilities ad the precedet plaig approval would represet for further developmet ecroachmet o the site or other sites i the borough. The first applicatio for plaig permissio was rejected but a subsequet applicatio has bee made. A decisio o the secod applicatio has ot yet bee made. Source: Lodo Borough of Tower Hamlets ad Weaver s Fields Actio Group Ehacig urba gree space 59

70 part four 4.3 This part of the report examies how well plaig policy o urba gree space is beig implemeted. I particular it examies: The requiremets of atioal plaig policy guidace o urba gree space How urba gree space policy is delivered locally Local progress i assessig curret provisio of urba gree space ad future eed The quality of curret local gree space strategies The capacity of local authorities to develop a visio for gree space locally. Plaig Policy Guidace sets out atioal policies o plaig for gree space 4.4 To safeguard the coutryside from ecroachmet ad check the urestricted sprawl of built-up urba areas a umber of gree belts were established i These areas have geerally bee protected ad sometimes exteded as part of a strategic plaig approach over the last 50 years by local plaig authorities. Withi urba areas, plaig authorities decide o urba lad use ad the proportios of it that should be used for housig, ope space, busiess eeds or other uses. 4.5 The Govermet s atioal plaig policy guidace is set out i plaig policy statemets (PPS) ad Plaig Policy Guidace otes (PPGs). This guidace eeds to be take ito accout by local plaig authorities i the preparatio of developmet plas ad as a guide i makig decisios o idividual plaig applicatios. The guidace most relevat to urba gree space is set out i Figure The plaig guidace ackowledges that ope spaces ca make a major cotributio to esurig that tows ad cities are places i which people will choose to live. Other supportig guidelies (Figure 50) cofirm this applies particularly i growth areas ad areas of low demad. The mai role of the plaig system is to esure there are sufficiet ope spaces ad that they are i the right places. Plaig guidace ackowledges that this is ot eough though. There is also a eed to esure these ope spaces are of high quality, attractive to users ad well maaged ad maitaied. Critically, plaig guidace provides importat protectio for gree spaces, especially playig fields, by requirig a evidece-based approach to plaig i respect of ope spaces. The Govermet s desired log-term outcomes from the plaig system for urba gree space are set out i Figure Natioal plaig guidace sets out the expectatios of the plaig system for urba gree space Plaig Policy Statemet/Guidace PPS1 Deliverig Sustaiable Developmet Jauary 2005 Draft PPS 3 Housig (proposed to replace PPG3 Housig) December 2005 PPS 9 Biodiversity ad geological coservatio August 2005 PPG 17 Plaig for Ope Space, Sport ad Recreatio July 2002 Relevace to gree space This sets out the overarchig plaig policies for deliverig sustaiable developmet. It cofirms that plaig should esure that ew developmet is of high quality ad well desiged whilst protectig, maitaiig ad improvig the eviromet. It should do this through positive policies o issues such as the provisio of public space. Advises plaig authorities that ew dwelligs should have access to sufficiet ope space (icludig play space) of good quality. Expects plaig to cotribute to a better quality of life ad to people s sese of well-beig by ehacig biodiversity i gree spaces. Requires authorities to pla for ope space by udertakig robust assessmets of the eeds of their commuities ad by auditig existig provisio. Where authorities have ot yet completed this work, ope space may oly be built upo where it has bee demostrated that it is surplus to requiremets. Source: Office of the Deputy Prime Miister 60 Ehacig urba gree space

