Finance & Delivery Committee - November 2020

This document contains the agenda for the Cairngorms National Park Authority's Finance & Delivery Committee meeting on 13 November 2020, from 2pm to 3.30pm. The meeting will be held via video conferencing. Agenda items include welcoming attendees, approving minutes from previous meetings, discussing finance monitoring (7 months to 31 October 2020) and the Committee Training Specification. There is also an information item on the Green Recovery Fund. A confidential item will be discussed in a confidential session, regarding the Cairngorms Peatland Programme. The next meeting is scheduled for 26 February 2021.

This document contains a summary review of income and expenditure for the Cairngorms National Park Authority (Park Authority) for the seven months ending 31 October 2020. Prepared by the finance manager and director of corporate services, the report reviews the budget position and considers potential budget reallocations. The Finance and Delivery Committee is asked to note the financial outturn and consider the financial analysis, cost pressures and potential resource reallocations. The report also covers core activities, the operational plan, and externally funded projects like LEADER, the Tomintoul & Glenlivet Landscape Partnership, Great Place Badenoch and the Caper Framework. While salaries and board fees are on budget, core and operational plan expenditure is behind budget due to the impact of COVID-19. The report highlights additional COVID-19 related costs and notes that the finance department has operated remotely. The accounts for the year ending 31 March 2020 have been signed off by the auditor. The board agreed a reallocation of resources of £40,000 in June 2020 to offer support to the Tomintoul and Glenlivet Dark Skies Observatory project. No specific recommendations are made for consideration of budget reallocations are put forward at this time.

This document contains the Cairngorms National Park Authority's core statement of net expenditure as of 31 October 2021, for the year ended 31 March 2021. It shows the original budget, revised budget, budget for the seven months to 31 October 2020, actual figures to 31 October 2020, and the variance between the actual and revised budget to date. The total net resource spend was £5,143,000, with grant-in-aid of £5,079,000 and a net expenditure position to Board of £64,000.

This document contains an update on the Green Recovery Fund, which was created as part of the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) Green Recovery Plan in June 2020. The fund, totaling £130,000 from the CNPA and The Cairngorms Trust, was used as a grant scheme guided by principles of green solutions, well-being, economic growth, employment, and long-term aims for the National Park. A panel assessed 27 applications and selected 13 projects, with Cairngorms Trust staff administering the grants and assigning officers to each project, and next steps include developing stories and website content about the projects, and a review of lessons learned from the fund to inform future programs.

This document contains a list of successful applicants for the Cairngorms Green Recovery Fund in 2020. The list includes the names of the organizations that applied, the project names they submitted, and the amount of funding they received. Projects range from litter picking to woodland connectivity and supporting creative enterprise.