Date www.local.gov.uk

Shaping the future of England’s

public parks and green spaces

CMA and Parks Action Group

21 November 2018 www.local.gov.uk

CLG select committee

Findings

• 27 000 parks and green spaces in the UK

• 70% of 25-34 year olds use once a week

• 90 of children under 5 visit once a week

• 71% of BME residents used once a week

• 56% of white residents

• Parks are used more in urban areas than in

rural areas

Benefits of parks

Benefit of parks

16 recommendations

1. Develop robust and accessible models to

assess the value of parks

2. Local authorities should consult on and

publish policies which set out judging criteria

for applications of exclusive use, and for

charging

3. Collaborate with groups of park users to

identify how they can contribute to their parks

16 recommendations

4. Encourage and support friend’s group forums

5. Collect data on number and distribution of

number of accidents in parks

6. Cross-departmental group should look at

accessing new funds, inc. from health, for parks.

Also the provision of parks across the country, and

provide updates to Parliament

7. Local authorities should recognise value of parks

in local plans, as per National Planning Policy

16 recommendations

8. Cross-departmental group should assess

guidance for local authorities on green

infrastructure

9. Work with Defra to integrate parks into 25-year

Environment Plan

10. Issue guidance to councils on establishing

mutual and trusts, while ensuring ownership

remains with the public

11. Make transformation money available

16 recommendations

12. Work with councils to address barriers and risks

to transformation, supporting promising models

13. Encourage and facilitate the evaluation and

benchmarking of emerging models for parks

management

14. Issue guidance to promote collaboration with

Health and Wellbeing Boards

15. Monitor the publication of green spaces

strategies and report to Parliament

16 recommendations

16. Publish information on cross-departmental

group, which will provide leadership and

coordination with park’s sector, and set out how it

will work collaboratively with the parks sector and

the Local Government Association. Priorities are:

• Establishing an on line parks information hub to

share learning and good practice

• Working with LGA to develop options for

establishing national or regional parks forums

Cross-departmental group

• Defra – 25-year plan, connecting with environment

• Health – childhood obesity

• Education – sport and PE

• DCMS – Head of Sport

• Home Office – anti-social behavior

• BEIS – Ordnance Survey

• DWP – youth obligation

• HCLG – planning, integration, communities

Parks Action Group

• Association of Public Sector Excellence (APSE)

• Fields in Trust

• LGA

• The Parks Alliance

• Natural England

• National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces

• Heritage Lottery Fund

• Groundwork

• National Trust

• Keep Britain Tidy

Funding WorkstreamACTIONS

• Work with LGA, CIPFA and MHCLG to ensure that correct data is reported on the RO forms to

ensure a good consistent and reliable source data going forward. LGA

• Bring together current research with an executive summary / baseline data that can be used as

leverage to attract funding. –APSE

• Lobby for parks champions at National and local level with links into health and wellbeing (crosses

over to Vision and Value workstream) PA

• Identify suitable health and wider agenda audiences to talk to and consider a workshop with some

especially health. ALL

• DEFRA to work out where we are on parks evidence for natural capital account and identify if a

suitable natural capital tool for parks service managers could be developed & approved by the

treasury. DEFRA

• Prepare for the Spending Review. LGA/MHCLG

Knowledge and Skills Workstream -

• Consider how a modern parks manager’s job description should look and the types of skills

necessary APSE

• Identify the availability of appropriate parks courses and providers & promote

apprenticeships APSE/All

• Where do skills currently sit - public, private and/or third sector organisations All

• Undertake an audit of parks manager network meetings/organisations & promote

awareness data research

• Develop corporate and political ‘champions’ for parks - are able to take responsibility for GI

strategy APSE/LGA

Empowering Communities

Workstream• Promote and support the development, spread, effectiveness and influence of community

empowerment throughout the sector, and on the ground within the country’s 27,000 local green

spaces

• Building up a list/database of key national organisations and networks actively engaged in and/or

supporting greenspace community empowerment.