71 part four 50 Advice o ope space plaig issues i growth areas 51 The log-term objectives that PPG 17 aims to deliver are: The Govermet s 2003 sustaiable commuities pla, lauched by the Deputy Prime Miister, sets out a log-term programme of actio for deliverig sustaiable commuities i both urba ad rural areas. It aims to tackle housig supply problems i south-east Eglad, low demad i other parts of the coutry, ad the quality of public spaces. The pla makes clear that ew eighbourhoods must be of a higher quality, higher desity, ad more sustaiable tha may recet housig developmets. Betwee 2003 ad 2008 the Office of the Deputy Prime Miister will be spedig 38 billio deliverig the pla. Ivestmet i housig o this scale is uprecedeted sice the 1960s. The achievemets of that time were accompaied by some dramatic failures, where some housig layouts ad urba plaig approaches proved to be disastrously miscoceived. Failures i the desig ad maiteace of gree spaces were a major part of this. To help avoid the plaig mistakes of the past, CABE Space produced a geeral guide for practitioers, Start with the Park, that provides good examples of what has worked ad lessos leared from the past. The Govermet s publicatio Greeig the Gateway seeks to establish a visio ad actio pla for gree space i the Thames Gateway. Source: CABE Space guidelies Start with the Park July 2005 Local authorities play the key role i deliverig atioal gree space policy at the local level 4.7 Local authorities play the key role i deliverig atioal gree space policy at the local level. As plaig authorities, local authorities are required to draw up local developmet frameworks to guide the delivery of the spatial plaig strategy for their area. They should build o policies set out atioally ad regioally, takig ito accout local eeds ad circumstaces. Where relevat, local gree space strategies should be take ito accout whe authorities prepare local developmet documets. 4.8 Local authorities are also required to take the lead i partership with other local public sector agecies i developig wider commuity strategies for improvig the ecoomic, social ad evirometal well-beig of their areas, ad cotributig to the achievemet of sustaiable developmet. These strategies are ofte prepared ad implemeted by local authorities through local strategic parterships which brig together the differet parts of the public sector such as the police, Natioal Health Service ad employmet service as well as the private, busiess, commuity ad volutary sectors. Networks of accessible, high quality ope spaces ad sport ad recreatio facilities which meet the eeds of residets ad visitors, are fit for purpose ad ecoomically ad evirometally sustaiable. A appropriate balace betwee ew provisio ad the ehacemet of existig provisio. Clarity ad reasoable certaity for developers ad lad owers i relatio to the requiremets ad expectatios of local plaig authorities i respect of ope space ad sport ad recreatio provisio. Source: Office of the Deputy Prime Miister: Assessig eeds ad opportuities: Plaig Policy Guidace 17 compaio guide 4.9 Local authorities may also adopt Local Public Service Agreemets, a approach that is supported i the ew Local Area Agreemet process. A Local Public Service Agreemet (LPSA) is a volutary agreemet egotiated betwee a authority ad the Govermet. LPSAs ofte address issues pertiet to successful gree space provisio, for example miimisig ati-social behaviour or icreasig clealiess. However, i the small sample of agreemets that we examied, explicit liks betwee LPSA aims ad gree space s role i deliverig these objectives had ot bee made. Govermet has issued guidace as part of the Local Area Agreemet process which icludes a example of a gree space related target that local authorities could adopt as part of their Local Area Agreemet Figure 52 overleaf summarises how urba local authorities should work with key parters to esure gree space policy is reflected i local developmet framework documets ad commuity plas. Local Developmet Frameworks are scrutiised by Govermet Offices i the regios, ad are ope to public examiatio. Achievig atioal objectives for urba gree space depeds o rigorous local assessmet of eed ad audits of provisio 4.11 Plaig Policy Guidace makes clear that achievig the desired outcome of the plaig system for gree space depeds o local authorities first udertakig assessmets of eed ad audits of provisio i respect of ope space, sport ad recreatio. Oe purpose of local assessmets of eed is to pla positively, creatively ad Ehacig urba gree space 61

72 part four 52 Gree space policy should be reflected i local developmet framework documets ad commuity plas Local Strategic Partership Local Authority Plaig Departmet Local Developmet Framework Documet commuity pla Social, ecoomic ad evirometal policies Greespace Stategy Local Authority Parks or Gree Space Departmets Source: Natioal Audit Office effectively to esure that there is adequate provisio of accessible high quality gree spaces to meet the eeds of local commuities ad visitors Assessmets ad audits are iteded to allow local authorities to idetify specific eeds ad quatitative ad qualitative deficiecies or surpluses of gree space ad recreatioal facilities i their areas. They would the form the startig poit for establishig effective strategies ad for effective plaig through the developmet of appropriate policies i plas. A compaio guide to the Plaig Policy Guidace suggested a five step process to developig assessmets (Figure 53). Local authorities are able to take a alterative approach provided it is compliat with the atioal policy requiremet to assess eed ad provisio, set stadards ad develop local policy. Local authorities have made slow progress i udertakig assessmets of eed ad audits of provisio 4.13 We foud that i geeral urba local authorities have made slow progress i udertakig the assessmet of eed ad audits of provisio required uder Plaig Policy Guidace 17 which was issued i July Forty five per cet of urba local authorities have completed a audit of their curret provisio, ad 36 per cet have a review i progress. Nietee per cet have yet to start. Local authorities that have ot yet started told us that this was because of the eed to pursue other priorities or because they wated to udertake a audit as part of a future wider strategic review. Thirty per cet of urba local authorities had completed a assessmet of the future eed of their commuities for gree space, with aother 35 per cet statig that a assessmet was i progress (Figure 54 o page 64). Gree space strategies should help to articulate a local authority s visio for gree space 4.14 Gree space strategies play a key role i esurig a local authority meets the expectatios of atioal gree space policy, i both its roles as commuity leader ad plaig authority. Strategies should help to articulate a authority s ad its commuity s visio for gree space, the cotributio that gree space makes to other services (such as health, social care, safety, educatio) ad the goals the authority wats to achieve, plus the resources, methods ad time eeded to meet these goals (Figure 55 o page 6). 62 ENHANCING URBAN GREEN SPACE

