For Decision

Title: Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity – Cor­por­ate Plan 2023 — 2027

Pre­pared by: Grant Moir, CEO

Pur­pose

1. This paper presents the Cor­por­ate Plan for 2023 – 2027. The Cor­por­ate Plan has been developed in the con­text of the Min­is­teri­al approved Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan 2022 – 2027.
2. It con­tains the stra­tegic pri­or­it­ies for the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Author­ity with the annu­al detail con­tained with­in the oper­a­tion­al plan for the Park Authority.

Recom­mend­a­tion

The Board is asked to:

a) Approve the CNPA Cor­por­ate Plan for 2023 — 2027 for sub­mis­sion to Scot­tish Government.

Stra­tegic context

1. Scotland’s Nation­al Parks have four aims set out by the Scot­tish Parliament.

   a) To con­serve and enhance the nat­ur­al and cul­tur­al her­it­age of the area; b) To pro­mote sus­tain­able use of the nat­ur­al resources of the area; c) To pro­mote under­stand­ing and enjoy­ment (includ­ing enjoy­ment in the form of recre­ation) of the spe­cial qual­it­ies of the area by the pub­lic; d) To pro­mote sus­tain­able eco­nom­ic and social devel­op­ment of the area’s communities.

2. The pur­pose of a Nation­al Park Author­ity is also set out by the Scot­tish Par­lia­ment as being to ensure that the four aims are ​“col­lect­ively achieved in rela­tion to the Nation­al Park in a coordin­ated way”.

3. The Cor­por­ate Plan sets out how the Park Author­ity will help to deliv­er the recently approved Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan and will also con­tin­ue to strive to be ​‘the best small pub­lic body in Scotland’

4. Over­all the Park Author­ity wants to be innov­at­ive, quick to act and empower staff to deliv­er the strategies that are put in place by the Board.

Stra­tegic policy consideration

1. The Cairngorms Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan 2023 – 2027, which was approved by Min­is­ters in August 2022, provides the over­all guide for stra­tegic align­ment between pub­lic agen­cies with­in the Park. This Cor­por­ate Plan peri­od will cov­er up to the end of the cur­rent NPPP and the devel­op­ment of the next one.

2. The Cor­por­ate Plan sets out the con­tri­bu­tion the CNPA will make over the next 4 years to the imple­ment­a­tion of that Plan, using our grant-in-aid from the Scot­tish Gov­ern­ment and oth­er fund­ing sources.

3. Presently the three most sig­ni­fic­ant fund­ing sources in addi­tion to grant-in-aid are NLHF sup­port for Her­it­age Hori­zons, Cairngorms 20230, Peat­land Action fund­ing and Nature Res­tor­a­tion fund­ing. The Park Author­ity will con­tin­ue to seek addi­tion­al fund­ing sources to deliv­er the actions In the Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan.

4. The deliv­ery of both the Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan and the Cor­por­ate Plan will be reli­ant on close part­ner­ship work­ing and using core fund­ing to lever addi­tion­al resources into the Cairngorms.

Fin­ance

1. The fig­ures for ²⁰²³⁄₂₄ set out in the Cor­por­ate Plan are based on the Grant-In-Aid fig­ures from Scot­tish Gov­ern­ment for that year. The fig­ures in the Cor­por­ate Plan for future years are based on inform­a­tion provided in the most recent spend­ing review but are set annu­ally by Scot­tish Gov­ern­ment. Annu­al oper­a­tion­al plans will con­firm the annu­al budget each year and set out the pri­or­it­ies for the spe­cif­ic fin­an­cial year.

Stra­tegic risk management

1. The Stra­tegic Risk Register for the CNPA will be updated to reflect the new Cor­por­ate Plan and will be dis­cussed and agreed by the Audit & Risk Committee.

Suc­cess measures

1. A suite of indic­at­ors are in place for the Nation­al Park Part­ner­ship Plan and will be repor­ted on annu­ally. In addi­tion, the Cor­por­ate Plan sets out the cor­por­ate ser­vice indic­at­ors that will be repor­ted on as well.

Next Steps

1. Sub­ject to Board approv­al the Cor­por­ate Plan will be ​‘designed up’ and will then be sub­mit­ted to the Scot­tish Gov­ern­ment for form­al approval.

Sup­port­ing information

Annex 1 — Draft Cor­por­ate Plan 2023 — 2027