• Identifying existing relevant research and on-line resources to back up the objectives of this work

stream

• Planning a series of regional community empowerment conferences of Friends Groups and

greenspace community groups, including under-represented groups, to enable outreach, debate,

involvement of the relevant PAG members and others, promotion of the PAG’s work, and the

development of further Friends Forums and networking Activity

• Identifying and promoting good practice case studies data

Usage Workstream

• Help ensure more parks and green spaces are planned, protected, promoted and managed in a way that

enables more people to use them, with a particular focus on those groups in society who could benefit

most but who are not currently enjoying that benefit as much as others.

• Identify the groups in society who are under-represented in the use of parks and green spaces and who

would benefit most from increased usage.

• Understand the barriers that are currently preventing those groups gaining full benefit from parks and

green spaces. This understanding will be derived both from further statistical analysis but also through

direct feedback from disadvantaged or excluded groups

• Seek examples and generate ideas for how barriers can be overcome and how parks can be better –

and more equitably – used by learning from other organisations providing support or services to our

target groups.

Standards Workstream

• Identify a definitive baseline figure of parks and green spaces by typology and assess the percentage of this

baseline that currently meets Green Flag Award standard and is protected in perpetuity. Data research

• Work with Natural England to ensure the developing GI Standards include a specific subset of standards and

guidance that can be effectively applied to both existing and new parks and green spaces beginning with

contributions to the scheduled evidence review. Data

• Develop an achievable target for the percentage of green infrastructure that meets a quality standard and

is future proofed, a mechanism to assess performance against these targets and identify support routes to

improvement. Activity

• Increase membership of the Standards workstream to include representation from but not limited to the

LGA, Core Cities Parks Groups, TCPA and PHE. Activity

• Develop a network of Parks and Green Space Champions within all Local Authorities to advocate the value

of these spaces at decision making level. Activity

Vision and Values

• Coordinate activity

• Develop a vision for the future of parks:

‘The Parks Action Group supports the vision that good quality, well-managed and easily

accessible parks and green spaces, free to the public at the point of use, provide vibrant and

inclusive locations for our communities to socialise, volunteer, work, exercise, appreciate nature,

relax and have fun.

We will work to increase recognition around importance that parks will have in fostering health,

well-being, integration, social engagement and sense of place; as well as the many essential

economic and environmental benefits that parks do and will increasingly provide.’

Natural Capital - London

• For every £1 spent, Londoners benefit by £27

• Gross asset value of £91 billion

• Londoners avoid £950 million per year in health

costs because of parks

• Value of parks recreational activities is estimated at

£926m per year

Future Parks aims to transform the

relationship between communities and

parks at scale

20

Our vision is to transform the relationship between communities and parks at

scale so that these places can deliver ever greater levels of public benefit,

through:

• Promoting a step-change in how people engage with and use their parks in

order to maximise public benefit, local potential and innovation

• Enabling new cross-sector partnerships that bring together knowledge and

expertise from outside of the traditional parks sector and fosters collaboration

• Catalysing and blending new sources of funding to enable diversified and

sustainable business models that are attractive to new donors, funders and

investors

• Adopting a systemic approach so that a whole place’s portfolio of public

green space is protected and enhanced, delivering a fair, quality, free service

to all

Future Parks Accelerator

• 5-8 Places with ambition to transform parks and greenspace portfolio for long term

public benefit, through developing bold new strategic solutions for parks funding and

management; networked with Newcastle for shared learning

• 2 year package of integrated support to each place to enable local authorities and

communities to co-design solutions and transition to implementation:

– Cash grant from HLF of up to £1m per place, from £5m dedicated fund

– Tailored advisory service from NT, £5m resource value, delivered nationally and

locally

• Active support for each Place coordinated by a dedicated Account Manager, drawing in

expertise from a joint team of at least 10 people

• Working as a cohort to achieve more and faster: dynamic and agile approach, shared

learning, joint commissioning, peer networks and mentoring

• Financial innovation to enable blended and resilient finance and long term

transformation of parks portfolios; dedicated new capability for sector

• Ultimate goal to create national framework to enable any LA to develop effective long

term solutions to protect and enhance public greenspace

Contact details

Ian Leete

Senior Adviser – Culture, Tourism and Sport

Ian.Leete@local.gov.uk

0207 664 3143

@LGAculturesport

https://www.local.gov.uk/topics/culture-tourism-

leisure-and-sport