ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses local authority and partnership delivery of countryside services rather than aspects undertaken independently by NGOs or other bodies. Many local authorities carried out countryside management services similar to the core functions identified first by the Countryside Commission and then the Countryside Agency. From the post-downturn 2013 survey, as previously noted in 2006, staffing structures and numbers and type of staff employed varied across local authorities. The 2013 review confirmed the findings of the 2006 study in noting that, of local authority types. County Councils predominated in delivering countryside services. Champions, both individuals and organisations, are important in developing and delivering countryside services. Additional to the core functions, the 2006 discussion Forum raised other important influences: With the Countryside Agency definitions, the surveys demonstrated the wide gamut of local authority delivery of countryside management, and a breadth of variation in the countryside management services functions.
