The National Park Management Plan is a statutory document and every National Park in England has one. It is a plan for the National Park as a whole - its communities, businesses, visitors and the many organisations that operate there - not one for the National Park Authority specifically. The Plan is the National Park’s most important document as it sets out how organisations, communities and land owners will work together to achieve shared objectives for the future management of the National Park.
Progress on the objectives of the National Park Management Plan are reported informally on the Management Plan website 'Latest news' page, and formally in the Management Plan Annual Reports, published in June each year.
The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority works closely with local communities in order to fulfil our purposes. Public consultation is an important part of this process. Your opinions help to shape our policies and objectives for the future.
An integral part of providing high quality services is having a clear and realistic picture of how we are doing. We value your opinions and feedback on how we measure up to our standards, in fact it is vital to help us keep striving to be the best we can be. We have a set procedure for recording and dealing with any compliments and complaints - full details are on the 'Making a compliment or complaint' page.
Most of our funding comes from Central Government via the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in the form of an annual grant settlement. We also attract significant external funding and generate our own income from a variety of other sources. Our Finance page contains detailed statements of our income and spending.
We constantly monitor our performance throughout the year and our Audit and Review Committee meet 3 times each year to receive performance reports. Reviews are also carried out by our External Auditors annually and by representatives from other outside bodies including Investors in People and Customer Service Excellence. Our performance is also commented upon regularly by visitors to the Park.
The Authority's work is split into 'programmes', which cover all the services we provide - from dealing with planning applications and farm conservation to looking after our public toilets and car parks. Each programme has a level of priority attached to it. This is to ensure that resources are allocated appropriately and that everyone is clear on where we are directing our efforts.
At their Finance and Resources Committee meeting in March each year Members discuss and approve the Authority's budget for the year ahead. As part of this discussion objectives for the Authority's work programmes are also approved
The Corporate Plan contains the objectives that are the National Park Authority's contribution to delivering the National Park Management Plan. Progress towards achieving the objectives set in the Corporate Plan is monitored annually and reported to Members of the Authority.
The Authority's Action Plan sets out the specific things the Authority will do each year to progress towards achieving its objectives. A draft action plan for the year ahead is approved at the Authority meeting in March
The approved budgets are published once approved by Members
The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority provides a range of services to residents and visitors to the National Park. Around 100 staff work for the National Park Authority. They include rangers, information advisors at our National Park Centres, planners, conservation advisors and archaeologists.
In addition, the National Park Authority provides many opportunities for people to contribute to a wide range of projects through our Dales Volunteers network (DVs). The DVs, in turn, helps our paid officers to achieve so much more than they could achieve alone.
At the end of the financial year Members of the Authority review the organisations performance in the previous year. This includes performance against our objectives, targets and actions in the Corporate Plan, and progress towards the National Park Management Plan objectives