231208PerfCtteePaper1C2030Q423
Cairngorms National Park Authority Performance Committee Paper 1 8 December 2023 Üghdarras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhonaidh Ruaidh Page 1 of 12
For discussion Title: Cairngorms 2030: Q4 2023 Prepared by: David Clyne, Head of Cairngorms 2030 Purpose To update the Cairngorms 2030 Programme Management Group on the risks under management. This paper presents the Q4 2023 update on the Cairngorms 2030 Programme and the planned development work to end March 2024.
Recommendations The Performance Committee is asked to review programme update report and note: a) Development phase and second phase National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) funding application completed on time and within budget. Directory of submission documents in Annex A.
b) Cairngorms 2030 governance procedures were successfully assessed by our Auditors Azets Ltd. Good governance and risk management practice was recognised throughout the programme with recommendations to enhance reporting procedures during the delivery phase.
c) MS Project management training plans underway.
d) Changes to Sustrans funding environment planned for 2024 with Places for Everyone Fund being phased and local authority core funding under consideration. Discussions are ongoing at a senior level with Sustrans and Transport Scotland to ensure the Park Authority receives the same funding designation as local authorities.
e) Project plans and procedures are in place for successful implementation of delivery phase in January 2024.
Cairngorms Performance Committee Paper 1 National Park Authority 8 December 2023 Üghdarras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhonaidh Ruaidh Page 2 of 12
Performance Dashboard: Programme level
Performance Measure | RAG status | Issue/mitigation |
---|---|---|
Programme risk profile | Green | Second phase funding submission submitted on deadline. Programme passed external audit with no additional items to be added to the current risk register. |
Future funding profile | Green | Match funding and letters of support provided as part of submission. Other funding sources required to deliver programme to be secured in 2024 (Transport, Nature Scot, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, LA). |
Finance: impact on Park Authority budget management | Green | No issues |
Procurement | Green | No issues |
Staffing | Green | Internal recruitment to be completed by December 23. External posts recruited by March 24. |
Project execution and NLHF second phase application timescales | Green | Completed. |
Delivery of Sustrans funded projects | Amber | On-going challenge aligning NLHF and Sustrans delivery timescales. Cairngorms National Park Authroity has been notified of structural funding reform from Transport Scotland/Sustrans, which may present core funding opportunity. |
Cairngorms National Park Authority Performance Committee Paper 1 8 December 2023 Üghdarras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhonaidh Ruaidh Page 3 of 12
Performance Overview: Delivery Against Strategic Expectations
NLHF Second phase funding submission
The second phase NLHF Heritage Horizons funding application was submitted to schedule on 17 August 2023.
The directory of submission documents is available in Annex A and SharePoint: [Cairngorms 2030 Submission documents.docx](Cairngorms 2030 Submission documents.docx)
Grant Moir, David Cameron, David Clyne and Olly Davies presented the final programme update to NLHF Scotland on 9 November. The main purpose of the meeting was to brief the NLHF Scotland Chair and UK Committee Member, Ray McFarlane. Ray will then act as our champion at the UK funding committee meeting.
The presentation was well received with constructive discussions on the challenges we faced pulling together such a complex and ambitious bid. We were advised that our monitoring consultants had submitted very supportive evaluations of our bid. The overall outcome is that we now have the full support of the NLHF Scotland Director and Chair.
The NLHF Scotland Chair, Ray McFarlane, thanked everyone for their presentations and ‘looks forward to supporting the bid at the UK Committee funding meeting’.
We expect the NLHF award decision on 13 December with the 5 year delivery phase starting in January 2024. If we are successful, we will draw in £10.7m in lottery funding to Scotland from the UK national fund.
Recruitment
24 NLHF funded posts will help deliver Cairngorms 2030, covering programme wide management and delivery tasks. In total 13 new posts will be created to deliver the programme, across three areas: community engagement, nature based solutions, and transport.
Programme staff recruited in the development phase will have their employment contracts extended for the 5 year delivery phase where those job roles remain unchanged.
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We have taken the unusual decision to open the internal recruitment round even though we do not yet know if the NLHF application has been successful. The reason we are doing this is because it’s a large and significant project, that needs to start quickly (and by no later than April 2024) if we are successful. As such we want to go through the internal round now, so that we can open external recruitment in January for any posts we do not fill through the internal round, with the aspiration of having all posts filled by end March 2024.
