Organisational form and functions
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Comments
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| Parliamentary commissioner:
Conducts inquiries and
reports findings to Parliament. |
Could improve accountability of existing institutional
arrangements; unlikely to have any direct impact. Not within the scope of
“Parliamentary Commissioners” as presently understood (they do not have
regulatory, operational or funding roles, and do not have stakeholder or
local representation).
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| Access ombudsman:
Investigates complaints and
reports outcomes. |
Could improve accountability of existing institutional
arrangements; unlikely to have any direct impact. Not within the scope of
“Ombudsmen” as presently understood (they do not have a regulatory or
funding role, and do not have local representation).
|
| Access trust: Depends on trust deed, but could hold
land for access purposes and negotiate and hold other interests in land,
such as access easements. |
Requires legislation to carry out statutory functions such
as those in the Walkways Act, as this requires powers conferred by statute.
Requires the co-operation of stakeholders to be effective.A trust could be set up by stakeholders without the need for legislation,
and be a vehicle for negotiating new access and holding public access rights
on behalf of stakeholders.
Effectiveness may be limited without statutory backing or powers, as with
Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust. The Landcare Trust is an example
of a trust that works well without statutory backing.
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Queen Elizabeth the Second National Trust:
Facilitates the establishment of open space covenants over private land;
acquires and holds open space land.
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Superficially appealing and has landholder support, but
institutionally focused on conservation values rather than access. Pubic
access provision in the Queen Elizabeth the Second statute is almost always
negated in covenants. The Queen Elizabeth the Second National
Trust website states that private property rights are not jeopardised by a
covenant – the landholder retains ownership and management of the land.
Visitor access is available only with the landholder’s prior permission.
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Statutory organisation:
Carries out functions
specified in statute. These functions could include those of the former
Walkways Commission, suitably modified. |
A statutory organisation would have the characteristics
identified by the Panel. It could be responsible for the Walkways Act. Could be criticised as “yet another quango”; effectiveness depends on design
details and quality of appointees. |
