The National Park Authority is governed by 18 members through 3 Committees which meet regularly – they are
• The meeting of the National Park Authority
• the Planning and Rights of Way Committee
• and the Audit and Scrutiny Committee
All staff (also known as Officers) in the Authority are ultimately answerable to the Members but day to day they work within one of three Directorates; Countryside and Land Management directorate, Planning directorate and the Chief Executive directorate.
Papers which go to any of the Members Committees are produced by individual staff. To ensure that appropriate information is taken to Members to enable them to make decisions staff first bring papers to the Corporate Management Team (CMT).
Corporate Management Team – CMT.
CMT is the key internal management body within the Authority; it has 7 permanent officers, plus a rotating post which is a development opportunity for middle managers. An officer takes the minutes – this is usually the PA to the Chief Executive.
CMT has a full meeting once a month, the agenda for this meeting and the minutes of the one before are available for all staff to see (apart from exempt items which usually concern issues of a personal nature to an individual or a financial matter, or are commercially or legally sensitive.
CMT also meet briefly each week to deal with any matters which need attention in between the full meetings. Any decisions taken at these meetings are included in the minutes of the formal monthly CMT.
CMT is broadly democratic in its debates – individuals who sit on it have the opportunity to speak and have their opinions taken account of on any subject regardless of the particular interest of their post. If any member of CMT has a personal interest in an item they will declare their interest and usually leave or not take part in the discussions. Papers/subjects are introduced either by individuals or by the relevant Director, a paper coming in from a directorate is required to have the support of the Director and they will usually speak to support it.
Following the Corporate restructure in 2008 individuals with permanent positions on CMT are required to take on extra responsibilities and projects as a result of their involvement.
Composition of CMT
The following sit on CMT permanently:
• the Chief Executive Officer
• Director Planning
• Director Countryside and Land Management,
• Democratic Services Manager
• Communications Manager
Also permanently seconded onto CMT because of the experience and skills which the current post holders bring are
• Human Resources Manager and
• IT and Systems Manager
There is also a position on on CMT which is open to the staff in the Joint Management Team (ie middle management of the Authority) as a personal development opportunity to enable them to better understand and take part in managing the organisation but also to enable CMT to benefit from their contribution. Individuals take this post in rotation attending the monthly meetings for three months.
Roles and Responsibilities
The role of the Corporate Management Team is to advise and support the Chief Executive to:
• Provide leadership, vision and strategic direction
• Develop strategic policies to fulfil the Authority’s objectives
• Define corporate culture and promote core values
• Ensure the Authority meets its statutory obligations and exercises sound corporate governance and effective resource management
• Ensure the performance of the Authority is managed effectively
The Chief Executive Officer and the two Directors are ultimately accountable for the decisions taken in, and the performance of, the Directorates for which they have responsibility as well as the Authority as a whole. The other members of CMT are appointed by the Chief Executive for their involvement in decision making and their roles in management of the organisation. There is currently no financial remuneration attached to these responsibilities and individuals are paid at the grade of their existing posts. The following extra responsibilities have been taken on by the individuals as a result of their involvement on CMT:
Democratic Services Manager:
• Reporting to Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) on the Authority’s performance against the strategic grant letter
• Reviewing regulatory documents including standing orders & scheme of delegation
• Preparation of and compliance with the Corporate Business Cycle
• Preparation of the Annual Governance Statement
• Monitoring of progress against WAO action plans
• Delivery of scrutiny function
Communications Manager:
• Reporting to the Welsh Audit Officer (WAO) on the Authority’s improvement objectives
• Producing the annual report and improvement plan
• CMT sponsor for Welsh Language
Human Resources Manager
• Corporate responsibility for Health and Safety including chairing Health and Safety Committee
• Accommodation responsibility at HQ
• Chairing JMT
ITManager
• Overseeing performance improvement and reporting including the Ffynnon database
• Systems development and Process engineering throughout the Authority
• Risk monitoring and reporting
• Information governance including producing the disaster recovery plan
• CMT sponsor for Sustainable Development
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