The internal recruitment process for the new posts commenced in November with offers of employment made in December (all offers subject to successful NLHF award). The posts are:
• Nature Based Solutions Manager, band E • Community Engagement Officer, band D • Communications Coordinator, band C • Cycling Development Officer, band D • Learning Coordinator (Climate and Community Arts) band C • Research & Knowledge Exchange Officer, band C • Community Climate Grants Officer, band C • Rural Development Admin Assistant, band B • 2 x Community Engagement Coordinators, band C
Final tranche (early January).
• Transport Manager, Band E. • Sustainable Travel Behaviour Change, Officer, Band D • Graduate transport planner, Band C • Transport Intern, band A
- External recruitment will be opened in January 2024.
Communications
- The programme engaged with over 4,000 people across 146 different engagement events during the development phase. Our consultants say it’s one of the most successful consultations ever held in rural Scotland. A resounding success from all involved.
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In preparation for the successful award notification, we are now working with the Communications Team to update the website and create new public facing engagement materials.
NLHF will be leading the UK wide press launch, which is likely to commence in January 2024.
Training
The delivery phase will be co-ordinated using MS Project software. User licences and training is currently being organised.
Bespoke training will be offered according to job role and project complexity.
Other training courses identified during the development phase evaluation such as Facilitation Skills and Procurement Management are also being organised.
Sustrans
- Changes to Sustrans funding environment planned for 2024 with Places for Everyone Fund being phased and local authority core funding under consideration. Discussions are ongoing at a senior level with Sustrans and Transport Scotland to ensure the Park Authority receives the same funding designation as local authorities.
Governance
- Cairngorms 2030 governance procedures were assessed by our Auditors Azets Ltd on 10 October 2023. The key findings were:
• Good practice • The governance and reporting arrangements for the Heritage Horizons Programme are clearly documented within the full programme report, detailing roles and responsibilities of relevant parties. This ensures that updates on individual projects progress are fed into the overall programme reporting. • Heritage Horizons Programme consists of 20 projects. We confirmed that all the individual project plans have been developed, reviewed and were included in the bid submission to National Lottery Heritage Fund in August 2023.
Cairngorms National Park Authority Üghdarras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhonaidh Ruaidh Performance Committee Paper 1 8 December 2023 Page 6 of 12
• Quarterly programme update reports are used to monitor programme progress and risks. There is a clear review approval procedure in place to provide scrutiny of information cascaded.
• Updating project reports to include progress updates on risks, assumptions, issues and dependencies, project spending again budget and Key Performance Indicators. • Developing processes and templates to ensure lessons learned at project level are documented and shared with key internal/external stakeholders throughout the delivery phase.
Areas for improvement, which will be adopted in the delivery phase: We have identified two areas for improvement which, if addressed, would strengthen the Cairngorm National Park Authority’s control framework. These are:
Impact on risk register The Cairngorm National Park Authority corporate risk register (as at January 2023) included the following risks relevant to this review:
Risk A1: Resources- public sector finances constrain capacity to allocate sufficient resources to deliver corporate plan.
We have not identified any issues during the course of our fieldwork which would require an update to the current risk register.
The next C2030 Programme Board meeting is scheduled for late January or early February.
Cash flow: No issues to report.
Procurement: Schedule for delivery phase procurement submitted to NLHF. Staff training on effective procurement management is being planned with external consultants.
Cairngorms National Park Authority Üghdarras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhonaidh Ruaidh Performance Committee Paper 1 8 December 2023 Page 7 of 12
- Programme delivery actions to end March 2024.
Action | When |
---|---|
MS Project training | Oct — Dec 23 |
Internal recruitment | December 2023 |
NLHF Award notice | 13 December 2023 |
20 x Project plans updated on MS Project | 15 December 2023 |
Delivery phase start, NLHF award launch and external recruitment commences | January 2024 |
Significant Programme Change Requests
- None Significant Budget Adjustments
- None
Conclusions: Performance Overview and Matters Meriting Strategic Review
Development phase completed on time and within budget. Significant programme, governance and organisational learning has been documented over the development phase. Directory of submission documents in Annex A.
