The priority setting process

Every three years the Authority commissions an independent survey of residents to establish what they think are the most important issues in the park.

We then assess each programme by asking a standard set of questions including:

• To what extent does the programme contribute to National Park purposes?

• To what extent does it contribute to the socio-economic well-being of local communities?

• To what extent is it supported by local communities and the general public?

• Is it visible to residents and visitors?

Based on this assessment, programmes are then allocated to one of three categories:

• Our priorities

• Programmes where we will seek to maintain a good level of service

• Programmes where progress will be limited and/or dependent on external funding

We are under pressure to deliver a range of services from within declining budgets. Like all National Park Authorities in England, we are facing a cut in our core grant from Defra of around 31% in real terms by 2014/15. The cut amounts to £1.434m in ‘cash’ terms.

In preparing the proposed budget for 2011/12 onwards, we have sought to:

• retain front-line services (and their visibility) wherever possible

• maintain a high level of quality in key services (and, if we can’t afford that, then to stop providing that service all together)

• focus on our statutory purposes but in a way that, wherever possible, supportscommunities and the local economy.

We can no longer deliver all our previous services to the same high level of quality. As a result, 12 of the Authority’s 36 work programmes are being deleted, and significant cuts are having to be made to the remaining programmes. However, the budget has retained significant funding for priority programmes (albeit at a reduced level).