Annual Report and Accounts 2004-05

A day in the Parks

The R

oyal Parks

Annual Report and A

ccounts 2004-05A

day in the Parks

RECYCLABLEMATERIAL

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The Royal ParksThe Old Police House

Hyde ParkLondon

W2 2UH

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7298 2000

www.royalparks.org.uk

The Royal Parks is an Executive Agency of the Departmentfor Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

Presented to the House of Commons pursuant to section 7 ofThe Government Resources & Accounts Act 2000. Ordered bythe House of Commons to be printed on the 20 July 2005.

London:The Stationery Office Ltd

237, £12

Annual Report and AccountsA day in the Parks

2004-05Bush

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Chief Executive’s foreword 2

Horticulture 4

Access and engagement 7

Health and sport 11

Wildlife 15

Tourism, recreation and relaxation 19

The Royal Parks Foundation and fundraising 23

Support services 26

Sustainability 29

History and architecture 32

Managing The Royal Parks 36

Performance against key targets 37

A look ahead 42

Accounts 43

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The quality ofhorticulture, thesafety of park users,protectingbiodiversity andinvesting in ourinfrastructure is ofvital importance toThe Royal Parks.

It is a pleasure to introduce my firstAnnual Report of The Royal Parks.TheRoyal Parks became an Executive Agencyin 1993, although the parks themselvesare somewhat older; Greenwich Park isthe eldest, established in 1433 and TheRegent’s Park is the youngest, barely 196years old.The formal paths of KensingtonGardens were laid out in 1728 and thereare some trees in Richmond Park thatare estimated to have been there formore than 800 years.The stewardship ofThe Royal Parks is, therefore, not atransitory or short-term responsibility, buta chance to conserve and enhance someof the most precious spaces in London.

During last year William Weston stooddown as Chief Executive and BernadetteKenny took over as interim ChiefExecutive. I only took up post in May ofthis year, so the successes reported hereare their successes. I would like to thankthem for the contribution that they haveboth made to the organisation.

More than any other Executive Agency,The Royal Parks will be judged on how itlooks and feels.The quality of thehorticulture and the safety of park usersis, therefore, of paramount importance,as is ensuring that we protect the bio-diversity of the parks and provide asustainable future for them.This meansprotecting our wild areas, investing in ourinfrastructure and managing events tominimise their impact on the landscape,ecology and visitors.

This report sets out some of theprogress that has been made in theseareas over the last year. It also highlightsthe significant work that has beenundertaken in terms of conservation,education and sport. A number of largeprojects were not completed until the

start of this financial year but it would be unfair not to reflect on them in thisAnnual Report since the vast majority of the work was completed last year.I particularly wish to highlight the Hub atThe Regent’s Park, which was opened byTRH The Prince of Wales and TheDuchess of Cornwall on 27 April 2005.

During the year we undertook customerresearch on four of the eight parks:Greenwich, Bushy, St. James’s and Green.The overall satisfaction rating and esteemvaried between 93% and 95%.This givesan indication of the affection in whichusers hold the parks.

However, over the year the Agencybecame caught up with one issue:TheDiana, Princess of Wales MemorialFountain. I am delighted that the fountainwas re-opened to the public at the endof my first week as Chief Executive, sincewhen over 200,000 members of thepublic have visited it. I hope that theprevious difficulties with this project arenow behind us and that many morevisitors will have the opportunity tocome to Hyde Park and enjoy a personalremembrance of the Princess.

I also hope that the Agency can nowmove forward and continue to build onthe excellence and diversity of its parks.My aim is that The Royal Parks excite anddelight visitors so much that they cannotwait to return.

Mark CamleyChief Executive,The Royal Parks

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3 Case study: recreating Baroquegardens in GreenwichGreenwich is the oldest of The RoyalParks, dating back to the 15th Century.The original gardens, laid out in the1660’s, were inspired by the designs ofAndré le Nôtre, gardener to Louis XIV,who most famously designed thegardens at the Palace of Versailles.

The project to restore these beautifulgardens, which means recreating orrepairing many avenues of trees, hasbeen progressing steadily since 1999.Weare also restoring ‘The Rounds’, thethree concentric circles of trees thatradiate from the Blackheath entrance tothe Park.Already 400 trees have beenplanted, including Horse Chestnut,Sweet Chestnut, Lime and Oak.

Much has changed since the 1660’s, ofcourse, including road layouts and newbuildings such as the 1950’s sportspavilion.These developments often cutacross the original designs, so progresscan often only be made as opportunities– such as rebuilding ageing structures –arise.That means work on thisimportant project is likely to continuefor another 15 to 20 years.

International prestigeThe Royal Parks offer a host ofhorticultural treasures and every year wework hard to maintain, enhance andprotect the many natural delights of theParks.We recruited a Landscape Officerthis year to bring specialist skills andservices to The Royal Parks’ in-houseteam.We also appointed a new externalLandscape Assessor, to replace DougStacey who retired in 2004.

We continued to develop our treemanagement in 2004/5 and appointedour first Arboricultural Officer.We alsoreviewed all our tree maintenance andmanagement contracts to ensure theParks’ trees continue to get the higheststandards of care.

Reviving Regent’s ParkThe redevelopment of the Regent’s Parksports pitches has allowed us to enhancethe horticulture and biodiversity of thesurrounding parkland.The new pitcheshave been surrounded with over 11hectares of long grass, which we willmanage as meadow and which we hopewill come to support a wide diversity ofnectar-bearing plants.

For this to happen, nutrient levels in thesoil need to drop and we will be helpingthis by removing all the cuttings after theannual mow. As the nutrients fall, we willcut on a two-year cycle to ensure aconsistently good proportion of the longgrasses needed by over-winteringinvertebrates.We are also sowing Yellow-rattle (Rhinanthus minor) among the long grass.This semi-parasitic plant will helpkeep the grass in check, creating moreroom for other wildflowers.

And there will be plenty of wildflowers:we are planting 10,000, including CuckooFlower (Cardamine pratensis) andMeadow Cranesbill (Geranium pratense)in 12 swathes around the southern andeastern edges of the pitches.They will beplanted in differing combinations to suitthe different conditions and will provide afocus from which the flowers can spread.

The turf into which the flowers areplanted will also be sown with a ‘nursecrop’ of wildflowers, including theCommon Meadow Buttercup (Ranunculusacris) and Ribwort Plantain (Plantagolanceolata).

A total of 216 trees have also beenplanted or relocated around the edges ofthe meadows. Moving certain treesallowed the new pitches to be laid out inone central area, rather than scatteredthroughout the Park.The newly plantedtrees are Horse Chestnut (Aesculushippocastanum), Silver Birch (Betulapendula), Ash (Fraxinus excelsior), HolmOak (Quercus ilex), English Oak (Quercusrobur), Red Oak (Quercus rubra), SmallLeaved Lime (Tilia cordata), CaucasianLime (Tilia euchlora) and Weeping SilverLime (Tilia tomentosa ‘Chelsea Sentinel’).

The majority of the trees are nativespecies and English Oaks are the mostnumerous species.These will take around200 years to mature but the Ash, RedOak and Birch will grow much more quickly.

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The new sportspitches in The Regent’sPark have beensurrounded with over11 hectares (27 acres)of long grass that willbe managed asmeadow with plenty of wildflowers.

The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05 5

Landscape and trees in Bushy ParkMuch of the work at Bushy this year hasfocused on the Restoration Project, whichis progressing well.We have continuedBushy’s standards of maintenance thisyear, as well as delivering on the targetsset by ISO 14001, an internationalstandard for environmental management.

A comprehensive inspection of the treesat Bushy Park and the Longford Riveridentified a need for some health andsafety work this year.We are stillcompleting the work, which covers allareas of the Park and river.

Our Head Gardener has brought new lifeto the Woodland Gardens, aided by ateam of ten local gardening volunteers.We have devised a 15-year managementplan, which will continue to develop inthe coming months and years.

Many developments at RichmondThe 30-year programme of tree workscontinues at Richmond and theinnovative surgery and pruning methodsare an important exemplar for otherancient tree management schemes.Werun a number of courses and trainingvisits each year.

This year, the management of Richmond’s1,200 veteran trees focused on specificworks resulting from a survey of thesafety issues around the trees. Our othertree management work has alsoconcentrated on safety issues this year.

The number of dead trees in the Park istestament to recent extremes of climate,with surface-rooting species like Beechand Birch particularly badly hit.We havealso been visited by the Horse ChestnutLeaf Miner.This pest proved a widespreadproblem across south and west Londonduring the summer, despite having beendiscovered in Britain only two years before.

However, over 200 trees, around 40 ofthem sponsored, were planted in thewider Park.The focus was on thorn trees,which are particularly valuable forbiodiversity.The Royal Parks is alsohelping to protect the Black Poplar, oneof Britain’s rarest trees. Cuttings taken thisyear from all the native Black Poplars inRichmond Park will be grown in thenursery at Isabella Plantation.

The Plantation has also been the scene ofsubstantial replanting, using shrubspropagated and grown in our nurseryand we have built an extension to theBog Garden.The Plantation was visited bythe All Party Lords and CommonsCommittee for Horticulture.

Thanks to an annual grant of around£20,000 agreed this year with theForestry Commission, we will be able toimprove the condition, diversity of andpublic access to, Sidmouth Wood.Meanwhile, a grant from English Naturehelped us rebuild the car park at PenPonds, returning the adjacent area to acidgrassland.The scraped area was rapidlycolonised with vegetation and other areaswere sown with green hay collected fromthe Park, to avoid bringing in alien grassseed.We planted new trees andintroduced petrol interceptors for allwater run-off from the site.

In the Dell Garden at Pembroke Lodge,we began the first phase of clearance andpath construction and the plans forplanting the new garden have beenapproved. Also at Pembroke Lodge, thetall bearded irises at Poets Corner haveflowered for the first time.

We also continued our programme ofconstructing new enclosures toencourage gorse and hawthorn this yearand have replanted the RoehamptonGate Garden.

New trees in Kensington GardensWe planted 65 trees in Kensington in thewinter, including many specimen trees,some replacement avenue trees andthree Elm trees grown especially by TheRoyal Parks for their disease resistance.Tominimise vandalism, all the new trees areprotected with high tree stakes.

The Green Park meadowsSome areas of grass were left uncut asmeadows in The Green Park, to encourageand enhance biodiversity.The responsehas been very positive and we intend todo the same this year.

St James’s Park reedbedEarly in 2005 we secured £24,000 ofimportant funding from Reed Elsevier tocreate a new reedbed in St James’s Park.The bid was made possible by ourmembership of the LBP Reedbed HabitatAction Plan and was a study in teamwork.The first-round bid by our CommunityEcologist, was taken forward by The RoyalParks, supported by the Park’s ManagementTeam and Land Use Consultants.

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Summer or winter you’ll alwaysfind something to enjoy in The Royal Parks.

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Case study: Disability Planning forReal Day in Bushy ParkRegardless of their abilities, everyonewho visits The Royal Parks does so forsimilar reasons: to experience and enjoythe many delights of nature. Making theParks as accessible as possible meansbalancing the value of access with itsimpact on the environment. If thatimpact is too great, it undermines thevery reason for visiting a Park in thefirst place.

The Disability Action Day, on 27September 2004, addressed these issuesdirectly, by bringing together peoplewith a range of abilities to discussaccess at the Parks.

We gave our attendees – around 40 intotal – a tour of key areas of BushyPark, to identify and discuss any specificissues of access.After talking throughour findings, we created groups ofmixed abilities, enabling people todiscuss how different forms of accessaffected them.Yellow gravel might, forexample, be useful for visually impairedvisitors but could prove difficult forwheelchair users.

Our discussions generated a series ofsuggestions and actions from the daywill be implemented as part of therestoration project.We also receivedextremely positive feedback from thoseinvolved and have strengthened ourlinks with the organisations representedat the event.

Including everyoneOne of our fundamental responsibilities isto ensure that as many people as possiblecan enjoy The Royal Parks.To that end,we have completed access audits forevery Park, to ensure we meet or exceedthe requirements of the DisabilityDiscrimination Act. In the past year weintroduced tactile paving to pedestriancrossings in the central Parks and re-modelled the Greenwich Park office toimprove access for all visitors.We alsowork hard to engage as many people aspossible and organise a huge range ofevents and activities to involve the publicin the life of the Parks.

The Learning Journey:Our Education and CommunityEngagement StrategyThis year, our education and communityengagement programmes have continuedto expand, attracting 22,934 people, whilethe Wildlife for All programme attractedanother 10,089 to its drop-in projectsacross the Parks.This project will beclosing in the next financial year, but wehave submitted a new application to theHeritage Lottery Fund for a schemecalled Wild in the Park. If our application issuccessful, this will allow us to share thebest practice developed by Wildlife for Allwith other partners, as well as developinga Community Garden and extending ourtraining opportunities.

Our schools programmes havedeveloped many new, curriculum-basedopportunities for children, includingorienteering and recycling sessions. NewContinuing Professional Development(CPD) programmes have beendeveloped for Brompton Cemetery, HydePark and Bushy Park, these will helpteachers understand how to best use theParks by sharing ideas and new methodsof learning.

As St James’s Park continues its programmeof free guided walks, we have beentraining volunteers, as well as the Parks’Friends and other groups in the skills ofguided walking and in developing newwalks of their own.

The full community involvementprogramme at Greenwich Park includedsessions on flower arranging, veterantrees’ guided walks and making a hangingbasket.We aim to build on these successesin the next financial year, with theproduction of a Living History Programmesuitable for Key Stage 2 students.

As well as working successfully with theLearning Forum World Heritage Sitegroup, the Education team has beenengaged on some nationwide schemesexploring future sustainability initiatives.

At Bushy Park, the Parks’ first fullAudience Development plan is nowcomplete – the first of many.TheRestoration Project consultation involveda wide variety of local people in decidingwhich facilities and educationalopportunities should be available.

This year, an extensive volunteer trainingprogramme has united all the Parks insessions covering specialist subjects suchas birds, butterflies and moths. Ourvolunteers have given 3,456 hours of theirtime to our education and communityengagement programmes and we are verygrateful for their dedication and support.In the coming year, we will be producinga new volunteer’s manual, clarifying jobdescriptions and developing a volunteers’forum to help support our progress.

More engagement at Bushy ParkThere have been a number of successfulevents at Bushy Park this year, includingJunior Ranger and Junior Citizen eventsthat attracted over 1,000 children.TheChestnut Sunday parade and jazz in thewoodlands both proved successful andour Disability Awareness Day producedexcellent feedback from everyone whocame along.A

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t The day and the follow-up workshop,was attended by 40 people, includingstaff, designers, specialist experts andpeople with disabilities.We looked at theaccessibility issues revealed in Bushy’saccessibility audit, Audience DevelopmentPlan and Stakeholder Interest Groupconsultations and considered how theycould be applied to the real-lifemanagement of the Park and accessibilityaround the ‘ponds circuit’.

Peter Pan in Kensington GardensOn 24 July 2004, 10,000 children andparents came to Kensington Gardens toenjoy the Peter Pan Treasure Hunt andpicnic, hosted by The Royal Parks andGreat Ormond Street Hospital. It was agreat success: a beautiful, hot summer’sday, with a funfair and Peter Pan themedlocations scattered through the gardens.

Issues and initiatives at Richmond ParkAfter analysing the results of traffic surveysand following the trial closure of RobinHood Gate, it was recommended toMinisters that the gate be closedpermanently. (The decision was announcedin May 2005.)

