Finance and spending

Where our money comes from

The majority of the Authority’s funding is provided by Central Government; more specifically the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) as the National Park Grant. In addition to this, income is earned from a variety of other sources.

There are four main areas of income which help to fund the Authority’s activities.

Defra:
- Core revenue grant to help support our delivery which in 25/26 will be £4.0m.
- Core capital grant to help support additional £1.5m.
External funding both as direct award, for example Farming in Protected Landscapes funding from DEFRA, and through applications to bodies such as the National Lottery. The Authority has a target of spending £2.5m in 26/27 via this funding.
Earned income is generated from the Authorities assets, such as car parks, retail at the visitor centres and investment returns on cash balances. This is budgeted at £2.0m in 26/27.
We also receive income from S106 agreements. This is compensation and mitigation payments to help offset the negative impacts of authorised major development within the park. The Woodsmith and Boulby mines will make £4.2m of payments to the Authority in 26/27.

Financial planning and budgeting

The Authority prepares a Medium Term Financial Strategy; the basis of this is included in the Business Plan. These forecasts are reviewed annually by management. The Authority approves a balanced start budget in advance of the start of the financial year which, wherever practical, provides indicative budgets for the following two years. The Finance Risk Audit and Standards Committee receives quarterly updates on budgetary performance and adjustments to the budget within the year.

Chief Financial Officer (s151 Officer/Treasurer)

Section 151 of the Local Government Act 1972 requires that the Authority makes arrangements for the proper administration of its financial affairs and must appoint a Chief Financial Officer who must be a Member of one of the recognised accountancy bodies. The s151 Officer is also responsible for ensuring that there are adequate provisions for the internal audit of systems which is currently undertaken by Veritau Ltd.

With effect from 1 April 2020, the Authority has appointed Peter Williams as the s151 Officer.

Contact:

The Old Vicarage, Bondgate, Helmsley, York YO62 5BP

Statutory accounting and reporting

Our accounts are prepared in line with appropriate accounting standards and practices and have a reporting period from 1 April to 31 March in the following year.

Publication of audited Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025

The external audit of the Statement of Accounts for North York Moors National Park Authority for the financial year ending 31 March 2025 was officially completed on 7 January 2026, as per the notices and audit completion report below. The completed audited accounts, including a disclaimed audit opinion, were published on 27 January 2026. Copies of the audited accounts are also available below.

Please note that these have been published in accordance with the Accounts and Audit (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (SI 2024/907), which came into force on 30 September 2024 and which changed the deadline by which audited local authority accounts must be published. The statutory instrument states that for the financial year 2024-25, an authority must publish its accountability statements on or before 27 February 2026.

North York Moors National Park Authority Statement of Accounts 2024-25 (PDF)

Notice of Completion 2024 to 2025 (PDF)

Auditors Annual Report 2024 to 2025 (PDF)