Dartmoor National Park Authority

Members

Who Appoints Members?

The Authority comprises 22 Members.

• Six are appointed by Devon County Council
• Six by the District Councils:

           -   three from West Devon Borough Council

           -   two from Teignbridge District Council

           -  one from South Hams District Council

• The remaining ten Members are Government appointees

            -   Four of these are appointed to represent parish council interests and are nominated by the parish councils on Dartmoor. The nominations are then approved by the Secretary of State.

           -   The other six Members are directly appointed by the Secretary of State to represent the national interest and are persons, usually local, with specialist knowledge of, or a particular interest in, the National Park.

Members are usually appointed for an initial period of up to 4 years, with the option of re-appointment for a period of up to ten years.  The diverse membership helps provide the balance of local and national interests that is essential to the management of a National Park. Advice on how individuals can be nominated for appointment by the Secretary of State is available from Defra (external link, opens new window) or the Chief Executive (National Park Officer).

Who are the Members?

Here is a list of Members. You can contact Members via the National Park Authority headquarters or directly.

What do Members do?

The main task of the Chairman and Members is to ensure the efficient, effective and accountable governance of the Authority and to provide leadership and direction for the organisation as a whole. The primary role of each Member is to work with the Chairman, Chief Executive (National Park Officer) and other Members to discharge the functions of the Authority and to steer and champion the strategic direction of the Authority so that it delivers benefits to the nation and its local communities in accordance with National Park purposes. Here is a more detailed description. (PDF Help 30 Kb )

Register of Member's Interests

The Local Government Act 2000 requires that the Authority establishes and maintains a Register of Interests for all Members and Independent Members. Members are required to register any interests they have which may cause conflict with their role as a Member of the Authority. An interest is any matter such as ownership of land or a company or membership of a group or club which may influence the Member’s judgment.

Members must notify the Authority’s Monitoring Officer of any changes to their interests within 28 days of the change taking place.

‘Declaration of Interest’ is a standing item on every meeting agenda.  This item reminds Members of their responsibility to declare any personal and/or prejudicial interest which they may have in an item of business on the agenda.

Where Members have given their permission, their registered interests are available to view on line in the Register of members' Interests   (PDF help 50 kb).

The complete version of the Register of Member's Interests is available to view at the Authority’s headquarters at Parke, Bovey Tracey during office hours.

Member Allowances

Members of the Authority do not receive a salary for their work on the Authority.  However, they are eligible to receive a small monthly allowance together with reimbursement of travel and other expenses necessarily incurred on Authority business.  The Authority has adopted a scheme of allowances, as required by the Environment Act 1995 and the Local Authorities (Members’ Allowances) (England) Regulations 2003.

The rates payable from 1 April 2009 are:

Member Allowances Rates 1 April 2009 (PDF help 13 kb).

Members Code of Conduct

The Local Government Act 2000 (as amended) requires the Authority to adopt a Code of Conduct (PDF help 32 kb). for Members.  The Code of Conduct aims to ensure that Members are careful to register and declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in business of the Authority, to promote high standards of ethical behaviour and to prevent maladministration.

The Authority adopted the Code of Conduct on 3 August 2007 in accordance with Section 51 of the Local Government Act 2000 and the Local Authorities (Model Code of Conduct) Order 2007.(external website, opens new window)

Further information can be found on the website of Standards for England who are responsible for the Standards Framework for England.

Page updated 1 July 2010