73 part four 53 The Compaio Guide s recommeded approach to local assessmets Step 1 Idetify local eeds Review the implicatios of existig strategies Review existig policies ad provisio stadards Cosult local commuities ad prepare a visio Step 2 Audit local provisio Decide the scope of the audit ad idetify existig iformatio Pla ad udertake the audit Aalyse the audit Determie quatity stadards Determie quality stadards Step 3 Set provisio stadards Determie accessibility stadards Determie miimum acceptable size stadards Determie site area multipliers Determie ormalised costs Determie desig stadards Step 4 Apply the provisio stadards Idetify deficiecies i accessibility Idetify deficiecies i quality Idetify surpluses ad deficiecies i quatity Idetify strategic optios Step 5 Draft policies Evaluate the strategic optios Draft policy Cosult relevat stakeholders Source: Office of the Deputy Prime Miister, Plaig Policy Guidace 17 compaio guide Ehacig urba gree space 63

74 part four 54 May urba local authorities have completed a audit of curret provisio or a assessmet of the future eed of their commuities, but some have yet to start Audit of curret provisio Assessmet of future eed Not yet started 19% Not yet started 35% Completed 45% Completed 30% I progress 36% I progress 35% Source: Natioal Audit Office survey of urba local authorities 55 The purpose of a gree space strategy Geerate political ad iter-departmetal support for parks ad gree spaces ad establish clear lies of resposibility Develop a visio shared by politicias, officers, key parters, stakeholders ad commuities Defie the value ad role of parks ad gree spaces i meetig corporate ad commuity aims Create a comprehesive policy framework for the protectio, ehacemet, accessibility ad use of parks ad gree spaces Make sure that gree spaces ehace the quality ad diversity of the eviromet ad promote social iclusio Esure that the gree space etwork meets the eeds of local people ow ad i the future Provide a framework for resource allocatio that maximises fudig to support improvemets Create a framework for volutary ad commuity groups to participate i gree space provisio ad maagemet Source: Guide to Gree Space Strategies, CABE Space 4.15 There is o statutory requiremet upo local authorities to produce a writte gree space strategy. The Office of the Deputy Prime Miister has told us that this would create a udesirable burde o local authorities. Nor does Plaig Policy Guidace iclude a explicit requiremet for such a documet. But it is expected good practice. I May 2004 CABE Space issued a guide to help local authorities develop strategies. CABE Space also provide direct expert advice, free-of-charge, to local authorities to help them develop a strategic approach to maagig gree spaces. A icreasig percetage of local authorities have gree space strategies 4.16 We foud that about 40 per cet of urba local authorities had formally adopted gree space strategies ad about 30 per cet had drafted strategies which had ot yet bee formally adopted. I 2000, oly 53 per cet of urba local authorities had a writte strategy for their gree space. Whilst these strategies may be stad aloe or be icluded withi other strategies about 30 per cet of urba authorities do ot yet have gree space strategies (Figure 56). About half of the authorities that had ot yet compiled a strategy did ot expect to do so withi the ext year. 64 Ehacig urba gree space

