Executive summary

This progress report provides information on the delivery of the Peak District National Park Authority Plan (Decile 5: 1st April 2025 – 31st September 2025).

This is an overview of the Authority’ progress for the first half of Year 3, at the end of Q2.

This decile has seen the Authority settling in to new ways of working after our recent organisational changes, while we still face uncertainty around our future budget. Modelling for FY26/27 has forecast budgetary deficits under all scenarios, therefore potential organisational changes, on which staff have been consulted, have been modelled. We have also continued to focus on external funding and income generation, which has been aided by additional capital funding from Defra, resulting in income tracking ahead of budget for Decile 5. Budgetary constraints additionally present a challenge to working with our partner constituent authorities, for example difficulties we have experienced in securing funding from constituent Highways Authorities to maintain rights of way.

Despite these challenges, I’m pleased to report that at this mid-year point we are on track to meeting the majority of our enabling delivery aims, with notable achievements across all objectives. Significant improvements in the effectiveness of our monitoring and enforcement work have resulted from the successful recruitment of a Senior Monitoring and Enforcement Officer, and ongoing hard work by the team to clear an enquires backlog. Updates to our Risk Policy continue to be developed, informed by our recent Internal Audit on risk management which received the highest outcome of Substantial Assurance. The transformation of visitor centres and cycle hire, resulting from the previous decile’s organisational changes, are performing well.

Challenges remain in delivering on our Assets and Access objectives. Planned asset enhancement projects remain delayed due to significant gaps in staff resource, including the Warslow Moors Estate Plan which has been on hold since Year 2 of this Authority Plan. Climate change is also presenting a risk to our delivery, including the delivery of our statutory duty to maintain rights of way, which becomes increasingly challenging as extreme weather events increase in frequency and shifting visitor behaviour alters patterns of use.

We will continue to overcome these and other challenges by exploring opportunities to bring in additional resources, to ensure that we maintain our role in delivering the vital benefits of the National Park which millions enjoy. As we move into the second half of Year 3 of our Authority Plan, I am confident that we will continue to succeed in our delivery thanks to the exceptional work of our teams across the Authority.

Phil Mulligan Chief Executive