The Royal Parks is an organisation within the UK Government that manages the eight Royal Parks

Royal Parks of London

The Royal Parks of London are lands originally owned by the monarchy of the United Kingdom for the recreation of the royal family...

 and certain other areas of garden and parkland in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

They are an executive agency

Executive agency

An executive agency, also known as a next-step agency, is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate in order to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly or Northern Ireland...

 of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is a department of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for culture and sport in England, and some aspects of the media throughout the whole UK, such as broadcasting and internet....

. The Chief Executive of the agency is Mark Camley, appointed in 2005.

Role

Management and conservation of the 1976 hectares of Royal Parks are the agency's primary focus. They run programmes of activities and events to encourage outdoor recreation and public access to these areas. They also allow third parties to run such activities within the grounds to further these objectives, but commercial activity is tightly controlled.

They also regulate filming, audio recording and the taking of photographs in these areas for anything other than personal use through the issuing of licences. They also issue news permits to the media for the specific purpose of covering breaking news

Breaking news

Breaking news, also known as a special report or news bulletin, is a current event that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming and/or current news in order to report its details. Many times, breaking news is used after the news network has already reported on this story...

 items relating to the Parks. Holders of the licences and permits are required to comply with the following pieces of legislation.

• The Royal Parks and Other Open Spaces Regulations 1997
• Royal Parks and Other Open Spaces (Amendment) Regulations 2004

As well as the eight Royal Parks, the agency manages Brompton Cemetery

Brompton Cemetery

Brompton Cemetery is located near Earl's Court in South West London, England . It is managed by The Royal Parks and is one of the Magnificent Seven...

, Grosvenor Square Gardens

Grosvenor Square

Grosvenor Square is a large garden square in the exclusive Mayfair district of London, England. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from their surname, "Grosvenor".-History:...

 and the gardens of 10

10 Downing Street

10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is now always the Prime Minister....

, 11

11 Downing Street

11 Downing Street , is the official residence of the Second Lord of the Treasury in Britain, who in modern times has always been the Chancellor of the Exchequer...

 and 12 Downing Street

12 Downing Street

12 Downing Street is the official residence of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury. This is the post held by the Chief Whip of the governing party of the UK Parliament....

.

GreenFleet Awards 2005

In September 2005, The Royal Parks were awarded the EST Best Practice (Public Sector) Award at the GreenFleet Awards . The awards recognise achievements in green fuels and alternative transport technologies. The agency negotiated a contract for the installation of LPG

Liquified petroleum gas

Liquefied petroleum gas is a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles. It is increasingly used as an aerosol propellant and a refrigerant, replacing chlorofluorocarbons in an effort to reduce damage to the ozone layer...

 fuel bunkers and the supply of fuel in four of the parks under its remit. Each new contract awarded by The Royal Parks requires the contractor to use green fuel.

Mayoral control

In 2010 Mayor of London

Mayor of London

The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...

 Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson

Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is a British journalist and Conservative Party politician, who has been the elected Mayor of London since 2008...

 proposed that control over the Royal Parks should be devolved to the Greater London Authority

Greater London Authority

The Greater London Authority is the top-tier administrative body for Greater London, England. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of London, currently Boris Johnson, and an elected 25-member London Assembly with scrutiny powers...

 and the government put forward proposals for that to happen later on that year. The plan was welcomed by Royal Parks but it may not be implemented until after the 2012 London Olympic games.

External links

• The Royal Parks - the agency's official web site
• James Purnell - Royal Parks Refuses Hansom Cab Access