There have been many initiatives forengaging the public this year, not least aself-guided walk produced by ourCommunity Ecologist.This popular leafletaims to increase visitors’ enjoyment andunderstanding of the varied and specialwildlife in the Spanker’s Hill and PenPonds area of Richmond Park NationalNature Reserve.The leaflet is distributedin the car park, which also has newinterpretive signage highlighting the valueof acid grassland. At Isabella Plantation,the popularity of the gardener-led publicwalks continues.

Events at Richmond ParkThis year we held a stakeholder functionat Holly Lodge for local businesses andcharities and continued the regularworking parties organised by the BritishTrust for Conservation Volunteers.

The Petersham Trust Run helped raisefunds for the National Trust’s protectionof Petersham Meadows and children’sevents were held for the first time atPetersham Playground, to encouragepeople to use public transport to visit thePark. Junior Citizen, a two-week publicsafety event led by the Borough, attractedsome 1,000 children.

Bike Across Cultures, one of manycommunity events, aimed particularly toencourage groups who do not traditionallyuse parks and open spaces. And our ShireHorse team has travelled to shows atPortsmouth and the Weald and DownlandMuseum, as well as appearing atHampton Carnival, Barnes Fair andWimbledon Common Open Day.

Children and parentscame to KensingtonGardens to enjoy thePeter Pan Treasure Huntand picnic, hosted by TheRoyal Parks and GreatOrmond Street Hospital.

8 The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05

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The Royal Parks are one of themost visited areas of London;despite this we maintain a verylow crime rate.

Heightened security at St James’s ParkThe current threat from terrorism hasbrought tighter security measures to thecapital, including a Whitehall-led projectto place 129 retractable bollards at theedge of Horse Guards Parade, close toWhitehall.These replace the ornamentalposts and chains.We are working closelywith the architects and securityorganisations involved to balance theneeds of security with the impact on thelandscape of St James’s Park. One benefitof this project has been the opportunityto remove several concrete blocks thathad been placed in the Park, which wereout of place with its style and character.

Policing the ParksThe Royal Parks have always been areasof very low crime. For such vast andheavily visited, areas of the capital, thetotal of just 780 criminal offences in2004/5 is remarkably low.

From 1 April 2004, a co-policingarrangement was introduced betweenthe Royal Parks Constabulary (RPC) andthe Metropolitan Police Service (MPS),ahead of a full legislative merger which isdue to be completed in early 2006.

At the same time,The Royal ParksOperational Command Unit (OCU) wasestablished to provide policing across TheRoyal Parks, gardens and other open spaceswithin the Metropolitan Police District.

Dealing with people relaxing in the Parksrequires a different form of policing fromthat provided elsewhere in London andthe MPS is committed to developing thisaspect of the service. In the OCU’s firstyear of operation, 46 Police CommunitySupport Officers (PCSOs) have beenintroduced to the Parks and the generalPCSO role has evolved into a morespecific ‘Parks PCSO’ role.

In its first year of operation, the OCU hasbeen noticeably successful in increasingthe visible police presence within TheRoyal Parks.We exceeded targets forhigh visibility patrols by 140% this yearand this level of coverage will increasestill further in the coming 12 months,ensuring that the Parks remain free fromdisturbance and the fear of crime.

Including everyoneBushy Park may be the least well-known ofThe Royal Parks, but its 450 hectares havea rich heritage – from its beginnings asCardinal Wolsey’s hunting park to whereEisenhower planned the D-Day Landings.

Recent years, however, have left BushyPark in urgent need of repair. In 2003, wesecured the first stage of funding in whatwe hope will ultimately be a £7.23 millionrestoration of the Park.The HeritageLottery Fund (HLF) awarded The RoyalParks £410,000 in June of that year,beginning a comprehensive process ofengagement with local communities andpartner organisations – including theFriends of Bushy & Home Parks andother groups.

This initial grant also funded thedevelopment work necessary to pave theway for the full restoration – includingdesign fees, development studies, accessplans, transport policy and plan, a signageand interpretation strategy, ecology survey,visitor centre and other, smaller studies.

By April 2004 we had also staffed theproject with a range of talented peoplededicated to restoring the Park (for moredetails, see page 30 in the Sustainabilitysection).This year, we secured planningclearance for the project from RichmondCouncil. And at the end of April 2005, weconfidently submitted our second stageapplication, for £4.5million, to the HLF.

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Case study: Sports pitchesrenovation in The Regent’s ParkThe listed landscape of Regent’s Parkwas – and still is – home to centralLondon’s biggest open-air sports area,with forty different pitches enjoyed byover 150,000 people every year. But by2001, the existing pitches and pavilionwere severely in need of restoration.So began a £2.2 million project to restorethe pitches to modern standards.

The pitches at Regent’s Park were builton shallow soil, on top of ten feet ofrubble bulldozed into the Park after theBlitz of 1941. Coupled with heavy use bylocal schools, community groups andeven professional football clubs, theresulting drainage problems made themunstable and difficult to maintain.

The 1960’s pavilion was also well past itsbest and the maze of paths that criss-crossed the northern parkland neededto be rationalised so that we couldmake the best possible use of the space.

By October 2004, the main pitch areaswere complete, with over 40 hectaresof parkland re-opened and another tendue to re-open in 2005/6. 47 newpitches now cater for football, cricket,softball, rugby, tennis and hockey. Eachhas a new irrigation system and toughnew grass seed mixes, the soil has beenimproved with sand.We also have installeda comprehensive drainage network.

The new pitches, complemented by ourstunning new changing facility – TheMulti-Sport and Community Hub –mean Regent’s Park can make a majorcontribution to the sporting life of thecapital. It will also help local schools andclubs meet the DCMS target of at leasttwo hours’ quality PE a week for 75% ofchildren by 2006.

The £5.5 million restoration of theRegent’s Park sports facilities was madepossible thanks to the generous supportof Sport England and The Big LotteryFund,The Football Foundation, theLondon Marathon Charitable Trust andthe Weston Family.

Personal enrichmentWith health and sport high on theGovernment’s agenda, the restoration ofRegent’s Park’s sports pitches and pavilionwas a timely project. Sport offers morethan fitness and recreation. It developslife-long learning skills, allows people toachieve qualifications and improves theiremployability, enhances confidence andself-esteem and reduces social exclusion.All of which makes sport critical to thewider health of the nation.

A plan for sportThe 2001 plan commissioned by TheRoyal Parks looked at every aspect ofsports in The Regent’s Park, as well asfuture needs and objectives and provideda summary of proposals to meet ournewly-defined Sports Specific Objectives.

The plan offered a new vision for thefuture, a new layout for the northernparkland and related landscape, as well as superb new changing facilitiesdesigned by David Morley Architects.‘The Hub’, as it is now known, aims tomeet new projections of demand,modern-day regulations and the needs of an increasingly diverse community.

The Park’s new pricing structure is aimedat providing these facilities to the widestpossible range of people, with discountsfor groups such as those with disabilitiesor special needs, minority ethnic groups,state schools, those over 50, those onlow incomes, those in full-time educationand local residents.

The Hub‘The Hub’, will accommodate up to 290people and has 20 flexible and fullyequipped changing rooms.These alsoinclude facilities for referees and thosewith disabilities.

Set mainly within a grassed mound,TheHub is topped by a rotunda café, whoseviewing terrace gives stunning 360ºpanoramic views of the Park and its newpitches.The innovative building’s manyenergy-saving features include extrainsulation and low-energy services, as wellas materials that minimise the building’senvironmental impact.

Scrum in the ParkEvents encouraging young people’sinvolvement in sport are one of thepriorities set out in The Royal Parks’ firstEvents Strategy, published in early 2004.In October, Regent’s Park hosted just suchan event: O2’s Scrum In The Park,which was focused around the RugbyWorld Cup.The sponsors were delightedwith the attendance and extensive media coverage, which featured thenewly renovated sports pitches onCumberland Green.

London 2012The Royal Parks worked throughout theyear with London’s successful Olympicbid team.The Royal Parks will host up tosix sports in 2012.The proposed venuesinclude the Horse Guards Parade, whichis planned for the Olympic beachvolleyball competition – an idea thatcaptured news headlines and the publicimagination, at the time of theInternational Olympic Committee’s visit.

As well as hosting the London Marathonin its 25th year, Greenwich Park alsohosted a delegation from theInternational Olympic Committee.Theresult was some very positive feedbackabout the Park’s presentation andsuitability for Olympic equestrian eventswhen London hosts the 2012 games.

The Parks are used fora wide range oforganised sports,including softball,football, cricket, rugby,tennis and hockey.

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Our role as iconic venues for the Gameswas highlighted by the arrival of theOlympic Flame in St James’s Park. 2004was the first year the flame had visitedBritain since 1948 and Sir Steve Redgravewas watched by around 70,000 people ashe carried it down The Mall. HRH ThePrincess Royal then lit the cauldron andthe Olympic Flame leapt high into the skyjust as the Red Arrows roared overhead.

This spectacular event, the culmination ofthe Athens Torch Relay, came after ahugely successful concert featuring,among others, James Brown, RodStewart, Ronnie Wood,Will Young andthe Osbournes.The huge success of thisspectacular free concert, held onprobably the largest stage ever built onThe Mall, was a testament to the highlyprofessional collaboration between The Royal Parks, the GLA, the BBC,Westminster City Council, the Police anda host of others.

Other sport at St James’sGuests from The Royal Parks were invitedby the Mayor to City Hall for the launchof London’s bid to host the opening stageof the 2007 Tour de France. If the bid issuccessful, one of the world’s premiersporting events will begin among thelandscapes of Hyde Park, St James’s Parkand Green Park.

Golf at RichmondThis year we awarded Glendale Golf anew short-term contract to manage andoperate Richmond Park’s golf coursesuntil October 2006.With confirmationthat the planning issues around accessfrom the A3 had been resolved with theLondon Borough of Wandsworth, we havealso been working hard to prepare forthe new long-term management contract.

People also enjoy adiverse range of informalactivities in The RoyalParks; walking, running,horse riding and cycling.

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Case study: education in Richmond ParkEducation is a key activity for The RoyalParks, bringing environmental knowledgeand experience of the outdoors tothousands of children every year. Oneexcellent example of our work ineducation is the programme of twice-weekly pond-dipping expeditions forprimary school children at RichmondPark, Bushy Park and Hyde Park.

Pond-dipping is a rare opportunity forchildren to discover a new and fascinatingenvironment. Our teams have theexperience, expertise and equipment tomake it a safe, enriching and excitingopportunity – enjoyed by over 4,500children in 2004/5.

Starting in the classroom, the childrenlearn all about the various ‘minibeasts’they may discover, using images anddiagrams to help visualise and identifyoften very small creatures.

Life through the seasonsOut at the pond, the children hunt forminibeasts with their nets, which areturned out into trays.Again, images anddiagrams help them identify their finds.

The environment of the ponds changesduring the year, so there’s alwayssomething new to see.Tadpoles becomefrogs, fishfry grow into sticklebacks andthe clearer winter water mists with thebuild-up of copapods and daphnia.

Pond-dipping, like the Nature Trail thechildren also enjoy, is a tremendouslypopular activity and we get a steadystream of wonderful letters and picturesfrom the children. It’s the best possibleproof of the lasting impact thisexperience makes on young minds.

Personal freedomThe Royal Parks are guardians of a richdiversity of wildlife in the heart of thecapital.We work hard to provideenvironments that encourage insects,invertebrates, birds and mammals toflourish, as well as making wildlife asaccessible as possible for the public.

A particular highlight this year was theinternational ‘Great Parks Great Cities’conference, held in July 2004. As part ofThe Royal Parks’ contribution to a one-day workshop of field visits, we hosted avery successful visit to Regent’s Park thatwas much appreciated by the largeinternational delegation.

Balancing sport and wildlife atRegent’s ParkThe renovation of Regent’s Park’s sportsfacilities proved an excellent opportunityto also enhance the Park in terms of itswildlife. As well as planned improvements,one unexpected benefit was that manybirds who would otherwise have beendisturbed thrived in the fenced off area of the Park, hunting and foraging inrelative peace.

Rather than the usual dozen feedingMistle Thrushes, for example, we saw 50or 60. Instead of the single Kestrel, wesaw a pair hunting for insects with fouryoung. Up to thirty Pied Wagtails, usuallyonly seen in ones and twos, were makingthe most of the turned earth and longgrass and every day from mid-August wesaw around seven of the usually rareWhite Wagtails.Whinchats were evenmore abundant, sometimes staying fordays where they usually might stop forjust a few hours.

These are temporary benefits, however,albeit interesting ones. Longer-term, weare carefully managing the largely nativetrees, the long grasses and the nectar-bearing wildflowers to enhance thebiodiversity of Regent’s Park for generationsto come.

High standards at Bushy ParkWe maintained our high standards ofwildlife management and conservationand our staff have continued to workwith other stakeholders on biologicalrecording. New aquatic plants havestarted to improve the water quality inour lakes and ponds.

Before it was cleaned and surveyed, ourCommunity Ecologist investigated thestructure of the Arethusa (or Diana)Fountain for any interesting fauna.Unfortunately, the potential was unfulfilled:only a couple of relatively commonspiders were found (Amaurobius similis).

Bushy Park Ecological SurveyWe continue to conduct a range ofwildlife surveys across The Royal Parks.This year, as part of its enormousRestoration Project, Bushy became theonly Royal Park to undergo a fullEcological Survey.This major studycovered both land and water, taking ininvertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, watervoles and bats. It has shown Bushy to bea nationally important conservation area.

The survey provided a detailed audit of habitats at Bushy, notably the acidgrassland and evidence that the Park is of national importance for decayingwood invertebrates, several of which are extremely rare.We were concernedto discover an apparent decline in thewater vole population, a trend that can only be reversed with proactivehabitat management.

The survey results have already provedvital in ensuring that the RestorationProject maintains the nationally importantbiodiversity at Bushy, as well as informingthe more general management of the Park.

Although the lack of a GeographicalInformation System (GIS) and up-to-dateelectronic mapping means we haven’tbeen able to make as much use of thesurvey information as we would wish, ithas provided an important exemplar forfuture surveys in The Royal Parks.Significant investment is needed todevelop an integrated biologicalrecording, GIS and land managementsystem for the Parks.

Other wildlife surveysOther notable surveys this year includebird monitoring by volunteers atRichmond, Bushy, Hyde and GreenwichParks and Kensington Gardens.The teamscarry out one or more walks a monthand report their results to ourCommunity Ecologist or, in Hyde Park, toone of our lead volunteers.

Volunteers from the Richmond Park BirdRecording Group have continued ourskylark survey and proved that, against abackground of long-term decline atRichmond, the Skylark Protection Zone isbenefiting the ground nesting birds onLawn Field.

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Over 140 species of trees can befound throughout The Royal Parksproviding homes for hundreds ofinsects, birds and animals.

Wild

life

The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05 17

The Zone was established after a baselinesurvey of breeding birds in 2001determined the numbers of skylarks, reedbuntings, meadow pipits, wrens andstonechats. Since then, we have askedvisitors to stay on the paths and keepdogs on short leads during the breedingseason (March to July). Even with onlypartial public co-operation, skylarkterritories have risen from three to seven,reed buntings from four to five and wrensfrom three to five. In a similar area,without any protection, bird numbersdropped slightly and we lost theremaining skylark territory.

