Resources
Recommendation of the Select Committee
7. We are concerned that Defra is not
able to identify funding for individual councils for rights of
way duties. At the very least Defra should issue new guidance
about best practice and the need to invest in the rights of way
network. We recommend that Defra monitor the performance of local
highway authorities against their rights of way improvement plans
and, if necessary, use the powers under Section 71 of the Act
to make regulations requiring authorities to publish reports on
the performance of their functions relating to rights of way (paragraph
28).
Government and Agency response
Alun Michael, Minister of State for Rural
Affairs and Urban Quality of Life, has personally written to all
highway authorities and asked them to share the Government's commitment
to a clearer and stronger rights of way network. The Government
and the Agency believe that rights of way improvement plans will
be the best means of getting local authorities to invest in their
rights of way network. Through the Agency, the Government is funding
eight exemplar rights of way improvement plans and will use these
to disseminate best practice. It is proposed that, from 2005,
rights of way improvement plans will be incorporated into Local
Transport Plans. It is expected that the Local Transport Plans
will explicitly cover the rights of way programme and it is through
this mechanism that the performance of local highway authorities
against their rights of way improvement plans will be monitored.
In addition, the introduction of best
value from 1 April 2000, by the Local Government Act 1999, means
local authorities must seek continuous improvement in the way
they carry out their functions and may see rights of way funding
increased. The statutory best value performance management framework
requires authorities to review their functions, publish annual
plans showing past and promised future performance and be subject
to an audit and inspection regime. There is currently one rights
of way performance indicator measuring the ease of use of rights
of way. When authorities publish data against the performance
indicator, their performance can be measured and the public will
be able to make an assessment of how its services can be improved.
The Government and the Agency believe that the best value indicator
is a vital tool in getting local authorities to resource their
rights of way work adequately.
The Government believes that the powers
in section 71 of the Act should be used sparingly to avoid imposing
additional reporting burdens on local authorities, but it will
be used if it proves necessary.
Recommendation of the Select Committee
8. We recommend that the Government
publish details of the increased allocation made to each local
authority to meet its duties under the Act. If it is genuinely
impossible to breakdown the local government settlement to provide
this information the Department should consider an alternative
form of funding which would be sufficiently transparent to hold
individual authorities to account (paragraph 31).
9. The Department should also consider
publishing a league table of local authorities showing which authorities
are meeting their new obligations and which are not. If local
authorities failed to perform or meet their responsibilities,
there would be a compelling case for funds to be held centrally
by the Countryside Agency who would then be responsible for allocation
and monitoring (paragraph 31).
Government and Agency response
The increased allocation made to local
authorities for rights of way work and local access forums is
subsumed in the unhypothecated Environment Protection and Cultural
Services block, so we cannot say exactly how much has gone to
individual authorities. This is in accordance with the approach
favoured by the Local Government Association and the Government:
the Minister of State, Alun Michael, confirmed with the leaders
of all four groups on the LGA their agreement that this was the
right approach for this funding. The Government believes that
the key issue is how local authorities perform, and that rights
of way improvement plans and the best value indicator are the
best way of delivering improvements in the way that local authorities
meet their rights of way obligations. If there is evidence that
certain authorities are failing to do so, the Government will
consider other options such as using section 71 of the Act to
require local highway authorities to publish reports on their
rights of way performance.
Recommendation of the Select Committee
10. It is not clear that any additional
funds have been made available to local highway authorities to
exercise their new powers under the Act in relation to newly-created
open-access land. We urge the Department to clarify how it expects
the additional costs of using these new powers to be met (paragraph
32).
Government and Agency response
We have funded local authorities to carry
out the duty to establish local access forums for their area.
Local authorities also have powers to:
make byelaws (under section 17),
appoint wardens (under section 18),
erect and maintain notices (under
section 19),
improve means of access (under sections
35 to 39).
The Government and the Agency believe
that the need to use these powers can only be judged at the local
level and will depend on the nature and extent of the land that
will be opened for access in each area. We expect local authorities
to take into account that there should be benefits from the new
right of access for local residents and in terms of tourism and
attracting economic activity and to reflect this in their plans
for promoting their regions. We intend to provide guidance to
local authorities on these new powers before the end of 2003.
Recommendation of the Select Committee
11. We are concerned that the Countryside
Agency and the Department do not yet appear to have reached agreement
on how the facilitation of the new rights of access should be
funded. Public rights of way are indicated by easily recognizable
signs. We recommend that the Countryside Agency produce a range
of similar signs in a uniform style which would indicate the boundaries
of newly-created open-access land. These should be provided free
of charge to land managers. We also recommend that the Government
confirm that it still intends to set up the National Countryside
Access Database; how this will be funded; and when it will be
completed (paragraph 35).
Government and Agency response
The Government and the Agency are working
closely with partners to look at what is needed to manage the
new right of access and what existing funding streams are available.
Once we have completed that work and identified whether or not
there is a gap, we will jointly consider how to meet any requirements.
This is not solely a matter for central government since regional
economies and some landowners are likely to benefit from having
more visitors attracted to the area because of the right of access.
We also expect local people to benefit. We will encourage local
authorities to be pro-active in managing access in their areas
The Agency, together with its counterpart in Wales, is carrying
out a pilot project to develop some best practice examples.
We believe a National Access Database
would bring significant benefits to both users and land managers.
A feasibility study undertaken by the Agency has identified a
number of options for such a database and we have been working
with the Agency to develop proposals for a pilot scheme in one
region. However, the Spending Review made no provision for this
so that we shall have to find other sources of funding if the
project is to be taken forward in the immediate future.
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