Resources Committee - October 2024

This document contains the agenda for the Resources Committee meeting of the Cairngorms National Park Authority on 4 October 2024 at 10am. The meeting will be held online. Agenda items include welcome and apologies, approval of minutes from the previous meeting, discussion of the 2024/25 budget update, and confidential discussions regarding staff and board member pay awards for 2024/25. The next meeting is scheduled for 24 January 2025.

This document contains the draft minutes from the Cairngorms National Park Authority Resources Committee meeting held on 9 August 2024. The meeting covered several topics, including budget monitoring for the 2024/25 financial year, an equal pay audit, and a review of the Park Authority's values and culture. Discussions included financial changes from the Scottish Government, staff pay, and ways to encourage women into senior positions. The committee also reviewed health and safety matters and minutes from the Staff Consultative Forum. Action points were identified, such as updating the committee on budget matters and clarifying the applicability of values and principles to both staff and board members, and the next meeting is scheduled for 1 November 2024.

This document contains the Cairngorms National Park Authority's budget monitoring report for the Resources Committee, dated 4 October 2024, covering the budget position at the end of August, which is month five of the 2024/25 financial year. The report asks the Committee to consider the budget management position and provides an overview of expenditure against the planned budget. Overall, the report projects a balanced budget for the year, although there are budget changes that have been made to cover the loss of £300,000 from the Nature Restoration Fund. While the payroll budget is currently underspent, the annual pay award is still to be finalised. There are identified risks around payroll expenditure and peatland restoration.

This document contains a summary of expenditure against the profiled budget for the year ending 31 March 2025, with actual figures compared to the budget as of 31 August 2024. It details annual budgets, budget adjustments, revised budgets, phased budgets to 31 August 2024, actual figures at 31 August 2024, and the variance (under or over) compared to the phased budget, along with a percentage forecast. The expenditures are broken down into categories such as board fees, staff costs, project costs, running costs, and operational plan items, providing an overview of the Cairngorms National Park Authority's financial performance against its planned budget.

This document contains a log of budget changes for the year ending 31 March 2025, presented to the Resources Committee on 4 October 2024 by the Cairngorms National Park Authority. It details adjustments to various budget lines, including staff costs, running costs, and operational plans, with a total expenditure of £13,247,047. These adjustments involve extending an intern's contract, reallocating funds for nature restoration, and transferring legal fees and software costs between different budget categories. A total of £300,000 has been reallocated to fill the Nature Restoration funding gap, and these adjustments do not create any material change to the overall budget for the year.

This document contains a projected operational plan outturn for the year ending 4 October 2024 for the Cairngorms National Park Authority, and notes that forecasts for the coming three quarters indicate delivery of operational plan expenditure within the revised budget. It highlights that £238,000 of the peatland restoration budget remains unallocated, but recent discussions suggest a positive upturn in projects led by land managers, potentially reducing the forecast underspend. Remaining finance may be needed to offset cost increases in committed projects.

This document contains the minutes from the Cairngorms National Park Authority's Resources Committee meeting held online on 4 October 2024. The meeting covered several topics, including updates on peatland restoration grants, a review of the 2024/25 budget, and discussions regarding potential funding cuts from the Scottish Government (SG). The committee also addressed action items from previous meetings, such as providing board members with access to policies and updating the committee on budget matters. The next meeting is scheduled for 24 January 2025.