Internal recruitment and MS Project management training in progress to ensure the team is best prepared for delivery phase commencing in January 2024.
Changes to Sustrans funding environment planned for 2024 with Places for Everyone Fund being phased and local authority core funding under consideration. Discussions are ongoing at a senior level with Sustrans and Transport Scotland to ensure the Park Authority receives the same funding designation as local authorities.
Cairngorms National Park Authority Üghdarras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhonaidh Ruaidh Performance Committee Paper 1 8 December 2023 Page 8 of 12
- Project plans and procedures are in place for successful implementation of delivery phase in January 2024.
David Clyne Head of Cairngorms 2030 davidclyne@cairngorms.co.uk
Cairngorms National Park Authority Üghdarras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhonaidh Ruaidh Performance Committee Paper 1 8 December 2023 Page 9 of 12
Annex A: Cairngorms 2030 Second phase submission documents
Document | SharePoint location |
---|---|
Full programme report | OL-19 – 02745Cairngorms2030FullProgrammeReport.pdf |
Appendix A — Project Briefs
1. Woodland Expansion | [01. Woodland expansion Project brief.pdf](01. Woodland expansion Project brief.pdf) |
2. Peatland Restoration | [02. Peatland restoration Project brief.pdf](02. Peatland restoration Project brief.pdf) |
3. Nature Recovery | [03. Nature recovery Project brief.pdf](03. Nature recovery Project brief.pdf) |
4. Cairngorms Future Farming | [04. Cairngorms future farming Project brief.pdf](04. Cairngorms future farming Project brief.pdf) |
5. Climate Resilient Catchments | [05. Climate resilient catchments Project brief.pdf](05. Climate resilient catchments Project brief.pdf) |
6. Green Finance and Community | [06. Green finance & community wealth building Project brief.pdf](06. Green finance & community wealth building Project brief.pdf) |
7. Wellbeing Economy | [07. Wellbeing economy Project brief.pdf](07. Wellbeing economy Project brief.pdf) |
8. Public Health & the Outdoors | [08. Public health & the outdoors Project brief.pdf](08. Public health & the outdoors Project brief.pdf) |
9. Outdoor Dementia Resource | [09. Outdoor dementia resource centre Project brief.pdf](09. Outdoor dementia resource centre Project brief.pdf) |
10. Landscape & Communities | [10. Landscape and communities Project brief.pdf](10. Landscape and communities Project brief.pdf) |
11. Effective Community Eng | [11. Effective Community Engagement Project brief.pdf](11. Effective Community Engagement Project brief.pdf) |
12. Climate Learning & Education | [12 Climate Learning and Education Project brief.pdf](12 Climate Learning and Education Project brief.pdf) |
13. Climate Conscious Communities | [13. Climate Conscious Communities Project brief.pdf](13. Climate Conscious Communities Project brief.pdf) |
14. Community Arts & Culture | [14. Communities Arts & Culture Project brief.pdf](14. Communities Arts & Culture Project brief.pdf) |
15. Community Managed Climate Grant | [15. Community managed climate grants Project brief.pdf](15. Community managed climate grants Project brief.pdf) |
16. Knowledge Exchange & Research | [16. Knowledge exchange & research Project brief.pdf](16. Knowledge exchange & research Project brief.pdf) |
17. Cycle Friendly Cairngorms | [17 Cycle Friendly Cairngorms Project brief.pdf](17 Cycle Friendly Cairngorms Project brief.pdf) |
18. Active Travel Communities | [18. Active Communities Project brief.pdf](18. Active Communities Project brief.pdf) |
19. Sustainable Travel Project | [19. Sustainable Travel Project brief.pdf](19. Sustainable Travel Project brief.pdf) |
20. Changing Travel Behaviours | [20 Changing Travel Behaviours Project brief.pdf](20 Changing Travel Behaviours Project brief.pdf) |
Cairngorms National Park Authority Üghdarras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhonaidh Ruaidh Performance Committee Paper 1 8 December 2023 Page 10 of 12