Since 2003, volunteers in Richmond Parkhave carried out 26 standard walksduring April and September to survey thebutterflies, reporting their findings to theSurrey and SW London Branch ofButterfly Conservation group.Theseresults form part of local and nationalstatistics and have established Richmondas an important site for many species,including Small and Essex Skippers, SmallHeath and Purple Hairstreak. 2005 seesthe beginning of similar butterfly surveysat Bushy Park, doubling the amount ofskilled volunteer hours.

Volunteer surveys of ‘aculeates’ – bees,wasps and ants – at Richmond and BushyParks have confirmed the importance ofboth Parks to these species. By the endof 2004, 172 species had been recordedat Richmond and 170 at Bushy.These totalsinclude nine rare and threatened species.

The results of the 2003/4 Regent’s ParkMoth Survey were received in February2005, detailing 2,126 adults from 231species. 98 of the ‘macromoth’ specieswere new to the Park and three specieswere new to the Middlesex list. Fourwere of Nationally Notable status andeight of the micromoths were rare forMiddlesex.

The wildlife surveys prove The RoyalParks’ importance to London’sbiodiversity and provide a measure forour management of habitats such asreedbeds and grasslands.

Grassland managementAreas of longer grass are important to thesurvival of butterflies, grasshoppers, spidersand other invertebrates.We have beenimplementing improvements to grasslandmanagement schemes in all the Parks.

The significant management changes wemade last year to encourage wildlife arestill developing, but there are clearimprovements, notably with the morerelaxed mowing regime in an areasurrounding Hyde Park’s meadow andthe Bird Sanctuary. In Greenwich Park, alarge area of Croom’s Hill is beingreverted to acid grassland and hasdeveloped a high density of key acidgrassland plants such as sheep’s sorrel,early hair grass, red fescue and others.Regent’s Park’s areas of conservationgrassland are still being developed, withwildflowers planted around the margins of the new sports pitches.

Stag Beetle ProjectThe Stag Beetle Project has proved theimportance of Richmond Park for thisspecies, with over 300 records of livesightings, trappings and beetle remains.The Royal Parks’ Community Ecologistand other staff worked with a team oflocal volunteers, who gave over £32,000-worth of volunteer hours on the project.

Other news from RichmondThis year, working with English Nature,The Royal Parks secured 50% funding(around £2,500) for a survey ofRichmond’s regionally important acidgrasslands.The first accurate audit of thisresource, this survey allowed us toevaluate the habitat in detail, providingvital information for the revisedmanagement plan.

Our volunteer graduate carried outanother important survey in the winter,studying the lying decaying wood inRichmond’s open woodlands. Good levelsof decaying wood were found in 14areas, but there were relatively low levelsin ten others.This gave an overall averageof 34m2 per hectare, which compareswell with national benchmarks and thedetails of varying levels will be invaluablein planning the future management ofdecaying wood.

As well as continuing our increasedprogramme of wildlife walks (see casestudy below), the team at Richmondstarted a programme of ditch creationand pond clearance this year, as a resultof our ongoing dialogue with theRichmond Park Wildlife Group.We alsode-silted Spankers Hill Pond.

A substantial grant from English Natureallowed us to prepare a suite of boardsto tell the public about the importance ofthe National Nature Reserve.These aredue to be installed in the summer of 2005.

Ducks at St James’s and Regent’s ParksThe numbers of ducks in these two Parkshas fallen in recent years, as old age andnature take their toll. Many dozens of ourrare waterfowl, such as the extremelyrare Hawaiian Goose and the MarbledTeal, are in danger of disappearing fromthe Parks altogether.

So in February 2005,The Royal ParksFoundation launched a Valentine’s Dayscheme inviting people to ‘pair up’unattached ducks with partners for aslittle as £25.We hope to be able to bringin 130 ducks, pintails, widgeons, pochardsand geese through the scheme, most ofwhich will become much-loved partnersfor the currently unattached ducks.

This innovative ‘Adopt a Duck’ scheme atSt James’s Park has also raised over£6,000, allowing the team to buy aquarter of the waterfowl they need tomaintain the desired populations.

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The improvements of thesports facilities in TheRegent’s Park have alsobenefited wildlife with apair of Kestrels becomingregular visitors.

18 The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05

Case Study: Diana Princess of Wales MemorialAlthough it proved enormously popularwith visitors, the Memorial in Hyde Parkhas had a troubled year.The magnificentopening by Her Majesty the Queen on 6 July 2004, attended by HRH ThePrince of Wales with Princes Williamand Harry, brought great acclaim – andvast numbers of visitors. Up to 5,000people an hour came to visit, with manypeople playing in the water.

This caused immediate and very difficultmanagement problems. Ultimately, theMemorial was forced to close for threeweeks from 22 July.

After some improvements, we re-opened the Memorial on 20 August,with a new management strategy, morespecifically tailored to the role of aMemorial.Although we encouragedvisitors to interact with the water, safetyissues meant we couldn’t allow them toactually travel through it.This strategyproved very successful and the newpattern of use was soon established.

The closure also allowed us to plansome longer-term improvements,designed to respond to the hugenumbers visiting the fountain.Theseincluded installing new, harder-wearingturf, a new path to reduce wear on thegrass and increase disabled access andenhanced drainage for the grassed areas.We also introduced a second leaf-catcher into the circulation system.This large chamber has screens to keepleaves and other debris out of thewater, helping to reduce maintenancecosts by lowering the amount of debrisin the pumps.

These works required another closureof the Memorial, so we chose thequietest time of the year.We began thework on 10 January 2005 and it wascompleted in early May.The Memorialhas continued to prove popular and, thistime, it has the improvements it needsto withstand the demands of thatremarkable popularity.

Listening to peopleTourism is critical to the success of TheRoyal Parks, generating much-neededincome and extending our reputation toall corners of the globe.This year, weentered three Parks – Greenwich Park,Regent’s and Bushy – for the Green FlagAwards, the national standard for parksand green spaces across England andWales.

In July 2005, the national commemorationsmarking the end of World War II willprove a major tourist attraction for St James’s Park.We have worked with the Ministry of Defence on plans forthese events.

Millions of peoplevisit the Parks forenjoyment,exhilaration andrelaxation.

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Refreshing St James’s ParkThe opening of the Inn The Park café/restaurant in April 2004 was a majorevent for St James’s Park and has proveda great success. (For more details, see thecase study in the ‘History and architecture’section.) As well as bringing a superbdining destination to the Park, thedevelopment has given us the opportunityto improve the landscape around thewater’s edge.

We have replanted two shrubberies onwhat we believe to be the site of original plantings by John Nash andextended the subtle floodlighting into the trees immediately in front of Inn ThePark, creating wonderful views for late-night diners.These developments,and the innovative grass roof of the café,make Inn The Park as attractive to loversof beautiful landscape as those ofbeautiful food.

On the more casual catering side, wehave awarded a ten-year contract to ECSoft Ice, to provide refreshment kiosks atSt James’s and Green Parks.The companyalready held the contract in Hyde Parkand has useful experience of catering atevents like the RHS flower shows atChelsea and Tatton Park.The sleek newwooden kiosks will bring more varied,higher quality refreshment to the Parks.They also suit the environment well andwe are continuing to improve thelandscape around them.

A glittering year of eventsIn June, 255,000 people turned out overthree nights to see the Red Hot ChilliPeppers play Hyde Park.This was the firsttime any band had played more than aone-off concert in the Park.With ticketsales exceeding £9m, it was alsoreportedly the highest grossing series ofdates ever held in one venue. Netincome earned by The Royal Parks andRoyal Parks Foundation from the HydePark summer concerts also reachedrecord levels, at £1.25m (of a total£1.69m across all the Parks).

In Regent’s Park, smoothie companyInnocent Drinks joined forces with eventproduction company DMW and TheRoyal Parks to stage ‘Fruitstock’. Summingup all that is good about summer in thecity, Fruitstock was justly awarded ‘BestLive Event’ – the top award in EventMarketing magazine’s annual awards poll.It brilliantly combined a communicationof Innocent’s brand values with freeurban entertainment, as well as raisingthe profile of Regent’s Park.

In August 2004, the Serpentine Gallerystaged an outdoor screening of Nic Roeg’s disturbing British chiller,‘Don’t Look Now’, by the Long Water.The event, attended by 3,000 payingcustomers, made stunning use of thewatery location and the falling night tocomplement the themes and mood ofthis classic film.

Summer eventsWe hosted another successful programmeof Summer Events between June andSeptember 2004.The wide-rangingactivities, many of which were free ofcharge, included children’s entertainment,guided walks and musical performances.This year also saw two ‘firsts’ for theprogramme. Generous sponsorship of£40,000 from Tetley Special Teas, as wellas an enhanced promotional campaign,enabled us to provide event detailsthrough regular on-line updates as well as in the printed literature.

Catering for our visitorsIncome from our catering concessionsincreased by a remarkable 30% in 2004/5,despite a poor spring and summer.Wealso successfully tendered for the foodand drink service in a number of Parks:Regent’s Park (refurbishing the GardenCafé and all catering points); Kensington(refurbishing the Broadwalk Café and allcatering points); outdoor catering for thecentral Parks; new units and an upgradedservice for St James’s, Green and HydeParks; and a new mobile catering servicefor Bushy and Richmond Parks.

Inn The Park, our new flagship unit,generated 20% of our total cateringincome for the year, as well as anenormous amount of positive feedbackand publicity, both nationally andinternationally.

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20 The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05

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In December, Public Partnership began anew catering contract in KensingtonGardens. Investment to date of around£275,000 has given the Diana Café amajor makeover and purchased two newmobile mini vans.Trading has been gooddespite changeable weather.

On location in the ParksA number of recent films have highlightedthe attractions of London – and three inparticular have featured Royal Parks. Eachbrings the beauty of the Parks to aworldwide audience.

Finding Neverland, starring Johnny Deppand Kate Winslet, was based on the lifestory of Peter Pan’s creator JM Barrie. Allthe parkland scenes were filmed inKensington Gardens, where Barrie metthe Llewelyn Davies family and wasinspired to write his stories.

The sequel to the phenomenallysuccessful Bridget Jones’s Diary,The Edgeof Reason, featured a famous punch-upbetween Hugh Grant and Colin Firthoutside the Serpentine Gallery, windingup in the central basin of the ItalianFountains.The Fountains also appeared inthe romantic drama Wimbledon, starringKirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany, as did theAlbert Memorial.

The team at Richmond Park has alsocontinued to develop relationships withfilm companies and those involved infashion shoots.

Boating at Hyde ParkA new, 15-year contract was awarded toBluebird Boats this year, requiring thecompany to replace the Boathouse inHyde Park with a dramatic new building,designed by Sir Michael Hopkins.Construction is due to take place in thewinter of 2005, subject to planningpermission.

Greenwich Café GardenThe Café Garden was landscaped thisyear, adding to visitors’ enjoyment of the Park. As part of this project, weintroduced an attractively planted pavedarea that opens up the view towardsCanary Wharf.

Developments at Richmond ParkThanks largely to the generosity ofRichard Evans, a private sponsor, theRichmond Park Charitable Trust was ableto buy a telescope for the Park, whichhas been installed on King Henry’s Mound.The telescope gives visitors wonderfulviews towards St Paul’s Cathedral andacross the western panorama.

We have awarded a new contract to ECSoft Ice, which has brought new mobilekiosks to various locations in the Park.

Brompton CemeteryThe Cemetery’s business activities continueto generate income.This year, for thesecond year running, they brought in morethan £150,000, substantially offsetting the£210,000 cost of grounds maintenance.

There is something for everyoneto enjoy in the Parks from readinga book to watching the wildlifeand fishing.

22 The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05

The Royal Parks FoundationThe Royal Parks Foundation is workingclosely with The Royal Parks Agency toraise over £12 million in gifts and pledgestowards a variety of projects.

The Foundation and the Agency areindependent bodies, but dedicated toachieving a very similar aim – the currentwell-being and future support of TheRoyal Parks. In this spirit of partnership,the Agency seconded two members ofits staff to the Foundation in July 2004:the Foundation’s Director and aDevelopment Manager.This arrangementwill continue to 31 December 2005,when the two posts will move under theFoundation umbrella to join the othertwo permanent staff and one volunteer.

This year, the Foundation focused onsupporting The Royal Parks’ two flagshipprojects – the restoration of Bushy Parkand the Regent’s Park sport facilities.Wehave welcomed many new friends andcorporate partners and are particularlygrateful to The Weston Family and themany others who have given generousgifts towards major projects.Theirenthusiasm is a constant inspiration toothers who are considering supporting us.

But The Royal Parks Foundation is notjust about raising money for majorprojects. It has also initiated smallercampaigns, like the successful Valentine’sDay promotion to help purchase newducks for St James’s and Regent’s Parks.We have raised over £6,000 to date, withdonations from as far afield as America,New Zealand and Australia, as well as theBritish Isles.

In May 2004,The Foundation hit the frontpages with the launch of The Royal ParksRose at Chelsea Flower Show.The Parkshave been the showcase for some of theworld’s most famous roses for over 500years, so we felt it was time they hadtheir very own dedicated bloom.Cultivated with help from HarknessRoses, the hybrid tea rose is lightlyperfumed and blends coppery, apricotand caramel shades. It can be seen forthe first time in Queen Mary’s Gardens insummer 2005. Every rose sold raisesmoney for the Foundation.

In September, 150 guests made a fantasticcontribution of over £36,000 at thecharity’s first fundraising dinner, ‘Walk onthe Grass’, in The Secret Garden inRegent’s Park. Guests were entertainedby RADA graduates performingShakespearean scenes (including aswashbuckling sword fight amongst thelavender) before a candlelit dinner andauction, led by Lord Dalmeny, Chairmanof Sotheby’s Olympia.

The rapid pace continued all the way toChristmas, with a special evening tobenefit the Foundation, hosted byMulberry at their Brompton Road store.Like a number of other stores, localhotels and Park concessions, Mulberry isnow stocking our lapel badges, whichfeature mallards, green woodpeckers andveteran oaks.We are working to buildrelationships with new stockists anddevelop a regular income stream fromthis source.

The Chiming Tree donation box,commissioned from Robert Frith, astudent at the Royal College of Art, hasproved popular with young visitors to theDiana Memorial Playground in KensingtonGardens. More than £5,000 has beenraised to date and more chiming treeswill be sprouting up in St James’s Parkand Hyde Park during 2005.

In Spring 2005, we published the firstedition of the Foundation’s newmagazine, ‘Royal Parks’.This coincidedwith the charity’s second anniversary.Themagazine has a 20,000 circulation and ismarketed to Friends Groups, localschools and neighbouring residents.

We also worked with the Friends Groupsto launch a legacy programme in June2005.This will provide gifts in the longerterm to complement donations giventhrough the Membership and TreeSchemes which, between them, raisedover £70,000 in 2004/5.

Peter B Ellwood CBEChairmanThe Royal Parks Foundation

Case study: Sponsored trees in The Green ParkDedicating a tree within The Royal Parkshas proved increasingly popular aspeople choose this special way toremember loved ones or to perhapscelebrate an important occasion oranniversary. Each autumn and winterthroughout the Parks there are anumber of trees available for dedication.The species vary depending on the plansfor planting for that particular year andalso reflect the individual character ofeach Park.

In 2004 we were delighted to be able toplant three new Hawthorn trees in TheGreen Park, replacing some older treeswhich had unfortunately died.Thanks tothe generosity of one of our tree donors,we were able to plant the four-year oldtrees in an area towards the Ritz Hoteland Green Park underground station.Whilst this, the smallest of the eightRoyal Parks, is renowned for its manyLondon Planes, the Common Hawthornor Quick Thorn (Crataegus Monogyna) isparticularly attractive to wildlife with itsblossom in May, red fruits during thesummer months and attractive tints onthe leaves during the autumn.