75 part four 56 Nearly 70 per cet of urba local authorities have adopted or drafted a gree or ope space strategy No strategy 31% Adopted strategies 38% Draft strategies 31% Source: Natioal Audit Office aalysis of review of strategies udertake by the Uiversity of Sheffield, Departmet of Ladscape 4.17 I lie with the Urba Gree Spaces Taskforce s fidigs, we foud that, where urba local authorities had compiled space strategies, over sevety per cet of gree space maagers thought they had helped to stregthe support for gree space amogst other officers ad local politicias. There is a wide rage i the quality of urba gree space strategies 4.18 Oe quarter of urba local authorities were able to provide us with a copy of their writte gree or ope space strategy. A summary of oe strategy submitted to us is at Figure 57. We asked the Departmet of Ladscape at the Uiversity of Sheffield to review the strategies agaist good practice criteria, icludig those of CABE Space. The results of this review are show i detail i Figure 58 overleaf. 57 A example of a gree space strategy Barkig ad Dageham Parks ad Gree Space Strategy I 2001 factors ragig from the eed to itroduce cotiuous improvemets uder Best Value, the icreasig profile of gree space geerally ad poor public perceptio of the quality of parks i Barkig ad Dageham prompted the Parks Departmet to develop a log term strategy for gree space improvemets. The strategy was adopted by the authority i Jue The strategy sets out a 20 year visio with plaig developmets cetred aroud a itegrated ope spaces framework for the borough. The authority expects to deliver the strategy through parterships: iterally to develop the potetial of parks ad gree spaces with health, educatio ad welfare; ad exterally with cetral govermet, regioal agecies, local commuities, busiess ad volutary orgaisatios. To egage with ad demostrate the value of gree space to parters, the strategy highlights the evidece that supports the cotributio gree spaces make i key areas such as educatio, health ad social welfare. It highlights those areas where parks ad gree spaces ca cotribute to other authority targets. Ope spaces ad parks were audited i accordace with PPG 17 guidelies to idetify ay surpluses or deficiecy i provisio. Levels of access ad coectivity to eighbourhoods were mapped. The coditio of each park was assessed agaist a rage of criteria icludig the coditio of etraces, geeral facilities, ladscape character ad quality, ad how it catered for differet sectios of the commuity such as the youg, disabled, ad elderly. Buildig o this evaluatio, idividual park plas were developed idetifyig the capital ivestmet that would be eeded to take the chages forward, where the ecessary moies would come from, ad timetables for implemetatio for each park ad for the wider strategy. Source: Natioal Audit Office review of Lodo Borough of Barkig ad Dageham strategy Ehacig urba gree space 65

76 part four 58 Aalysis of urba local authorities gree or ope space strategies Gree space strategy good practice features Detailed aalysis of local eed Cosideratio of the socio-ecoomic profile of the local populatio A comprehesive assessmet of the eeds of specific groups i the wider commuity A compariso of eeds agaist provisio Idetificatio of resources to plug the gaps A strategy built o iformatio about supply, demad ad resources Percetage of strategies (rouded to whole umber) where the Uiversity of Sheffield cosider requiremet addressed: fully partially ot at all NAO coclusio: Few authorities had systematically matched provisio ad future eed agaist the profile of their commuities, though may had made a attempt to address the eeds of particular groups. The stadard of aalysis varied betwee authorities. A uderstadig of existig supply Icludig: The quatity The quality Accessibility Usage Iclusio of gree space owed by other orgaisatios Most authorities have audited their ow provisio of gree space, but early half had ot cosidered the gree space offered by other orgaisatios. Wide coverage Icludig the full rage of gree spaces, for example Parks Ameity gree space (for example space aroud houses) Provisio for childre ad tees Local authorities have ot icluded the full rage of ope space available to their residets. Wide ad effective cosultatio Cosultatio with users Aligmet of user cosultatio with socio-demographic profile Iclusio of both idividuals ad commuity groups i user cosultatio Geerally, authorities appear committed to user cosultatio, but could wide their cosultatio, ad structure it better. Workig with others Ivolvig parter orgaisatios i formulatig the strategy Opportuities for joit actio traslated ito actio Referece to partership workig agreemets/ frameworks/protocols Desigated resposibility assiged to specific people/ orgaisatios Local authorities could do more to iclude parter orgaisatios i formulatig strategy. Two thirds of strategies cotai uclear allocatio of resposibilities. 66 Ehacig urba gree space

