MEMORANDUM BY THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION
(TCPF 02)
THE LGA
1. The Local Government Association was
formed by the merger of the Association of County Councils, the
Association of District Councils and the Association of Metropolitan
Authorities on 1 April 1997. The LGA has just under 500 members,
including all 238 shire district councils, 36 metropolitan district
councils, 34 county councils, 47 English unitary authorities,
33 London authorities, and 22 Welsh authorities. The LGA provides
the national voice for local communities in England and Wales.
GENERAL COMMENTS
2. The report and recommendations of the
Select Committee were keenly awaited and welcomed by the Local
Government Association (LGA). The recommendations present both
central and local government significant challenges to arresting
the decline of our parks and open spaces. The LGA recognises the
importance and the value of the public park to communities, the
economy and social life, that is very well illustrated in the
report. The LGA supports the call for a National Agency for Parks
and Greenspaces and will continue making this case to Government.
3. In the LGA's previous evidence to the
Committee we emphasised our belief in the role and value of parks
in contributing to the quality of our lives and the need to regenerate
public parks for economic, social and environmental benefit. However,
as the Committee is aware, arresting the decline of this service,
is not a simple short term task.
4. For this reason the LGA Cultural Services
Executive has formed a Parks and Children's Play Task Group to
examine and explore further the recommendations of the Town and
Country Parks Inquiry and the Government's response. In particular,
Task Group will be focusing on issues of lottery funding for local
authorities parks and open spaces projects, developing children's
play space, and the implementation of Best Value in these service
areas.
5. The Task Groups short term remit (it
will sit for a maximum of six months) will also include producing
proposals for the remit and constitution of a national Parks and
Open Spaces Policy Forum to be initiated and facilitated by the
LGA. Key interested organisations and stakeholders will be consulted
on this issue by the Task Group.
6. The LGA considers this as the most appropriate
way forward in light of addressing many of the issues raised by
the Inquiry, and the void left by the Government's decision not
to entertain a new national agency for parks. The formation of
a successful Parks and Open Spaces Policy Forum may act to persuade
Government differently in the longer term.
7. The LGA believes that the Parks and Open
Spaces Forum can co-ordinate and respond positively to the findings
of the Inquiry, bringing together expertise from organisations
such as ILAM and the Urban Parks Forum, co-ordinating parks and
open spaces policy and advice, and continuing to discuss ways
forward with DETR, DCMS, the Audit Commission and IDeA particularly
in respect of collating information on parks and open spaces developing
useful and meaningful performance indicators, and guiding the
implementation of Best Value through parks services.
THE INFORMATION
DEFICIT
8. The LGA agrees that local authorities
should survey their parks to provide information on number size,
attributes, facilities and visitor numbers. Many authorities have
done this in part but not all. Basic data exists for the purpose
of specification for CCT management contracts, and there will
need to be revisited and developed as part of Best Value reviews.
The Heritage Lottery Fund survey of parks and historic parks and
gardens has been well supported by local authorities and is a
welcome contribution to establishing an overall picture of the
quantity and quality of our parks.
9. The LGA is also working with the Audit
Commission, to examine the best use of information generated from
the Best Value reviews and performance plans, and the development
of a library of local standards and indicators in the cultural
sector. Further work is needed in developing definitions for categorising
parks and open space. The lack of these definitions continues
to undermine most benchmarking exercises. Clearly this area, and
the more effective and widespread dissemination of existing and
developing information will be priority areas for the proposed
Forum in conjunction with DETR and the Audit Commission.
CRIME AND
DISORDER STRATEGIES
10. The LGA agrees that plans for parks
safety should be included in Crime and Disorder Strategies, where
it is appropriate to the priorities of the local crime audit and
local consultation with residents.
11. All local authorites should have published
their strategies by April 1999. Almost all have done so. The main
priorities for the outcomes of these strategies relate to vehicle
crime, domestic crime and violent crime and best value performance
indicators have been set to reflect this. Home Office research
into the main priorities within the strategies is due to be published
in June 2000. At this time, the LGA has no available evidence
to submit regarding the extent of "safety in parks"
within adopted strategies.
12. However, the LGA is currently working with
ILAM and the NSPCC in promoting best practice to local authorities
on improving safety issues on their parks and open spaces, and
particularly addressing the perception among parents, that parks
and open spaces are not safe. A seminar will take place, and a
paper promoting best practice will be published in May 2000.