Looking after the nation’s cultural assetsThe redevelopment of the Regent’s Parksports facilities was made possible thanksto a major fundraising programme bymembers of the Agency and theFoundation.The £2.2 million restorationof the sports pitches was funded by acombination of generous gifts from TheFootball Foundation (£908,000), SportEngland (£752,000 through the NewOpportunities Fund), the LondonMarathon Charitable Trust (£75,000), plusa contribution from The Royal Parks.

The £3.3 million project to build ourMulti-sport and Community Hub wasboosted by a £2 million award fromActive England (a joint funding initiativebetween Sport England and The BigLottery Fund) together with contributionsfrom the London Marathon CharitableTrust (£100,000) and the Weston Family(£50,000).Whilst the remainder for thebuilding is still to be raised, we alsosecured £400,000 revenue funding fromActive England towards the developmentof a sports and activities programme andstaffing for the Hub.

From the Chairman The Royal Parks FoundationAny map of London will show that theeight Royal Parks are an important partof the giant jigsaw that is our capital city.With over 120,000 trees, 280 historicstatues and monuments and space forevery kind of sport, from football andtennis to riding and rollerblading, thesewide green spaces are vibrant withmodern life.They exist as much-neededsites of natural beauty and recreation andare a vital source of well-being forLondoners and visitors from further afield.

It costs nearly £30 million per year to keepThe Royal Parks safe and clean, in beautifulcondition and bursting with life.This coversthe essentials of day-to-day maintenancebut there is so much more that can bedone to help the Parks realise their fullpotential.Which is where The Royal ParksFoundation comes in. Established as aregistered charity in May 2003, our aim isto raise funds in order to help:

■ Protect - what the Parks haveinherited from the past

■ Support - what the Parks are doing in the present

■ Create - new opportunities for the future

Good parks reflect some of society'sstrongest interests today – healthy living,care for the environment, education,history and heritage.The Royal ParksFoundation, its Trustees and staff, areworking to help safeguard these magnificentopen spaces for everyone to enjoy.

Peter B Ellwood CBEChairmanThe Royal Parks Foundation

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24 The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05

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5Case study:The paperless Parks’ officeIn 2005,The Royal Parks introduced anelectronic records management system,to make filing and finding theorganisation’s many documents moreefficient.This was driven originally bythe Freedom of Information Act, whichcame into force on 1 January 2005.

The months between June andNovember 2004 were spent preparingfor this major change to ouradministration.The implementation ofthe technology was put to tender andthe winning company,Audata workedwith a project team from The RoyalParks to ensure a smooth changeover.We set ourselves the target of being upand running from November 2004, toallow some time to get used to thesystem and iron out any issues.

In that time, we undertook an audit ofthe records we held and in what formand established the classification systemthat forms the basis of the solution. Itwas hard work, but we hit our target,with four training workshops completeby the end of October. Indeed, thewhole project came in on time andwithin its modest budget.

Value for moneyOur people are the key to The RoyalParks’ success and to delivering on ourmany objectives.We aim to recruit anddevelop a highly skilled and highlymotivated workforce, dedicated toproviding the highest possible standardsof service to the millions of peoplevisiting The Royal Parks every year.

We appoint staff from beyond the CivilService on the basis of fair and opencompetition and in accordance withguidelines set out in the Civil ServiceCommissioner’s Recruitment Code.This year, we appointed the followingnew people:

Grade I(Administration) 3 67 33

Grade II (Horticulture) 3 0 0

Grade III (Executive) 1 100 0

Grade IV 2 0 0

Grade IV (Board Member) 2 50 0

Work on Our Changing Landscape,which began in 2003, is now almostcomplete and we have a neworganisational structure, including anumber of key new appointments. A newstaff development questionnaire will soonbe rolled out to identify the range of skillsoffered by our people and ensure weaddress future development needs.Wehave also revised our competenceframework, which will be supported by anew appraisal system, which is currentlyunder development.

VolunteersWithout our volunteers, we would beunable to provide many of our servicesand programmes. After induction andtraining, volunteers help us in everythingfrom education to disability programmesand wildlife surveys. In the coming year,we aim to establish volunteer forums to involve them more closely in themanagement of The Royal Parks.

IT and systemsWe made several improvements to theBusiness Assurance of our informationsystems, including moving forward ourBusiness Continuity Planning; refreshersecurity training for all staff; and renewingour anti-virus software protectionlicences.We also upgraded the Agency’sInternet connection with a new supplier,providing enhanced email and webservices for our staff.

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We aim to providethe highest possiblestandards of serviceto the millions ofvisitors we welcomeevery year.

The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05 27

Health and SafetyThis section follows the guidance issuedby the Health and Safety Commission, inHealth and Safety in Annual Reports:Guidance from the Health and SafetyCommission (HMSO).

The Royal Parks is committed to theparamount importance of the health,safety and welfare of our staff and allthose involved in our activities and to an effective H&S Management System.The Health and Safety Executive hasproduced a guide on best practice,Successful health and safety management(HSG65), which we use as our template.

H&S policy and procedures are availableto staff on the intranet, whileresponsibility for day-to-day activity restswith the Chief Executive and the SeniorManagement Team.They receive H&Sreports every quarter and approve theannual H&S Strategy, which sets thetargets for the year.The key targets for2004/5, which were delivered:

■ To introduce a Procedure onoccupation driving by October 2004;

■ To introduce a Procedure on themaintenance of roads and footpaths byMarch 2005;

■ To introduce a Procedure on the newDangerous Substances and ExplosiveAtmospheres Regulations by March 2005.

The key targets for 2005/6 are:

■ To introduce a Procedure on the newWork at Height Regulations;

■ To monitor more closely Construction(Design and Management) Regulationsissues on projects;

■ To review the tree inspection Procedure.

The most significant risks to staff, in termsof numbers exposed, are manual handlingand injuries associated with usingcomputers. A few staff work at height.We have risk reduction strategies for allthese activities. Our experience is thatthe most significant risk to the public isthrough slipping, tripping and falling.

Many of the activities carried out in The Royal Parks are undertaken bycontractors.We endeavour to reduce thehealth and safety risks to contractors’staff and those affected by their activities,by checking their H&S managementbefore letting contracts and bymonitoring and auditing their activitiesafterwards.Where shortcomings arefound, we work with contractors to putthem right.

Staff receive appropriate information and training, including specialist trainingfor first aiders, fire wardens and other key competencies.

The H&S Committee meets four times ayear and provides a forum where safetyrepresentatives of the Trade Unions andthe SMT member responsible for H&Scan discuss issues or concerns. (TradeUnion representatives may see theDirector more frequently if they wish.)Trade Union Safety Representatives areconsulted when the annual H&S Strategyis drawn up and on all new policies andprocedures.The Trade Union SafetyRepresentatives receive informationabout accidents so they can carry outtheir own investigations if they wish.

During the period 2004/5, no staffaccidents or incidents were reportedunder RIDDOR, with an average staffnumber of 160.There were no fatalities.No enforcement notices were served,nor were there any convictions for healthand safety offences.

Other newsAs part of the redevelopment of thesports pitches at Regent’s Park, we begana project to provide electronic bookingsfor the public, which will make bookingeasier and allow us to record valuablestatistics about the facilities’ usage.Weinvited tenders to supply this system inFebruary 2005, for implementation in2005/6.

We continue to develop ourManagement Plans for all the Parks andhave maintained our ISO 14001accreditation for 2004/5.We have alsocontinued work on the major optionsreview of our Grounds Maintenance,Works and Toilet Attendant services,which aims to ensure the most effectiveand efficient services for the Parks. Newservice arrangements will begin in 2006.

The Royal Parks were represented on the Greater London Authority-led ‘World Squares’ review of ParliamentSquare and Millbank.

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28 The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05

The precious naturalhabitat of the Parksis our greatestresponsibility andone which we takevery seriously.

Case study: recycling in Kensington GardensIn December 2004, Public Partnershipbegan a new catering contract inKensington Gardens, which included acommitment to recycle waste from thecafé as part of our obligations underISO 14001.

This new venture means the caférecycles through the local authority and‘returns’ (or records) of the recyclingare sent back to The Royal Parks so thatwe can keep track of progress.As muchas possible is now recycled, whichmeans primarily cardboard items.However, we are also looking at recyclablecups and plates.

Protecting the environment is clearly akey concern for The Royal Parks and a contracted consultant records ourrecycling levels, keeping all the Parks upto date with their own success.This hasproduced a spirit of healthy, positivecompetition between the Parks for thehighest recycling returns.The cateringconcessions are key to this and Regent’s Park has been doing especiallywell recently.

Better places to liveManaging these precious natural habitatsis The Royal Parks’ greatest responsibility.We need constantly to strike a balancebetween making the Parks accessible andprotecting the abundance of flora andfauna in our 5,000 acres of parkland forgenerations to come.

In this, we draw on the experience andexpertise of a dedicated team of people.And this year, those people have beenworking tremendously hard on anenormous range of projects. From majorundertakings, like the successful diversionof the ‘Twin Rivers’ to make way forHeathrow Terminal 5, to smaller, on-goingtasks such as developing the recyclingopportunities in Richmond, we have beenmaking excellent progress in 2004/5.

It was particularly rewarding to see thishard work recognised in November2004, when The Royal Parks was runner-up for the British Institute of FacilitiesManagement’s Environmental Impact award.

Green Ministers visit St James’s ParkIn the summer,The Royal Parks and theDepartment for Culture, Media andSport arranged a visit to St James’s Parkby 11 Ministers from the Green Cabinet.A tour of the stunning new Inn The Parkcafé restaurant included a sample of itsexcellent lunches and an insight into theenvironmental principles behind thedevelopment. Carefully designed tocomplement John Nash’s Park design of1828, the restaurant’s grass roof makesthe strikingly modern restaurant almostinvisible from most of the Park.

The delegation was invited to plant anew willow at the edge of the lake andthey were then taken by electric buggy to the Cabinet War Rooms for apresentation on our wider environmentalwork.The visit was a great success andboth Estelle Morris (Green Minister forDCMS) and Elliot Morley (Chair of theGreen Cabinet) wrote to thank us forsuch an informative day.

Bushy Park Restoration ProjectThis project continues to forge ahead,after the initial award of £410,000 fromthe Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) in July2003.With a total of 69 projects makingup the £7.23m scheme, our first task wasto establish the project team. By April2004, we had appointed a diverse team,including a Head Gardener and anEducation and Community Officer.

In the course of the year, we held 15evening meetings with StakeholderInterest Groups (SIGs), each of whichwere enthusiastically attended by at least40 people. SIG representatives alsoattended the 13 steering group meetingswe held.

In April 2005 we submitted our secondstage application to HLF, requesting£4.5m and have also been busy applyingfor other sources of partnership funding.Towards the end of the year we receiveda wonderful gift of £250,000 from theWeston family.

‘Twin Rivers’ diversionMay 2004 saw the completion of theTwin Rivers Project – an enormousenvironmental programme to divert theLongford and Duke of Northumberland’sRivers away from the site of HeathrowAirport’s new Terminal 5.The Royal Parksworked on this landmark projectalongside BAA and the EnvironmentAgency.

We were delighted this year when theproject was rated ‘Excellent’ by the CivilEngineering Environmental Quality(CEEQUAL) Assessment and AwardScheme. Jon Pritchard, Director ofEngineering at the Institute of CivilEngineers, presented the project teamwith the Scheme’s main award: theWhole Project Award.

Sust

aina

bilit

yIt was fitting recognition for a project thatinvolved translocating water voles, plants,freshwater mussels, over 30,000 fish,and even the silts and gravels of theriverbeds, which were ‘seeded’ with theiroriginal rich populations of aquaticinvertebrates like freshwater shrimp anddamselfly nymphs.

Both rivers are thriving ecologically.Monitoring this year has shown that therivers are being colonised by fish,vegetation is becoming well establishedand all water quality indicators are good.

London Biodiversity Partnership (LBP)As well as raising the profile of The RoyalParks through a variety of partnershipactivities, training sessions, interviews andtalks, our Community Ecologist hascontinued to represent The Royal Parkson the LBP Habitat and Species WorkingGroup. He was also lead partner on theAcid Grassland Habitat Action Plan, acontributor to the Heathland, Reedbeds,Bats, Parks Amenity Grassland and CitySquares Action Plans and a member ofthe London Parks and GreenspacesForum Biodiversity Group.

Among the LBP Action Plans’ manyachievements this year has been thepublication of ‘Acid Grassland in London’,an advisory booklet which will bedistributed to key land managers and theiradvisers in London.The booklet was fundedin part by a £250 donation from Merton &Mitcham Commons Conservators.

The Parks Amenity Grassland and CitySquares Habitat Action Plan alsocompleted an ecological survey of over300 of London’s smaller open spaces thisyear.This was supported by partnershipfunding of £1,000 from The Royal Parks,which helped to lever in a grant of£20,000 from the Bridge House EstatesTrust Fund, as well as contributions fromEnglish Heritage, Grosvenor Estates andothers.The massive amount of dataproduced by the survey is currently in adraft report stage and the initial resultswere announced at a seminar held at theGLA on 14 March 2005. One of thesurvey outcomes will be a best practicebooklet from the RSPB, to informmanagers of urban open spaces.

Local Biodiversity Action Plans (LBAPs)Our Community Ecologist is also TheRoyal Parks’ primary representative in thisarea.This year, he has contributedsignificantly to the preparation of theRichmond Borough LBAP and inparticular to the Water Vole and AcidGrassland Action Plans.The launch of theRichmond LBAP, with Sir DavidAttenborough, took place in June 2005.Our Community Ecologist also helpedwith the early stages of the developmentof a Greenwich Borough LBAP and hasbeen involved in discussions on progressof The Royal Parks’ contributions to theWestminster Borough LBAP.

Richmond ParkAs new EU legislation came into forceregarding woodland, Richmond hosted avisit from a delegation led by the PolishSecretary of State for the Environment.The delegation came to learn more aboutbest practice in managing ancient woodland.

There have been smaller-scaleenvironmental works in Richmond duringthe year.Working with the Borough ofRichmond, we have extended the scopeof recycling in the Park and are currentlypiloting a scheme in the two main carparks. And there was recycling of adifferent kind when we re-trenched thesurface from the old road, to use as abase for future re-surfacing. 2004-05 alsosaw Richmond retain its ISO 14001certification, an international standard forenvironmental management.

Water management plansOur previous biannual water qualitymonitoring contract was restructured thisyear, to monitor each of the Parks’ bodiesof water.

For about the same expenditure, the re-specified contract will help us deliverbetter value. In its first year, we usedprevious monitoring data andconsultation with Wildlife Officers, ParkManagers and the Community Ecologistto develop management plans for ourkey waterbodies. Currently in draft form,these plans should help Park Managersachieve higher levels of water quality andbiodiversity. Continued monitoring meanswe will be able to measure anyimprovements over the next four years.

Standardised biological recording forms These forms and recording protocolshave now been produced for all RoyalParks sites, providing a simple, robustformat and process for ecological andbiological reporting by staff, the public ortrained volunteers.We have alsoproduced compartment maps forrecording wildlife sightings in Bushy,Richmond and Greenwich Parks.

The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05 31

Case study: Inn The Park restaurantIn 2003, the Chief Executive announcedThe Royal Parks’ plan to build a new andcutting-edge restaurant in St James’s Park.‘Inn The Park’ would be built on the siteof the famous Cake House restaurant,with spectacular views of the lake and thebeautiful garden designs of John Nash.

