Welcome back to TurfPro. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everybody a happy and prosperous new year. Let’s hope 2026 brings plenty of change and optimism for all turf professionals.
I am hoping that local authorities finally get some recognition for the management of their parks and public open spaces. As a Green Flag judge myself it was again pleasing to see that a record breaking 2,250 parks and green spaces achieved the Green Flag Award - the international quality mark for parks and green spaces – last year, with successful submissions from local authorities and other land managers across the country for a range of sites, from world-famous city parks to small, local green spaces.
It was also pleasing that 2025 saw several people recognised for their tireless work in achieving Green Flag status with the announcement of the The Best of the Best Awards - the complete list of which you can read here.
Commenting on the results, Green Flag Award manager Paul Todd MBE said, “Parks and green spaces provide crucial benefits to people, pets and wildlife, including space to exercise, socialise, and improve mental and physical wellbeing - and they continue to play a part in helping us mitigate and adapt to some of the effects of our changing climate.
“We know that our Green Flag Award winning sites would not have achieved these high standards without the hard work of staff, volunteers and other groups around the UK who look after them.
"It’s only right that we continue to recognise the tireless work by the thousands of parks staff and volunteers to make their parks and green spaces safe and healthy places everyone can benefit from. We’d like to congratulate all of our worthy Best of the Best winners on their achievements.”
Despite these words and the general acknowledgement of all the social good that parks achieve, I have heard that there likely to be some further austerity measures for local authorities this year.
Via the annual surveys of local authority parks services on apse.org.uk I read that a substantial majority of local councils are expecting cuts to parks budgets, with many forecasting at least a 5% reduction and some more than 15%, even as demand for parks increases. These budget pressures are leading to reduced maintenance levels and growing amounts of unmanaged land within parks and green spaces.
More can be read about that via the GOV.UK site on the Provisional local government finance settlement 2026 to 2027.
There will be a review of budgets for local authorities for 2026-27.
The Local Government Finance Settlement (‘the Settlement’) is the annual process through which central government allocates funding to local government for the provision of local services in England. The Settlement consists of allocative grant funding, council tax and locally retained business rates.
The 2026-27 Settlement will be the first multi-year Settlement in a decade, running from 2026-27 to 2028-29. Alongside this consultation, we will be setting out provisional allocations for all 3 years of the multi-year Settlement. We will consult as required on the Settlement in 2026-27 and in each subsequent year. Final allocations for 2027-28 and 2028-29 will be confirmed in their respective years.
However, I personally doubt whether any new financial settlements will make much difference to the hardships facing many parks professionals in the coming years.
Little will change until government recognises the real value parks and public open spaces bring to communities in terms of health and wellbeing. I believe we need a decision to be finally made to make our parks a statutory service.
In the meantime, applications for the Green Flag Awards 2026 are now open - with 2026 marking their 30th anniversary. You can get your applications in until 5pm on 2nd February 2026. Contact - Green Flag Award