IMPROVING THE
NUMBERS AND
QUALITY OF
STAFF EMPLOYED
IN THE
MANAGEMENT AND
MAINTENANCE OF
PARKS
13. While the LGA recognises this as a key
issue in the development and sustainability of parks and open
spaces it is not evisaged as a direct role for our organisation.
However the LGA agrees that this is a priority issue, and something
that the proposed Parks and Open Spaces Policy Forum should seek
to address and provide a lead in discussions with IDeA, LANTRA,
DETR, DfEE and DCMS.
THE ESTABLISHMENT
OF TRUSTS
14. The LGA notes the recommendation in
respect of stand alone Trusts and Friends groups and will consider
this further in consultation with other interested groups within
the Parks and Open Spaces Policy Forum. It is relatively early
days in the trend towards Trusts for parks, and the LGA while
noting the Committee's caution, is keen to assess the benefits
of the well conceived and properly resourced Trust. Further evidence
will be available as local authorities undertake Best Value reviews
and examine this management option as part of the process.
BEST VALUE
AND AUDIT
COMMISSION PERFORMANCE
INDICATORS
15. The LGA has played a leading consultative
role in the development of the Best Value guidance and subsequent
briefings to local government following the arrival of DETR's
" Implementing Best Value" and "Performance Indicators
2000/2001". The lead organisation assisting and guiding implementation
of Best Value is now IDeA. Clearly the newly established Forum
will need to work closely with IDeA in developing any necessary
service specific guidance.
16. However, we would emphasise that the
Best Value challenge for parks services should be locally and
not centrally driven. Local parks strategies should be informed
and driven from local consultations and assessments of local needs.
17. The LGA's Cultural Services Best Value
Network has brought together national organisations and professional
bodies, alongside individual local authorities, to share information
and encourage joint working relating to best value in the cultural
services. Its members' interests include parks, arts, sport, libraries,
tourism, children's play, museums, archives and other aspects
of the cultural services.
18. The LGA's Cultural Services Best Value
Network is contributing to a review of the Best Value Performance
Indicators for the cultural sector 2001-02. National and local
parks and open spaces indicators will be included in this review.
19. The LGA's response to the 2000-01 Performance
Indicators for the cultural sector highlighted a lack of certain
dimensions including:
— outcomes rather than outputs;
— people rather than buildings;
— cross-cutting themes rather than
service-specific;
— long-term outcomes rather than short
term-outputs
20. Some sectors (eg museums and libraries)
have specific Performance Indicators but it is noticeable that
others (eg parks, arts and sport) do not. We do not believe it
is desirable to have a suite of indicators for each part of the
cultural services sector.
21. However, we do feel there is a need
to broaden out some of the Performance Indicators already in place
(eg BV113 which currently only relates to museums) and to explore
the value of service—specific Performance Indicators (including
parks) in later years.
LOCAL CULTURAL
STRATEGIES
22. The LGA believes Local Cultural Strategies
are a very important development for the Cultural sector and supports
the inclusion of the Local Cultural Strategy Best Value performance
indicator for local authorities. This is a process where by our
services, including parks, are built into a strategic plan that
is designed to feed into other plans produced by local authorities
and regional bodies such as the Regional Cultural Consortia. The
LGA is currently working with DCMS and the fourteen local authorities
piloting the development of cultural strategies to ensure parks
services are given prominence. DCMS aim to produce and launch
final guidance later this summer. The draft guidance includes
parks and open spaces within its scope of cultural services. No
particular approach has been advocated for producing the Local
Cultural Strategy but it is intended to act as an over arching
document that links the service specific strategies and plans.
Many of the pilot authorities are developing thematic approaches
recognising the wider social objectives to which the cultural
sector contributes.
23. The inclusion of parks and open spaces
within the framework of local cultural strategies is an opportunity
for the service to achieve greater coherence with the rest of
the cultural sector and a higher profile. This may again fall
within the remit of the Parks and Open Spaces Policy Forum to
monitor and develop.
MASTER PLANS
FOR PARKS
AND GREENSPACE
24. The LGA considers that Local Cultural
Stragegies will provide a framework and context for Best Value
Reviews. The outcome of these reviews should set out clear action
plans for the parks service to address the cross cutting issues
and themes within the Local Cultural Strategy. These action plans
would in effect represent the "Master Plan". In turn,
performance and standards developed from the Best Value Reviews
are required to be published in the authorities Performance Plan
along with any future national indicators developed.
25. The LGA agrees that parks action plans
or service specific strategies developed from Best Value Reviews
should be readily accessible to the public.
February 2000
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