Today, Inn The Park is an enormouslysuccessful reality, visited as much forOliver Peyton’s exceptional menu as forits position in one of London’s mostbeautiful Parks. Built to a striking moderndesign by Sir Michael Hopkins, therestaurant nevertheless blends elegantlywith Nash’s gardens. Its gently slopinggrass roof hides the restaurantcompletely from The Mall and from mostof the Park itself.

Within, customers discover the firstindependent interiors project by Habitat’sCreative Director,Tom Dixon. Here,retro-industrial design gives the café adefiantly modern air and the larch woodfloor and ceiling glow with honeyedintensity when illuminated by thedistinctive mirrored lights.

Oliver Peyton’s Gruppo team hasanswered our brief – to create a superbyet accessible menu – with real style.Thesimple, expertly cooked dishes continueto serve up excellent reviews for therestaurant and business has exceeded our expectations.

Economic prosperityThe Royal Parks have been enjoyed byroyalty and the public for almost 700years and represent a wealth of historicand architectural treasures.Today, as wellas upholding our responsibilities ascustodians of this heritage, it’s importantthat we maximise the Parks’ manyopportunities to generate income andfunding for our work. Inn The Park is justone, particularly spectacular, example ofthat work in action.

Maintaining The Royal ParksThis year, the National Audit Office(NAO) published its report on The RoyalParks, drawing attention to the outstandingmaintenance work.

Much of our hard fabric needs attentionand our Works team has responded witha comprehensive re-evaluation of ourmaintenance strategy.Taking into accountchanges in legislation and our statutoryobligations, health and safetyrequirements and the Park’s ownoperational needs, we are aiming toreduce the deterioration of the hardfabric in the most cost-effective way.

In partnership with our catering operatorCaper Green, we have given majormakeovers to both the Pavilion TeaHouse in Greenwich and the GardenCafé in Regent’s Park. Our outdoorcatering operator EC Soft Ice has alsoimplemented a new fleet of high qualityunits in the central Parks.The Dell andthe Lido in Hyde Park, which are alsooperated by Caper Green, were given a‘freshen-up’ refurbishment.

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Many of our buildings andstructures need attention and our team has responded with acomprehensive re-evalution ofour maintenance strategy.

Hist

ory

& a

rchi

tect

ure

The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05 33

Developments at RichmondA great deal has been done on the builtheritage in Richmond Park this year.Wehave been working with the Royal BalletSchool on the major refurbishment of itssite, which will improve the views of thisGrade I listed building from the Park.

In partnership with the Hearsum Family,refurbishment of the public catering areaswas completed and work started on anew, permanent catering kiosk in the carpark.The ornate iron gate leading toPembroke Lodge has been refurbishedand we have replaced the paddockfencing around Holly Lodge withtraditional estate fencing.We have alsoresurfaced a great deal of the roads atBroomfield Hill and Sheen Gate, reducingthe amount of tarmac in favour of moreappropriate materials.

Rattle accommodationWith departmental consent,The RoyalParks allowed the Ministry of Defence(MOD) under licence to use part ofHyde Park adjacent to South CarriageDrive for temporary stabling from July2004 until June 2005.This ensuresminimal disruption to the Queen’s LifeGuard’s ceremonial duties whilst theKnightsbridge Barracks (which back on toSouth Carriage Drive) are beingrefurbished.The MOD approached TheRoyal Parks asking for stabling spacewithin the Park, to ensure their projectwas completed on schedule. So, with the

permission of Westminster City Council,South Carriage Drive was closed totraffic between Edinburgh and Prince ofWales Gates from March 2005 until theend of June 2005 and around 120 stableswere installed on the carriageway.South Carriage Drive re-opened again on 1 July, 2005.

Capel ManorThe Royal Parks is working incollaboration with Capel Manor Collegeto develop a Centre of VocationalExcellence in land-based skills at theStoreyard in Regent’s Park.We aim tocreate a satellite college of Capel Manorin the Park, encouraging more peopleinto careers in parks and green spacesmanagement and addressing the currentskills shortage.We would also very muchlike to relaunch our ApprenticeshipScheme and are hoping to work with theCollege towards achieving this vision.

Our joint venture means The Royal Parkswill provide, under licence, classroomsand outdoor practice areas for students,while Capel Manor College supplies thetraining. Longer term, if this venture is asuccess, Capel Manor is very keen tofinance the upgrading and extension oftheir accommodation.

Bowater HouseBowater House is an extensive 1960’soffice block that backs on to SouthCarriage Drive and oversails the vehiculargate at Edinburgh Gate. Although of littlearchitectural merit, the building is in avery prominent position, visible in bothshort and long views from within HydePark.To improve these views, we havebeen liaising with the developers, LandSecurities and providing advice andfeedback on their proposals.Thesuggested changes have been quiteradical, including the creation of civicspace abutting Hyde Park, a newpedestrian entrance and the re-locationof a vehicular entrance into the park.However, in December 2004, thefreehold title was sold and the newowners have appointed HopkinsArchitects to fulfil their vision for the site.The Hopkins proposal will be presentedto The Royal Parks for our views in earlyJuly 2005.

As well as working on several high-profileprojects to reduce our maintenanceliabilities, we have worked in partnershipwith a variety of public groups onimproving the Parks’ facilities andinfrastructure.We have, for example,worked with the Central LondonPartnership to design several innovativepedestrian crossings to improve access toRegent’s Park.

Working with City of Westminster andTransport for London, we have improvedcycle paths in Kensington Gardens, HydePark, Green Park and St James’s Park, aspart of the Seven Stations Cycle Route.And we are in the process of restoringthe Primrose Hill Bridge, in conjunctionwith London Zoo.

National Police MemorialThis year saw enormous progress on thisproject, which was instigated over 20 yearsago by the film director Michael Winner,Chairman of the Police Memorial Trust(which is responsible for maintaining theMemorial). Designed by Sir Norman Foster,The National Police Memorial was unveiledby Her Majesty the Queen just after thisreporting year, on 26 April 2005, at theedge of The Mall in St James’s Park.

Past and present in Bushy ParkAs part of the enormous Bushy ParkRestoration Project, archaeology at theUpper Lodge Water Gardens has told usa great deal.We discovered, for example,that the early 18th Century pools werelined with cobbles for added visualinterest. All this archaeological informationwill prove essential in restoring thesebeautiful features.

Maintaining the Park’s more up-to-datebuildings and hard landscaping hascontinued and the Diana Fountain hasbeen thoroughly cleaned. Researchundertaken by the projects conservationarchitects suggests perhaps the fountainmight be better known as the ArethusaFountain, which will certainly stimulatesome healthy debate about its name.

The Park’s infrastructure and visual appealhave also been enhanced with newfencing and railings at Church GrovePassage, Hampton Wick Cricket Club andDuke’s Head Passage.

Greenwich ParkThe work to restore the 15th Centurygardens at Greenwich continues, with400 trees now planted.You can find outmore about our progress in the casestudy on page 5.

There are 280 listed buildings andmonuments in The Royal Parks.Wework hard to conserve and maintainthem for our visitors today and forgenerations to come.

The

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with

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ed34 The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05

The Management structureThe Chief Executive has overall charge ofThe Royal Parks, reporting to the Minsterfor Culture and the Secretary of State forCulture, Media and Sport.

Ministers and the Chief Executive aresupported by an Advisory Board toprovide independent advice on strategy,plans and performance and to helprepresent the interests of The Royal Parks.

The Management BoardThe Management Board meets monthlyto consider and take decisions on the Parks’ strategy and planning,finance, performance, structure andorganisation, resources, risk management,health and safety issues, personnel andgeneral management.

Its membership comprises the ChiefExecutive (Chair) with all the executiveDirectors and two non-executivemembers drawn from the AdvisoryBoard and the Foundation.The Board’sAudit Committee advises the ChiefExecutive as Accounting Officer on theParks’ arrangements for risk management,internal control and internal audit,TheCommittee is Chaired by non-executivemember Andrew Fenwick of BrunswickGroup Ltd, who is also a Trustee of TheRoyal Parks Foundation.

Advisory BoardChairmanPeter B Ellwood CBE,

Chairman ICI;Chairman,The Royal Parks AdvisoryBoard and The Royal Parks Foundation.

MembersThe Hon. Apurv Bagri,Group Managing Director, Metdist Ltd.Trustee,The Royal Parks Foundation,Non-Executive Director,The Royal ParksManagement Board.

Professor Sir Peter Crane FRS,Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Emir Feisal FCMA,Head of Finance,The Sunday Times.

Ylva French,Executive Director,The Campaign for Museums andMarketing Communications Consultant.

We are indebted for the support andcommitment we receive from ourAdvisory Board Chairman, Peter BEllwood and our main stakeholders,especially the members of the AdvisoryBoard,Trustees of The Royal ParksFoundation, DCMS,The Royal Household,the individual Friends groups in each Park,all our partners such as the Holly LodgeCentre and Liberty Drives, the Mayor ofLondon and the GLA and all the localauthorities with whom we work.

Non-executive member

The Hon.Apurv Bagri

Director of Estates

Simon Betts

Director of Parksand Deputy CE

Colin Buttery

Non-executive member

Andrew Fenwick

Chief Executive

Mark Camley

Director ofResources andBusiness Planning

Anne Moore

Director of MajorProjects

Greg McErlean

Director ofStrategy andMarketing

Vacant

Man

agem

ent

and

gove

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ceof

The

Roya

l Par

ks

We are dedicated to maintaining the very highest standards at The Royal Parks in order to conserve and present them attheir best. Surveys for 2004/05 show that, with very fewexceptions, we continue to meet our targets and, in somecases, have far exceeded them.

Perfo

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1 Increase numbers benefiting from Achieved: During 2004/05 12,629 people took part in our education programme,education activities by 10% each year. an increase of 10% from 2003/04.

2 Each park to score at least 85% for Partially achieved: In 2004 we changed our survey methodology.We are now quality and cleanliness as assessed by surveying four Parks each year, so each will be assessed biannually but in more detailvisitor satisfaction survey. than in the past.This year overall scores of excellent or good were:

Greenwich – 95%; Bushy – 93%; St James’s – 93%; Green – 94%.

3 New visitor survey and metrics in On track: New visitor survey and metrics are in place. Summer and autumn researchplace by spring 2004, pilot results for phases have been completed for four Parks to date.one park by February 2005, all parks in 2006.

4 Achievement of targets in policing plan. Partially achieved: All aspects of the policing plan were achieved except one.The total number of robberies and thefts from the person offences increased from 73 to 83. However, the increase may reflect better recording techniques that have been introduced rather than any significant increases in offences.

5 Each park to score at least 85% Achieved: Bushy and Green Parks achieved an average score of 88%; all other for soft landscaping, as assessed by parks scored at least 91%.an independent expert.

6 Three parks to gain Green Flag On track: Applications were submitted for Greenwich, Regent’s and Bushy Parksstatus in 2005/06. in February 2005.

7 Maintain ISO 14001 status. Achieved: We continue to keep our management programmes and action plansfor our environmental objectives under review. In December 2004 we came second out of 120 entries in the Environmental Impact category of the British Institute of Facilities Management Award scheme.

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The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05 37

8 Publication and implementation Achieved: The summer events programme attracted over 800,000 visitors to a rangeof Events Strategy by June 2004. of concerts, film screenings, races, art events and children’s entertainment.The Events

strategy was agreed by the Secretary of State and distributed to stakeholders.

9 Non-user research in 2004/05. Achieved: An in-depth non-users study has been undertaken as part of the community engagement strand of the Bushy Park Restoration project. A non-users telephone survey has also been conducted for four Parks.

10 Three parks to develop a community On track: Bushy, Regent’s and Greenwich have developed community engagementengagement strategy by March 2005, strategies this year.remaining parks by 2006.

11 Develop existing links with Central On track: A visit to New York Parks (Central Park, Prospect Park) took place with Park in New York and partnerships with useful links to build on. Discussions on the possibility of staff exchanges have two other urban parks in 2004/05; commenced with the Singapore Open Spaces department. Locally partnershipsintroduce a staff exchange programme and links were developed with Westminster Council, Islington and Kew Gardensin 2005/06. as well as an archival/local history project being undertaken which will develop links

with Victoria Park and Battersea Park.

12 Launch, with the Foundation, a On track: A curator has been appointed and we sought sponsorship for a launchhigh-profile public art initiative in the in June 2005.parks in Spring 2005.

13 Increase self-generated income Near miss: We narrowly missed the target of £6.6m with income of £6.5m being(excluding grants) to £6.6m. achieved. Although this is just short of the target, it represents a 22.6% increase on

the previous year.

14 Reduce dependence on Hyde Park On track: Income from other Parks increased by approximately £73k in 2004/05.events by increasing income from events in other parks by £200k by 2005/06.

15 Obtain IIP status. Postponed: A new competency framework and a skills audit for staff have beendeveloped during the course of the year. A fully revised HR strategy will be developedduring the autumn of 2005 and will include a revised timetable for achieving IIP status.

Qua

lity

targ

ets

Perfo

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Pla

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y ta

rget

s (c

ontin

ued) 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-5

Soft landscape presentation

Target 89%:Target no less than 89%:Target no less than 89%:Target no less than 85%85% for each Park 85% for each Park 85% for each Park

Outturn 89%: Actual scores ranged 90%: Actual scores ranged Actual scores ranged Bushy and Green parks achievedfrom 84% to 91% from 87% to 91% from 88% to 91% an average of score of 88%.

All parks averaged 91%.

Overall quality of Parks

Target 89%:Target no less than 89%:Target no less than 89%:Target no less than Each Park to score at least 85%85% for each Park 85% for each Park 85% for each Park

Outturn 85%: Actual scores ranged 86%: Actual scores ranged 84%: Actual scores ranged 94%: Actual scores ranged fromfrom 79% to 90% from 80% to 89% from 84% to 97% 93% to 95%. See notes below.

Cleanliness in the Parks

Target 89%:Target no less than 89%:Target no less than Each Park to score at Each Park to score at least 85%85% for each Park 85% for each Park least 85%

Outturn 85%: Actual scores ranged 88%: Actual scores ranged 86%: Actual scores ranged 80%: Actual scores ranged fromfrom 79% to 88% from 81% to 91% from 81% to 92% 70% to 87%. See notes below.

38 The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05

Key

Tar

get

Prog

ress

Upk

eep

of t

he p

ark

Tidi

ness

and

cle

anlin

essExcellent Good Total

Green Park 28% 53% 81%

St James’s Park 21% 57% 78%

Bushy Park 27% 54% 81%

Greenwich 26% 56% 82%

Excellent Good Total

Green Park 23% 57% 80%

St James’s Park 19% 51% 70%

Bushy Park 21% 62% 83%

Greenwich 24% 63% 87%

Notes

Following the National Audit Office (NAO) report on The Royal Parks’visitor research programme, we have reviewed the processes by whichwe benchmark the Parks. A much more detailed set of Key PerformanceIndicators has been developed, along with a scoring regime that is easierfor people to understand.

Visitors were asked to rate the Parks excellent, good, satisfactory,poor or very poor.The percentage figures above give the number ofpeople rating the Parks either excellent or good.

Another key NAO recommendation was to undertake research in fourParks per annum, to allow a more in-depth analysis in each Park.Wehave adopted this methodology and have included results for the firstfour Parks surveyed in this new manner.

