In June 2001 the Department (then DETR), the LGA, Shell Better Britain Campaign and the GLA jointly published a ‘Growing in the Community: A Good Practice Guide for the Management of Allotments' for local authorities—a free copy was circulated to all local authorities. The aim of the guide was to raise standards in the provision, management and care of allotments and the guide has a section on public liability insurance. The guide recommends that local authorities obtain further advice on public liability from representative bodies such as the National Society of Allotments and Leisure Gardeners who provide free legal advice to members.
The guide is currently being updated by the LGA in consultation with the Department and will be published later this year.
More general advice on health and safety on allotments is available in ‘Allotments: A Plot Holders Guide' which was published by the Department in June 2007, and in the Health and Safety facts sheet published by the Allotment Regeneration Initiative.