77 part four 58 Aalysis of urba local authorities gree or ope space strategies cotiued Gree space strategy good practice features Clear objectives A local stadard for the supply of accessible gree space Objectives that are specific Objectives that are measurable Objectives that are achievable Objectives that are relevat Objectives that are timetabled Percetage of strategies (rouded to whole umber) where the Uiversity of Sheffield cosider requiremet addressed: fully partially ot at all NAO coclusio: Though may authorities have set a miimum stadard for supply of gree space, a sizeable miority have yet to do so. Few authorities perform well agaist the SMART criteria for effective objectives. I particular, few authorities have a timetable for implemetig their strategy. Aligmet with other policies Liks with corporate pla Liks with commuity pla Liks with atioal policy Liks with early years strategy Liks with play strategy Gree space strategies show better vertical tha horizotal itegratio of policy objectives. The majority have liked their gree space strategy with their corporate pla for example. But sideways liks with the strategies of other local govermet services are much less strog. A way of maagig the delivery of the strategy A actio pla Moitorig of progress A schedule for regular review of the strategy Developmet/itroductio of performace idicators Idetificatio of fudig opportuities ad requiremets Plas to attract exteral fudig Idetificatio of fudig for specific objectives Idetificatio of fudig for geeral usage Assessmet ad icorporatio of Sectio 106 opportuities Priorities for actio Costed priorities Actio plas, moitorig systems ad reviews are ot uiversal, raisig questios about the effectiveess of delivery. Without moitorig ad review, poorly performig authorities caot take early corrective actio. Local authorities eed to idetify fudig opportuities. Few authorities have prioritised their spedig optios, ad eve fewer have costed their priorities. A assessmet of skills ad traiig eeds Idetificatio of staff roles Idetificatio of work skills eeded A aalysis of traiig eeds A addressig of huma resourcig issues Utilisatio of good practice kowledge Local authorities demostrate a poor uderstadig of their staff developmet eeds, ad how they might go about ehacig capability. Source: Natioal Audit Office aalysis of review of strategies udertake by the Uiversity of Sheffield, Departmet of Ladscape Ehacig urba gree space 67

78 part four 4.19 There is a wide rage i the quality of the strategies. Commo aspects that eed to be improved iclude: coverage of gree space maaged by bodies other tha the local authority (Figure 59); cosideratio of the eeds of all users of gree space, matched to the socio-ecoomic profile of the area; clearer allocatio of resposibilities for actio betwee differet bodies; settig a miimum stadard for access to gree space; likig gree space strategy with other public service strategies; prioritisatio of spedig optios ad cosideratio of skills ad traiig eeds; ad providig for the moitorig ad review of strategies ad a timetable for implemetatio. Local authorities eed better guidace o the software tools available to map gree space provisio ad access 4.20 The Urba Gree Spaces Task Force idetified the iformatio deficit o gree space as a major factor i parks declie. Without basic data locally about urba parks ad gree spaces, icludig how may there are, their total area ad quality, ad their uses, parks maagers are ot well placed to make the case for gree space I respose the Govermet committed amogst other thigs to esurig greater compatibility i the collectio of survey data o various types of gree spaces for the purposes of data itegratio ad developmet of Geographic Iformatio Systems (GIS). The Office of the Deputy Prime Miister is developig a gree space database for Eglad, which will allow the sharig of a full rage of gree space iformatio through a map based iteret tool. This should form the first step towards a cosistet base-lie that plaers ad maagers of gree spaces could use for their gree space audits ad assessmets. The Office of the Deputy Prime Miister plas to cosult local authorities as the database is beig developed, ad iteds to lauch a pilot database i mid Local authorities eed to work closely with other bodies such as housig associatios Residets of affordable housig are more likely to live i areas of poor evirometal quality. They are less likely to have easy access to gree space, whether a private garde or a public park, withi a five miute walk. About 1.3 millio affordable homes are ow maaged by housig associatios. Where affordable housig stock has bee trasferred from local authorities, resposibility for maiteace of gree space may be trasferred to the housig associatio. Esurig residets of affordable homes have access to good quality ope spaces is importat ad local authorities eed to work closely with their ow departmets ad i partership with housig associatios to esure that residets quality of life is improved. A coferece was held i 2003 to showcase how some affordable housig ladlords had begu to ivolve their commuities, i partership with others, to trasform ope ad gree space withi their estates. This has developed ito the Neighbourhoods Gree project through which Nottig Hill Housig Group ad the Peabody Trust, supported by ODPM, CABE Space ad Eglish Nature, i partership with Groudwork Lodo, are takig forward work to: evaluate the status ad profile of gree space withi affordable housig i Lodo; prepare a tool-kit, traiig ad further guidace to aid affordable housig providers ad residets i the desig, maagemet ad safe use of their gree space; establish a support etwork of champios ad expertise withi the affordable housig sector to stregthe iteral capacity ad uderstadig; ad advocate for appropriate policies, icetives ad resources to ehace gree space quality. Housig associatios embarkig o ew affordable housig schemes are beig required to cosider the impact of their developmet o the whole eighbourhood icludig ope ad gree spaces. Source: Natioal Audit Office review of Nottig Hill Housig Group ad Peabody Trust iformatio NOTE Further details from 68 Ehacig urba gree space