The Key Action Areas the visitor research highlighted were as follows:

Greenwich Park

■ Quality and number of toilets■ Quality of catering■ Staff friendliness

The Green Park■ Quality and number of toilets■ Information features

Bushy Park■ Quality and number of toilets■ Quality of catering

St James Park■ Quality and number of toilets■ Quality of catering

All figures in £'s

Salaries 1,986,529 265,007 206,284 108,532 0 313,336 134,513 266,025 173,882 2,923,472 78,431 6,456,011

Works 2,044,862 1,232,936 984,220 433,014 63,993 793,095 483,114 751,253 772,186 13,198 2,020 7,573,891Maintenance

Grounds 23,624 1,432,647 1,414,172 995,128 219,494 1,720,780 784,921 796,767 581,874 - - 7,969,407Maintenance& horticulture

Other Costs 4,340,301 378,639 279,513 224,858 12,286 504,709 167,148 253,311 112,852 5,783,418 98,737 12,155,772

Total 8,395,316 3,309,229 2,884,189 1,761,532 295,773 3,331,920 1,569,696 2,067,356 1,640,794 8,720,088 179,188 34,155,081Expenditure

Event Fees -4,500 -1,325,007 -120,018 -32,096 0 -121,845 -69,086 -13,338 -405 0 0 -1,686,295

Other Fees 0 -69,470 -62,111 -8,257 -153,158 -44,097 -22,323 -18,439 -2,141 0 0 -379,996& Permits

Licences -175,709 -304,361 -157,493 -25,345 -14,335 -132,023 -17,325 -426,050 -160,024 0 0 -1,412,665& rents

Catering 0 -517,717 -532,744 -66,551 0 -234,767 -57,392 -11,764 -12,229 0 0 -1,433,164concession

Other 0 -360,236 0 0 0 -618,400 -151,970 0 0 0 0 -1,130,606concessions

Other -884,502 -175,826 -142,376 -55,802 -745 -78,569 -13,761 -74,840 -21,758 -4,706 0 -1,452,885Income

Total -1,064,711 -2,752,617 -1,014,742 -188,051 -168,238 -1,229,701 -331,857 -544,431 -196,557 -4,706 0 -7,495,611Income

Net Total 7,330,605 556,612 1,869,447 1,573,481 127,535 2,102,219 1,237,839 1,522,925 1,444,237 8,715,382 179,188 26,659,470

Ana

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5 To manage The Royal Parks efficiently and effectively, particularly by improving its financial base and developing partnerships across the public, voluntaryand private sectors.

4 To raise the profile of The Royal Parks,increase understanding of the role and value of The Royal Parks to London andthe nation and consolidate our role nationally and internationally at the forefront of park management.

3 To develop policies and initiatives to encourage wider access by priority groups and explore how to bring non-users into the Parks.

2 To protect, conserve and enhance the natural and historic environment of The Royal Parks.

1 To improve the quality and range of services for visitors to, and users of,the Parks.

■ Increase self-generated income (excluding grants) from £6.6 million to £7 million by 2005/6.

■ Reduce dependence on Hyde Park events by increasing income from events in other Parks by £200k by 2005/06.

■ Obtain liP status during 2004/5. Note: refer to page 38.

■ To develop existing links with Central Park in New York and partnerships with twoother urban Parks and to introduce staff exchange programme in 2005/6.

■ To launch, with the Foundation, a high-profile public art initiative in the Parks in Spring 2005.

■ Non-user research conducted in 2004/5.

■ All parks to develop a community engagement strategy by 31 March 2006.

■ Each Park to score at least 85% each year for soft landscaping, as assessed by an independent horticultural expert.

■ All Parks to gain Green Flag status by the end of 2006/7.

■ Maintain ISO 14001 status throughout the planning period.

■ Increase numbers benefiting from our educational activities by 10% each year.

■ Each Park to score at least 85% for quality and cleanliness, as assessed by visitor satisfaction surveys.

■ New visitor survey and metrics in all Parks in 2006.

■ Achievement of targets in policing plan.

The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05 41

Fina

ncia

l tar

gets 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05

Increase income

Target £4.941m (increase of £5.435m (increase of Increase self-generated income Increase self-generated income by10% on the 2001-02 level 10% on the 2002-03 level by £1.1million to £7million by £1.1million to £7million by 2005/06from all sources from all sources 2005/06 (=29% of DCMS grant) (=29% of DCMS grant) Interimexcept recharges and except recharges and target £5.6 millionVAT refunds) VAT refunds)

Outturn £4.8m £5.5m £5.3m £5.3m

Bush

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The coming year promises to be asexciting as this one.The restoration ofGreenwich Park’s Baroque landscape willcontinue and we will start to see theresults of the extensive review of groundsmaintenance and other services (theOptions Review).We will also be refiningthe Parks management plan and relatedprocesses.With the appointment of ourArboricultural Officer, tree managementwill be a particular focus.

The Serpentine boat house in Hyde Parkwill be replaced with a stunning newbuilding, giving The Royal Parks its firstcustom-built visitor information point andretail outlet as well as providing animproved base for the boating operation.We are also confident of securing Stage IIfunding from the Heritage Lottery Fundfor the Bushy Park Restoration Project.A key element of our bid is a Welcomecentre incorporating a catering outlet,toilets, education/community room andsome retail space – facilities long overduein Bushy Park.

We will re-let the contract to re-developand run the new sports facility to replacethe existing golf and tennis school in TheRegent’s Park.We will also re-let the golfcourse in Richmond Park. Catering hashad a particularly good year in 2004/5and we will look to make the most ofthese exciting new opportunities.

Work on access and engagement will alsocontinue, both as part of the Bushy ParkRestoration Project and more widely.A greatly enhanced Living Historyprogramme in Greenwich is sure to bepopular, as are new family activity days inBushy and Hyde Parks.We’ll also beproducing community engagement plansfor Greenwich, St James’s and Hyde Parksand will begin to work on the creation ofa working Royal Parks Archive.

As more people learn about the superbnew sports facilities in Regent’s Park, ‘TheHub’ and pitches will become even morepopular. Our programme of activities willdevelop, with activities suitable for peopleof all ages and backgrounds.

Perhaps the most unique feature of theParks is that they are whatever you wantthem to be – sporty, peaceful, vibrant,restful. And that will be as true this yearas every year.

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42 The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05

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Foreword to the accounts 44

Statement on internal control 46

Statement of The Royal Parks’ and Chief Executive’s responsibilities 47

The certificate and report of the Comptroller and Auditor General to The House of Commons 47

Net expenditure account 48

Statement of total recognised gains and losses 48

Balance sheet 49

Cash flow statement 49

Notes to the accounts 50

Accounts directionThe accounts have been prepared undera direction issued by HM Treasury inaccordance with section 7(2) of theGovernment Resources and AccountsAct 2000.

History of The Royal ParksOn 1st April 1993,The Royal Parks wasestablished as an Executive Agency of theDepartment of National Heritage, nowthe Department for Culture, Media andSport (DCMS) and is fully accountable toParliament through the Secretary of Statefor Culture, Media and Sport (currentlyTessa Jowell) who sets the Agency’s policyframework and key performance targetsand determines its level of resourceseach year.

Statutory backgroundThere are nine Royal Parks in London –St James’s, Green, Hyde, Regent’s,Greenwich, Richmond, Bushy andHampton Court Parks and KensingtonGardens – managed by the Secretary ofState for Culture, Media and Sport onbehalf of the Queen.The Royal Parksform part of the hereditary lands ownedby the Sovereign in right of the Crown.Various monarchs enclosed the Parksduring the fourteenth to seventeenthcenturies, primarily for hunting or asparkland gardens. By virtue of the 1851Crown Lands Act the Crown transferredthe duties and the Parks to theCommission of Works and Buildings and The Royal Parks are now theresponsibility of the DCMS.The RoyalParks has responsibility for all London’sRoyal Parks except Hampton Court Park,which is the responsibility of the HistoricRoyal Palaces.

The Royal Parks is also responsible formanaging and policing BromptonCemetery,Victoria Tower Gardens andGrosvenor Square Gardens andmaintaining nos. 10, 11 and 12 DowningStreet Gardens, Canning Green, StMargaret’s Church Green, Poets’ Greenand the Longford River (except inHampton Court Home Park).The RoyalParks Constabulary (RPC) also policesAbingdon Street Gardens, HamptonCourt Park and Hampton Court Green.

Aims and objectivesThe Royal Parks aims and objectives arenoted on page 41.

ResultsThe Agency is funded via the DCMSSupply Estimate, Request for Resource 1.

Review of activitiesThe Chief Executive’s Statement on page3 and the review of the year on pages 5to 35 of the Report, look over activitiesfor the year ended 31 March 2005.Details of the financial targets set for TheRoyal Parks by the Secretary of State andthe achievement against those targets areat Note 19 to the Accounts. Details ofother performance targets andachievements are noted on pages 37 to40 of the Report.

2004-2005 Net ExpenditureThe difference between Net Expenditurein 2004-05 and 2003-04 is accounted formainly as a result of increased funding tocover one-off costs of £1.15m incurredby the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)in setting up co-policing of The RoyalParks, with effect from 1 April 2004.Thechange in policing has resulted in lowerstaff costs but higher programme costs asThe Royal Parks pays MPS for the service(see Notes 3 and 4 for more details).

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ts Fixed assetsDuring 2004-05 the Diana Princess ofWales Fountain was completed andexpenditure of £4.291m included in thecost of buildings in Note 7 to theAccounts.The addition to Assets underconstruction in 2004-05 relates to TheHub (a new sports Pavilion) in Regent’sPark. (See Note 7 to the Accounts formore details).

Future developmentsThese are outlined in ‘The Year Ahead’ onpage 42 of the Report. Further details offuture developments and plans are containedin The Royal Parks Corporate Plan.

PensionsDetails of pension arrangements are atnotes 3.1 and 3.3.

Management BoardTwo non-executive Directors, AndrewFenwick representing The Royal ParksFoundation (also Chairman of The RoyalParks Audit Committee) and Apurv Bagrirepresenting The Royal Parks AdvisoryBoard, were appointed with effect from2003-04.The non-executives receive noremuneration for their role.The namesand roles of the executive ManagementBoard members are shown in Note 3.3to the Accounts.The latter are paidemployees of The Royal Parks, appointedunder Civil Service Management Codeconditions and all Parks and sections arerepresented on the Board, which meetsat least once a month.

Royal Parks Advisory BoardThe names of the Advisory Boardmembers are noted on page 36 of theReport.The Royal Parks does not payfees to the Advisory Board members.

Equal opportunities/disabledpersons policyThe Royal Parks’ policy is that 'all eligiblepersons shall have an equal opportunityfor employment and advancement withinthe Agency on the basis of their ability,performance and aptitude for the work.There shall be no discrimination on thegrounds of an individual's nationality, sex,race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, sexualorientation, marital status or disability'.

Consultation with employeesThe Royal Parks considers it veryimportant that employees understand theoperations, aims and objectives of theAgency.The Management Board holds itsmonthly meetings at the various Parklocations and has an open forum for halfan hour to provide staff with anopportunity to raise issues with theBoard.The Chief Executive visits all Parklocations on a regular basis. All staff cansee the Framework Document andCorporate Plan.

Information Technology and Health andSafety newsletters are produced, toadvise staff of developments and bestpractice in these areas. Staff areencouraged to contribute articles forthese publications.

Creditor payment policy The Agency aims to settle all validinvoices within 30 days of receipt (asspecified in the CBI code). During 2004-05 the Agency paid 95.1 per cent ofinvoices within this timescale. (2003-0496.3 per cent).

Register of interestsRoyal Parks maintains a Register ofInterests for the Advisory Board andNon-Executive Directors of theManagement Board, which is madeavailable on request.

AuditorThe accounts are audited by theComptroller and Auditor General inaccordance with The GovernmentResources and Accounts Act 2000.

Mark Camley, Chief Executive12 July 2005

The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05 45

I certify that I have audited the financial statements on pages 50 and51 under the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000.Thesefinancial statements have been prepared under the historical costconvention as modified by the revaluation of certain fixed assets andthe accounting policies set out on pages 50 and 51.

Respective responsibilities of the Agency, the Chief Executive and AuditorAs described on page 47, the Agency and Chief Executive areresponsible for the preparation of the financial statements inaccordance with the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000and Treasury directions made thereunder and for ensuring theregularity of financial transactions.The Agency and Chief Executiveare also responsible for the preparation of the other contents of theAnnual Report. My responsibilities, as independent auditor, areestablished by statute and guided by the Auditing Practices Boardand the auditing profession's ethical guidance.

I report my opinion as to whether the financial statements give atrue and fair view and are properly prepared in accordance with theGovernment Resources and Accounts Act 2000 and Treasurydirections made thereunder and whether in all material respects theexpenditure and income have been applied to the purposesintended by Parliament and the financial transactions conform to theauthorities which govern them. I also report if, in my opinion, theForeword is not consistent with the financial statements, if theAgency has not kept proper accounting records, or if I have notreceived all the information and explanations I require for my audit.

I read the other information contained in the Annual Report andconsider whether it is consistent with the audited financialstatements. I consider the implications for my certificate if I becomeaware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencieswith the financial statements.

I review whether the statement on page 46 reflects The Royal Parkscompliance with Treasury's guidance on the Statement on InternalControl. I report if it does not meet the requirements specified byTreasury, or if the statement is misleading or inconsistent with otherinformation I am aware of from my audit of the financial statements.I am not required to consider, nor have I considered whether theAccounting Officer's Statement on Internal Control covers all risksand controls. I am also not required to form an opinion on theeffectiveness of the The Royal Parks corporate governanceprocedures or its risk and control procedures.

Basis of audit opinionI conducted my audit in accordance with United Kingdom AuditingStandards issued by the Auditing Practices Board. An audit includesexamination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts,disclosures and regularity of financial transactions included in thefinancial statements. It also includes an assessment of the significantestimates and judgements made by The Royal Parks and ChiefExecutive in the preparation of the financial statements and ofwhether the accounting policies are appropriate to the Agency'scircumstances, consistently applied and adequately disclosed.

I planned and performed my audit so as to obtain all the informationand explanations which I considered necessary in order to provideme with sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that thefinancial statements are free from material misstatement, whethercaused by error, or by fraud or other irregularity and that, in allmaterial respects, the expenditure and income have been applied tothe purposes intended by Parliament and the financial transactionsconform to the authorities which govern them. In forming myopinion I have also evaluated the overall adequacy of thepresentation of information in the financial statements.

OpinionIn my opinion:

■ the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state ofaffairs of The Royal Parks at 31 March 2005 and of the netexpenditure, total recognised gains and losses and cash flows for theyear then ended and have been properly prepared in accordancewith the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 anddirections made thereunder by Treasury; and

■ in all material respects the expenditure and income have beenapplied to the purposes intended by Parliament and the financialtransactions conform to the authorities which govern them.

I have no observations to make on these financial statements.

John Bourn National Audit Office Comptroller 157-197 Buckingham Palace Road and Auditor General Victoria 18 July 2005 London SW1W 9SP

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Scope of responsibilityAs Accounting Officer for The Royal Parks, I have responsibility formaintaining a sound system of internal control that supports theachievement of DCMS and The Royal Parks’ policies, aims andobjectives, whilst safeguarding the public funds and departmentalassets for which I am personally responsible, in accordance with theresponsibilities assigned to me in Government Accounting.

I am responsible to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media andSport and accountable to Parliament for The Royal Parks' operationsand performance.The Royal Parks is managed by a ManagementBoard, which I chair. All Directors in the senior management teamare on the Board, which also has two non-executive members.

The purpose of the system of internal controlThe system of internal control is designed to manage risk to areasonable level rather than to eliminate all risk of failure to achievepolicies, aims and objectives; it can therefore only provide reasonableand not absolute assurance of effectiveness.The system of internalcontrol is based on an ongoing process designed to identify andprioritise the risks to the achievement of Departmental and TheRoyal Parks policies, aims and objectives, to evaluate the likelihood ofthose risks being realised and the impact should they be realised andto manage them efficiently, effectively and economically.The systemof internal control has been in place in The Royal Parks for the yearended 31 March 2005 and up to the date of approval of the annualreport and accounts and accords with Treasury guidance.

Capacity to handle riskThe Management Board approves The Royal Parks risk managementpolicy, which clearly states that responsibility for adequate riskmanagement arrangements rests with the Management Board andmyself. All ‘business units’ (i.e. parks and HQ sections) are required toproduce and monitor risk registers as part of the annual businessplanning process.

We continue to review and improve our risk managementprocedures and in December 2004 a senior management workshoptook place to review and revise our high-level risk register.This hassince been considered and discussed, together with a revised overallrisk management policy, at both Management Board and at AuditCommittee meetings.

The risk and control frameworkAll risk management activity is aligned to the corporate aims,objectives and priorities as outlined above. For 2004-05 these werethe five Corporate Plan objectives and connected key targets, whichin turn reflected DCMS's PSA objectives and targets. Risk analysisforms part of the strategic planning, business planning andinvestment/project appraisal procedures. Managers and staff at alllevels have a responsibility to identify, evaluate and manage risks andare equipped to do so through risk training and relevant guidance.

Based on an analysis of these risks, a strategic risk register isproduced showing the risks, their impact and likelihood, the namesof the risk owners, the countermeasures and proposedcountermeasures and the status of the risk.This is monitoredquarterly by the Management Board.

Review of effectivenessAs Accounting Officer, I have responsibility for reviewing theeffectiveness of the system of internal control. My review of theeffectiveness of the system of internal control is informed by thework of the internal auditors and the executive managers within TheRoyal Parks who have responsibility for the development andmaintenance of the internal control framework and comments madeby the external auditors in their management letter and otherreports. I have been advised on the implications of the result of myreview of the effectiveness of the system of internal control by theBoard and the Audit Committee and a plan to address weaknessesand ensure continuous improvement of the system is in place.

The Royal Parks has an internal audit function, which operates toGovernment Internal Audit Standards.They submit regular reportsto the Audit Committee, including a report from the Head ofInternal Audit giving an independent opinion on the adequacy andeffectiveness of The Royal Parks' system of internal control togetherwith recommendations for improvement.

The Audit Committee meetings, which are chaired by a non-executive Management Board member, include reports on theeffectiveness of the internal control system.

Performance against Corporate Plan targets is measured andreviewed quarterly by the Management Board. In addition, I haveregular meetings with each Director to review progress in theirareas against their business plan targets.

Mark Camley, Chief Executive12 July 2005

Under Section 7(2) of the Government Resources and Accounts Act2000, HM Treasury has directed The Royal Parks to prepare astatement of accounts for each financial year in the form and on thebasis set out in the Resource Accounting Manual.The accounts areprepared on an accruals basis and must give a true and fair view ofthe organisation's state of affairs at the year-end and of its incomeand expenditure, recognised gains and losses and cash flows for thefinancial year.

In preparing the accounts the organisation is required to:

■ Observe the accounts direction issued by the Treasury, includingthe relevant accounting and disclosure requirements and applysuitable accounting policies on a consistent basis;

■ Make judgements and estimates on a reasonable basis;

■ State whether applicable accounting standards have been followedand disclose and explain any material departures in the financialstatements;

■ Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis, unlessit is inappropriate to presume that The Royal Parks will continue inoperation.

The Accounting Officer for the Department for Culture, Media andSport has designated the Chief Executive of The Royal Parks as theAccounting Officer for the Agency. His relevant responsibilities asAccounting Officer, including responsibility for the propriety andregularity of the public finances and for keeping the proper records,are set out in the Accounting Officers' Memorandum, issued by theTreasury and published in Government Accounting.

Mark Camley, Chief Executive 12 July 2005

46 The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05

2004-05 2003-04Continuing Continuingoperations operations

Note £000 £000

Expenditure

Staff costs 3 6,456 8,883Depreciation 7 1,374 1,314Notional charges 5 1,242 1,095Programme costs 4 25,083 21,149

Gross expenditure 34,155 32,441

Less income 6 7,496 7,020

Net expenditure 15 26,659 25,421

(Representing the net departmental cost of The Royal Parks)

2004-05 2003-04Note £000 £000

Unrealised surplus/(loss) on the revaluation of fixed assets 13 2,973 1,375

Receipt of donated assets 7 1,997 -

Total recognised gains and losses for the financial year 4,970 1,375

The notes on pages 50 to 60 form an integral part of these accounts.

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2004-05 2003-04Note £000 £000

Fixed assetsTangible fixed assets 7 40,739 34,495

Current assetsDebtors 8 2,751 3,565

Current liabilitiesCreditors due within one year 10 (4,792) (4,716)Cash at bank and in hand 9 (3) (7)

(4,795) (4,723)

Net current liabilities (2,044) (1,158)

Total assets 38,695 33,337

Taxpayers’ equity:Revaluation reserve 13 8,467 5,852Donated asset reserve 14 2,480 494General fund 15 27,748 26,991

38,695 33,337

The notes on pages 50 to 60 form an integral part of these accounts.

Mark Camley, Chief Executive 12 July 2005

2004-05 2003-04Note £000 £000

Net cash flow from operating activities (23,145) (23,096)

Net parliamentary funding received 15 25,802 28,089

Capital expenditure and financial investmentPurchase of tangible fixed assets (4,658) (5,110)Income for donated asset 7 1,997Proceeds of disposal of fixed assets 8 122

4 5Analysis of changes in cash balances Increase in cash held 9 4 5

Reconciliation of operating cash flow to net expenditureNet expenditure for the year (26,659) (25,421)Depreciation 7 1,374 1,314Loss on disposal of assets 7 5 65Notional charges 5 1,242 1,095Early retirement costs 5 14 14Decrease in stocks - 24Decrease/(increase) in debtors 814 (966)Increase in creditors 76 789Notional Income 6 (11) (10)

Net cash outflow from operations (23,145) (23,096)

The notes on pages 50 to 60 form an integral part of these accounts.

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j DerivativesFRS 13, Derivatives and other financial instruments, requires an entityto disclose details of various risks that they are exposed to inrespect of financial derivatives.The FRS exempts disclosures inrespect of short-term debtors and creditors.

The majority of funding for The Royal Parks comes from a grantfrom DCMS. In 2004-05 net funding of £26,669,925 was receivedfrom DCMS. £7,485,157 was generated from operations. Given that78 per cent of income is from a DCMS grant the Parks are notsubject to a material liquidity risk. (Comparable figures for 2003-04were £25,431,962, £7,009,470 and 78 per cent).

The Royal Parks does not hold a cash balance other than petty cash.Its bank balances are cleared every week to DCMS. It does not haveany finance leases or loans and as a result it is not subject to interestrate risk.The Royal Parks has no dealings with foreign currency andis not subject to currency fluctuation risk.

2. Related party transactionsThe Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is regardedas a related party. During the year The Royal Parks had materialtransactions with the Department as disclosed in these accounts(see Note 15). In addition,The Royal Parks received grants fromActive England, Sport England, Football Foundation and NationalHeritage Memorial Lottery Fund and income for services providedto Historic Royal Palaces, entities for which DCMS is regarded asparent.There were no material transactions with other entities forwhich DCMS is regarded as parent neither has the Agency hadmaterial transactions with other Government Departments andother central government bodies.

The Royal Parks Foundation is regarded as a related party andduring the year The Royal Parks received £200,178 from theFoundation, of which £4,578 related to the Grosvenor SquareMemorial Garden.The Royal Parks incurred expenditure directlyrelating to activities of The Foundation, totalling £179,188, includingsalary costs for two members of staff seconded to The Foundation.

None of the board members, key managerial staff or other relatedparties has undertaken any material transactions with The RoyalParks during the year.

3. Staff numbers and related costs3.1 Staff costs for the year were as follows:

2004-2005 2003-2004£000 £000

Wages and salaries 5,341 7,364

Social Security costs 440 627

Other pension costs 660 875

Early retirement costs (see Notes 5 and 12) 15 17

Total 6,456 8,883

The Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme (PCSPS) is an unfundedmulti-employer defined benefit scheme, but The Royal Parks isunable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities.The Scheme Actuary valued the scheme as at 31 March 2003.Youcan find details in the resource accounts of the Cabinet Office: CivilSuperannuation (www.civilservice-pensions.gov.uk).

For 2004-05, employers' contributions of £660,013 were payable tothe PCSPS (2003-04 £869,207) at one of four rates in the range 12to 18.5 per cent of pensionable pay, based on salary bands.TheScheme Actuary reviews employer contributions every four yearsfollowing a full scheme valuation. From 2005-06, the salary bands willbe revised and the rates will be a range of between 16.2 and 24.6per cent.The contribution rates reflect benefits, as they accrue, notthe costs as they are actually incurred and reflect past experience ofthe scheme.

Employees can opt to open a partnership pension account, astakeholder pension with an employer contribution. Employers'contributions of £9,993 were paid to one or more of a panel ofthree appointed stakeholders pension providers. Employercontributions are age-related and range from 3 to 12.5 per cent ofpensionable pay. Employers also match employee contributions up to3 per cent of pensionable pay. In addition, employer contributions of£526, 0.8 per cent, were payable to the PCSPS to cover the cost ofthe future provision of lump sum benefits on death in service and illhealth retirement of these employees.

Contributions due to partnership pension providers at the balancesheet date were £513. Contributions prepaid at that date were nil.

No person (2003-04: 1 person) retired early on ill-health grounds;the total additional accrued pension liabilities in the year amountedto nil (2003-04: £2,080).

3.2 The monthly average number of staff (full timeequivalents) employed by The Royal Parks duringthe year was:

2004-2005 2003-2004£000 £000

General management and administration (HQ and Parks) 70 71

Park management (including Wildlife Officers) 27 26

Royal Parks Constabulary 63 140

Total 160 237

During 2004-05 a total of 103 Royal Parks Constabulary (RPC)officers and civilians transferred to the Metropolitan Police Service(MPS), which has been co-policing the The Royal Parks since 1 April2004.The Serious Organised Crime and Policing (SOCAP) Act hasbeen passed which includes provisions to formally transfer policingof the Parks to MPS and facilitate the abolition of the RPC.

Two Royal Parks staff were seconded to The Royal Parks Foundationwith effect from 16 July 2004 and the costs are borne by The RoyalParks.

1. Statement of accounting policiesThe financial statements have been prepared in accordance with theResource Accounting Manual issued by HM Treasury.The particularaccounting policies adopted by The Royal Parks are described below.They have been applied consistently in dealing with items consideredmaterial in relation to the accounts.

a Basis of AccountingThe accounts are prepared under the historic cost conventionmodified to account for the revaluation of fixed assets and stockswhere material, at their value to the business by reference to theircurrent costs.

b Fixed AssetsMost of the The Royal Parks land and historic/heritage assets otherthan buildings are given nil value. Expenditure on assets, whichbecame an integral part of the land, is written off in the year ofexpenditure. However, buildings, the legal title of which remains withthe Sovereign, are treated as owned by The Royal Parks and areincluded in fixed assets. Lodges within the Parks that are used asdwelling places are valued based on terms of occupation. SpecialisedPark Buildings are valued using the ‘depreciated replacement cost’method whilst other Park buildings are valued at 'open market valuefor existing use'.

Some of The Royal Parks properties were acquired subsequent tothe 1851 Act and are held in the name of the Secretary of State.These properties are included in the Accounts at their ‘open marketvalue for existing use’.

In 1994, when The Royal Parks properties were first valued foraccounting purposes, residential properties were valued withreference to market rents. All of the properties were subject to afurther physical revaluation between 1996 and 2001 and in theintervening years the values were indexed using the Halifax GroupHouse Price Indices. Other property valuations were updatedannually using advice from a professional valuer and were all subjectto a physical revaluation between 1996 and 2001.

In 2002, as part of the rolling 5-year programme for revaluation ofbuildings, the base for valuation was reconsidered. In line with theResource Accounting Manual it was agreed that the values should bethe lower of replacement cost and recoverable amount, which forThe Royal Parks is the value in use based on actual rents, rather thanmarket rents. A number of the properties were subject to physicalrevaluation and the results were extrapolated to adjust the values ofthe other dwellings.This resulted in significant reductions in both theGross Current Replacement Cost £21.748m (84.7 per cent) andNet Current Replacement Cost £18.619m (82.7 per cent). Otherproperties were also subject to physical revaluation for 2002 andthe results extrapolated to adjust the values of those not physicallyrevalued, resulting in an increase of £11.886m in GCRC and anincrease of £4.523m in NCRC.

In 2003 and 2004, a total of 41 per cent of properties by value weresubject to physical revaluation. In addition, dwellings were revaluedon the basis of actual rents receivable and properties physicallyrevalued in 2002 and subsequent years were revalued by a factoradvised by the valuers.The net result of this was an increase inGCRC of £4.004m and a decrease in NCRC of £6.430m, which wasaccounted for directly through the Revaluation Reserve.

In 2005, 9 per cent of properties by value were subject to physicalrevaluation. In addition, dwellings were revalued on the basis ofactual rents receivable and properties physically revalued between2001-02 and 2003-04 were revalued by a factor advised by thevaluers.The net result of this was an increase in GCRC of £9.673mand a decrease in NCRC of £6.733m, which has been accounted fordirectly through the Revaluation Reserve.

Assets in the course of construction are included in the balancesheet at their cost to the The Royal Parks.

Plant and machinery and fixtures, fittings, tools and equipment arevalued at current replacement cost.

The minimum level for capitalisation as an individual or groupedfixed asset is £2,000.

c Donated Assets (included those funded by Lottery Grants)Assets donated by third parties, either by gift of the asset or by wayof funds to buy the asset are capitalised at current value on receipt.Donated assets are revalued, depreciated and subject to impairmentin the same way as other assets. Revaluations are taken to thedonated asset reserve. Each year, an amount equal to thedepreciation charge on the asset and any impairment is releasedfrom the donated asset reserve to the Net Expenditure Account.

d DepreciationDepreciation is provided on all fixed assets, other than freehold land,at rates calculated to write-off the cost or valuation, to theestimated residual value, of each asset on a straight line method overits estimated useful life. Lives are normally as follows:

■ Buildings including dwellings: up to 100 years■ Plant and machinery: 5 to 10 years■ Fixtures, Fittings,Tools and Equipment: 3 to 20 years.

e LeasesWhere The Royal Parks grants an operating lease on a property it isvalued taking in consideration the terms of the lease and anydilapidations. Reference is made to the lease in Note 7 to theAccounts.

f StocksThe Royal Parks holds stocks of items, mainly its own publications,which are predominately, used as promotional material, although alimited number are sold. All the stock is valued at nil given thelimited number of sales.

g IncomeAll income is shown net of value added tax.

Residential, Commercial and Utility licence fees are accounted for asincome in the period when they are due for payment rather thanbeing allocated over the whole period to which they relate.

All other income is accounted for in the period(s) to which itrelates.

h Pension CostsPension benefits are provided by the Principal Civil Service Pensionarrangements.The rate of the employer's contribution is determinedby the Government Actuary and advised by the Treasury andcontributions are charged to the Net Expenditure Account.

i Early departure costsThe Royal Parks is required to meet the additional cost of benefitsbeyond the normal Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme benefitsin respect of employees who retire early.The agency provides in fullfor this cost when the early retirement programme has beenannounced and is binding on the agency.

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b) Pension benefits

Real increase Accrued Pension CETV at CETV at Real increase Employeein Pension at age 60 at 31/3/04 31/3/05 in CETV contributions

and related 31/3/05 and andlump sum at related transfers in

age 60 lump sum

£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000

William Weston 0-2.5: lump 0-5.0: lump 57 73 12 0-2.5Chief Executive sum 0-2.5 sum 10–15(to 31 January 2005)

Bernadette Kenny 0-2.5: lump 25-30: lump 417 422 3 0-2.5Interim Chief Executive sum 0-2.5 sum 85-90(from 24 January 2005)

Derek Pollock 0-2.5:lump 15-20: lump 279 279 0 0-2.5RPC Chief Officer sum 0-2.5 sum 55–60(to 26 July 2004)

Mike Fitt 0-2.5: lump 20-25: lump 385 418 16 0-2.5Director of Parks sum 2.5-5.0 sum 70–75

Sandra Smith 0.0-2.5 20-25 235 262 11 0-2.5Director of Resources (to 13 February 2005)

Anne Moore 0-2.5: lump 10-15: lump 116 119 2 0-2.5Director of Resources sum 0-2.5 sum 30–35and Business Planning(from 14 February 2005)

Simon Betts 0-2.5: lump 0-5: lump 73 87 10 0-2.5Director of Estates sum 0-2.5 sum 10–15

Sara Lom 0-2.5: lump 0-5: lump 28 31 3 0-2.5Director of Public Affairs sum 0-2.5 sum 10–15(to 15 July 2004)

Greg McErlean 0.0-2.5 0-5.0 0 3 2 0-2.5Director of Major Projects (from 6 December 2004)

Andy McLellan 0-2.5: lump 20-25: lump 327 360 12 0-2.5Director of Policy and sum 0-2.5 sum 65-70 Chief Operating Officer

3.3 Salary and pension entitlements

The following sections provide details of the remuneration and pension interests of the Chief Executive andManagement Board members of The Royal Parks.

a) Remuneration

2004-05 2003-04

Salary £000 Salary £000

William Weston 115-120 (full year equivalent 75-80)* 70-75Chief Executive (to 31 January 2005)

Bernadette Kenny 15-20 (full year equivalent 95-100) N/AInterim Chief Executive (from 24 January 2005)

Derek Pollock 15-20 (full year equivalent 55-60) 50-55RPC Chief Officer (to 26 July 2004)

Mike Fitt 55-60 50-55Director of Parks

Sandra Smith 45-50 (full year equivalent 50-55) 50-55Director of Resources (to 13 February 2005)

Anne Moore 0-5 (full year equivalent 50-55) N/ADirector of Resources and Business Planning (from 14 February 2005)

Simon Betts 45-50 45-50Director of Estates

Sara Lom 15-20 (full year equivalent 55-60) 55-60Director of Public Affairs(to 15 July 2004)

Alison Dickens N/A 20-25 (full yearDirector of Major Projects equivalent 50-55)(to 15 August 2003)

Greg McErlean 15-20 (full year equivalent 55-60) N/ADirector of Major Projects (from 6 December 2004)

Andy McLellan Director of Policy and 70-75 65-70Chief Operating Officer

*The Chief Executive received a compensation payment when he left office.

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Benefits in kindNone of the above staff received benefits in kind.

52 The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05

Civil Service pensions Pension benefits are provided through the CSP arrangements. From1 October 2002, civil servants may be in one of three statutorybased 'final salary' defined benefit schemes (classic, premium andclassic plus).The Schemes are unfunded with the cost of benefitsmet by monies voted by Parliament each year. Pensions payableunder classic, premium and classic plus are increased annually in linewith changes in the Retail Prices Index. New entrants after 1 October 2002 may choose between membership of premium orjoining a good quality 'money purchase' stakeholder arrangementwith a significant employer contribution (partnership pensionaccount).

Employee contributions are set at the rate of 1.5% of pensionableearnings for classic and 3.5% for premium and classic plus. Benefits inclassic accrue at the rate of 1/80th of pensionable salary for eachyear of service. In addition, a lump sum equivalent to three years'pension is payable on retirement. For premium, benefits accrue atthe rate of 1/60th of final pensionable earnings for each year ofservice. Unlike classic, there is no automatic lump sum (butmembers may give up (commute) some of their pension to providea lump sum). Classic plus is essentially a variation of premium, butwith benefits in respect of service before 1 October 2002 calculatedbroadly as per classic.

The partnership pension account is a stakeholder pensionarrangement.The employer makes a basic contribution of between3% and 12.5% (depending on the age of the member) into astakeholder pension product chosen by the employee.The employeedoes not have to contribute but where they do make contributions,the employer will match these up to a limit of 3% of pensionablesalary (in addition to the employer's basic contribution). Employersalso contribute a further 0.8% of pensionable salary to cover thecost of centrally provided risk benefit cover (death in service and illhealth retirement).

Further details about the CSP arrangements can be found at thewebsite www.civilservice-pensions.gov.uk

Columns 4 and 5 of the above table show the member's cashequivalent transfer value (CETV) accrued at the beginning and theend of the reporting period. Column 6 reflects the increase in CETVeffectively funded by the employer. It takes account of the increase inaccrued pension due to inflation, contributions paid by the employee(including the value of any benefits transferred from another pensionscheme or arrangement) and uses common market valuation factorsfor the start and end of the period.

A Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV) is the actuarially assessedcapitalised value of the pension scheme benefits accrued by amember at a particular point in time.The benefits valued are themember's accrued benefits and any contingent spouse's pensionpayable from the scheme. A CETV is a payment made by a pensionscheme or arrangement to secure pension benefits in anotherpension scheme or arrangement when the member leaves a schemeand chooses to transfer the benefits accrued in their former scheme.The pension figures shown relate to the benefits that the individualhas accrued as a consequence of their total membership of thepension scheme, not just their service in a senior capacity to whichdisclosure applies.The CETV figures and from 2004-05 the otherpension details, include the value of any pension benefit in anotherscheme or arrangement which the individual has transferred to theCSP arrangements and for which the CS Vote has received a transferpayment commensurate to the additional pension liabilities beingassumed.They also include any additional pension benefit accrued tothe member as a result of their purchasing additional years ofpension service in the scheme at their own cost. CETVs arecalculated within the guidelines and framework prescribed by theInstitute and Faculty of Actuaries.

c) Royal Parks Advisory BoardThe Royal Parks does not make payments to Advisory Boardmembers. However, any claims made by the Board are borne by theDepartment for Culture, Media and Sport.

4. Programme costs

Parks RPC 2004-05 Parks RPC 2003-04Total Total

£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000

Consultancies 625 8 633 567 48 615

Telecommunications 108 67 175 167 58 225

Works maintenance 7,561 13 7,574 7,733 5 7,738

Grounds Maintenance 6,495 - 6,495 6,113 - 6,113

Nursery 1,020 - 1,020 936 - 936

Trees 312 - 312 372 - 372

Training 62 1 63 24 117 141

Vehicle hire 122 114 236 117 154 271

Cleaning contracts 835 87 922 798 70 868

Entertainments 124 - 124 147 - 147

Utilities 544 19 563 646 24 670

Service contracts 441 261 702 543 379 922

Metropolitan Police Service (i) - 5,041 5,041 - - -

Other 1,108 115 1,223 1,376 441 1,817

Landscape development - - - 314 - 314

Total 19,357 5,726 25,083 19,853 1,296 21,149

(i) Since the introduction of co-policing of the Parks on 1 April 2004, charges have been made by the MPS for the service, which accounts forlower expenditure on other headings for the RPC and overall salaries (Note 3.1).

5. Cost of capital and other notional charges

2004-05 2003-04£000 £000

The following notional expenditure items have been included in the Accounts:

Interest charges (i) 1,206 1,059

Audit fee (ii) 36 36

Total 1,242 1,095

Centrally funded early departure costs (iii) 14 17

(i) A charge, reflecting the cost of capital utilised by the Agency, is included in operating costs.The charge is calculated atthe Government's standard rate of 3.5 per cent in real terms on all assets, except donated assets, less liabilities.

(ii) A notional charge has been made for the amount advised by the National Audit Office.

(iii) Payments met in cash terms by the Civil Superannuation Vote.These notional costs have been included as EarlyRetirement Costs in Note 3.1.

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The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05 55

Land and buildings are valued in accordance with the accountingpolicy described at Note 1b. Mills & Wood, Surveyors and Valuersundertook the professional valuation of property for 2004-05.

Depreciation has not been charged on freehold land, which is statedat its 1999 valuation of £20,000 plus £3,000 for land purchased in1999-2000.

Freehold buildings with an opening valuation of £833,696, in yearrevaluation of £44,000, opening depreciation of £337,655, in yeardepreciation of £14,329 and revaluation depreciation of £32,000 areincluded in the above table.The net book value of these buildingswas £496,041 at 31 March 2004 and £493,712 at 31 March 2005.

The transfer from Assets under Construction to Buildings relates toprior year's costs of building the Diana, Princess of Wales MemorialFountain, which was completed in July 2004. Assets underconstruction as at 31 March 2005 represent the costs relating to TheHub (a new Pavilion) in Regent's Park, which is being funded byLottery bodies and donations via The Royal Parks Foundation. As at31 March 2005 £1,997,241 had been raised and has beenaccounted for through the donated asset reserve account.

The Royal Parks has a 99-year lease on Pembroke Lodge inRichmond Park of which 86 years remained unexpired at 31 March2005.The property is included in land and buildings at a value of£770,000.

7. Fixed assets

Land and Dwellings Plant and Fixtures, fittings Assets in the TotalBuildings Machinery tools and course of

equipment Construction£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000

Cost/ Valuation

At 1 April 2004 43,862 4,263 359 5,927 3,256 57,667

Transfer 2,975 - - - (2,975) -

Additions 1,316 - 32 185 3,125 4,658

Disposals - - (80) (11) - (91)

Revaluation 9,271 402 4 70 - 9,747

At 31 March 2005 57,424 4,665 315 6,171 3,406 71,981

Depreciation

At 1 April 2004 18,355 886 314 3,617 - 23,172

Charged in year 914 104 22 334 - 1,374

Disposals - - (67) (11) - (78)

Revaluation 6,617 116 3 38 - 6,774

At 31 March 2005 25,886 1,106 272 3,978 - 31,242

Net book value

At 31 March 2005 31,538 3,559 43 2,193 3,406 40,739

At 31 March 2004 25,507 3,377 45 2,310 3,256 34,495

6. Income

2004-05 2003-04£000 £000

From Operations:Concessions:Catering 1,432 1,096Carparking 966 860Other 165 200

Licences and rents 1,409 1,015

Fees from events 1,686 1,482

Other fees and permits 380 393

Lottery and other grants 629 1,330

Fundraising 9 -

Services 91 80

Royal Parks Constabulary 5 14

Other 713 540

Total 7,485 7,010

Notional Income

Depreciation on donated asset (transfer from donated asset reserve) 11 10

Grand Total 7,496 7,020

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56 The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05

8. Debtors

2004-05 2003-04£000 £000

Trade debtors 779 1,214

Other central government departments (Lottery debtors) 790 -

Local authorities (Metropolitan Police) 55 -

Other 116 688

Value Added Tax 889 1,638

Prepayments - 25

Total 2,629 3,565

9. Cash at bank and in hand

2004-05 2003-04£000 £000

Opening balance (7) (12)

Movement during the year 4 5

Closing balance (3) (7)

10. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

2004-05 2003-04£000 £000

Trade creditors 1,985 1,973

Accruals 2,566 2,307

Other taxation and social security 116 191

Deferred income 125 245

Total 4,792 4,716

11. Leases and hire purchase obligations

2004-05 2003-04£000 £000

Operating lease rentals for vehicles and equipment due within next year :

Leases expiring within one year 42 31

Leases expiring within two to five years 37 186

Total 79 217

During 2005-06 some leases will be terminated early as a result of RPC officers transferring to the Metropolitan PoliceService. However as the timing for the transfer is uncertain, a full year's obligations are recorded.

12. Provision for early retirement costs

2004-05 2003-04£000 £000

Balance at 1 April - 3

Decrease in provision - (1)

Payable within one year - (2)

Balance 31 March - 0

13. Revaluation reserve

2004-05 2003-04Unrealised Unrealised

£000 £000

Balance at 1 April 5,852 4,775

Arising on revaluation during the year (net) 2,973 1,375

Transferred to General Reserve in respect of realised element of revaluation reserve (358) (298)

Balance 31 March 8,467 5,852

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14. Donated asset reserve

2004-05 2003-04£000 £000

Balance at 1 April 494 504

Additions in year 1,997 -

Depreciation charged in year (11) (10)

Balance 31 March 2,480 494

15. General fund

2004-05 2003-04£000 £000

Balance at 1 April 26,991 22,913

Add:Funding from DCMS 25,802 28,089

Notional and non-cash charges and income 1,256 1,112

Transfer from revaluation reserve 358 298

54,407 52,412

Less:Net expenditure for the year (26,659) (25,421)

Balance 31 March 27,748 26,991

16. Post balance sheet eventsThere is no material post balance sheet event required to adjust theaccounts or to be disclosed.

17. Capital commitmentsThe Royal Parks had £1,047,836 of contracted capital commitmentsas at 31 March 2005 and £393,386 as at 31 March 2004. In thiscontext capital commitments relates to items which become fixedassets.

18. Contingent liabilitiesThe Royal Parks has a number of outstanding claims forcompensation for personal injury, the outcomes of which areuncertain.

19. Key corporate financial target The Royal Parks achieved £6.5 million of income compared with atarget of £6.6 million, overall income was up 22.6 per centcompared with £5.3 million in 2003-04.Whilst catering showed anincrease of 31 per cent to £1.4 million, car parking concessionincome rose only 12 per cent to £1.0 million.The income target isbased on an adjusted figure shown in the accounts and thusamounts are not directly comparable.

Supporters of The Royal Parks

Regent’s Park Sports ProjectAbbeyAdidasAerial Camera SystemsThe Big Lottery FundCapital Kids CricketThe Charles Dunstone Charitable TrustThe Football AssociationThe Football FoundationLondon Marathon Charitable TrustThe Lord’s TavernersMarylebone Cricket ClubNike (UK) LtdThe Hon. Akash & The Hon. Mrs Nisha PaulSport EnglandSportsmatchWestminster City CouncilThe Weston Family

Bushy Park Restoration ProjectHeritage Lottery FundBirkbeck Garden History GroupThe British Land CompanyBucknall AustinFarrer & CoFenwick LimitedForster CompanyGeoffrey Osborne LtdMandarin Oriental Hyde Park HotelNorth East Essex Decorative& Fine Arts SocietyS McConnell & Sons LtdThe Weston Family

OthersB.A.BCentral London PartnershipDaily Mail & General TrustEC Soft IceThe Forster CompanyFriends of The Royal ParksGreenwich School of ManagementHyde Park AppealNestle UK LtdPark CaféThe Prince of Wales’Royal Parks Tree AppealThe Prince’s TrustReed ElsevierRichmond Park Charitable TrustService TeamTango Al FrescoTetley Special TeasWaitrose

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60 The Royal Parks Annual Report & Accounts 04-05

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