Appendix B – Project Action Plans
- Woodland Expansion [01. Woodland expansion Action plan & budget.xlsx](01. Woodland expansion Action plan & budget.xlsx)
- Peatland Restoration [02. Peatland restoration Action plan & budget.xlsx](02. Peatland restoration Action plan & budget.xlsx)
- Nature Recovery [03. Nature recovery Action plan & budget.xlsx](03. Nature recovery Action plan & budget.xlsx)
- Cairngorms Future Farming [04. Cairngorms future farming Action plan & budget.xlsx](04. Cairngorms future farming Action plan & budget.xlsx)
- Climate Resilient Catchments [05. Climate resilient catchments Action plan & budget.xlsx](05. Climate resilient catchments Action plan & budget.xlsx)
- Green Finance & Community Wealth Building [06. Green finance & cwb Action plan & budget.xlsx](06. Green finance & cwb Action plan & budget.xlsx)
- Wellbeing Economy [07. Wellbeing economy Action plan & budget.xlsx](07. Wellbeing economy Action plan & budget.xlsx)
- Public Health & the Outdoors [08. Public health & the outdoors Action plan & budget.xlsx](08. Public health & the outdoors Action plan & budget.xlsx)
- Outdoor Dementia Resource Centre [09. Outdoor dementia resource centre Action plan & budget.xlsx](09. Outdoor dementia resource centre Action plan & budget.xlsx)
- Landscape & Communities [10. Landscapes and communities Action plan & budget.xlsx](10. Landscapes and communities Action plan & budget.xlsx)
- Effective Community Engagement [11. Effective community engagement Action plan & budget.xlsx](11. Effective community engagement Action plan & budget.xlsx)
- Climate Learning & Education [12. Climate learning and education Action plan & budget.xlsx](12. Climate learning and education Action plan & budget.xlsx)
- Climate Conscious Communities [13. Climate conscious communities Action plan & budget.xlsx](13. Climate conscious communities Action plan & budget.xlsx)
- Community Arts & Culture [14. Community arts and culture Action plan & budget.xlsx](14. Community arts and culture Action plan & budget.xlsx)
- Community Managed Climate Grants [15. Community managed climate grants Action Plan & budget.xlsx](15. Community managed climate grants Action Plan & budget.xlsx)
- Knowledge Exchange & Research [16. Knowledge exchange & research Action plan & budget.xlsx](16. Knowledge exchange & research Action plan & budget.xlsx)
- Cycle Friendly Cairngorms [17. Cycle friendly Cairngorms Action plan & budget.xlsx](17. Cycle friendly Cairngorms Action plan & budget.xlsx)
- Active Travel Communities [18. Active communities Action plan & budget.xlsx](18. Active communities Action plan & budget.xlsx)
- Sustainable Travel [19. Sustainable travel Action plan & budget.xlsx](19. Sustainable travel Action plan & budget.xlsx)
- Changing Travel Behaviours [20. Changing travel behaviours Action plan & budget.xlsx](20. Changing travel behaviours Action plan & budget.xlsx)
Cairngorms National Park Authority Üghdarras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhonaidh Ruaidh Performance Committee Paper 1 8 December 2023 Page 11 of 12
Appendix C — Activity Plan [OL-19 – 02745 Appendix C — C2030 Activity Plan.pdf](OL-19 – 02745 Appendix C — C2030 Activity Plan.pdf)
Activity Plan Appendices [01. Scotinform review of engagement activity.pdf](01. Scotinform review of engagement activity.pdf) [02. Five stages of engagement.pdf](02. Five stages of engagement.pdf) [03a. Community groups pen portrait.pdf](03a. Community groups pen portrait.pdf) [03b. Land managers pen portrait.pdf](03b. Land managers pen portrait.pdf) [03c. Local businesses pen portrait.pdf](03c. Local businesses pen portrait.pdf) [03d. Interest groups pen portrait.pdf](03d. Interest groups pen portrait.pdf) [03e. Under-represented groups pen portrait.pdf](03e. Under-represented groups pen portrait.pdf) [03f. Vehicle users pen portrait.pdf](03f. Vehicle users pen portrait.pdf) [03g. Young people pen portrait.pdf](03g. Young people pen portrait.pdf) [04. Draft facilitation plan.pdf](04. Draft facilitation plan.pdf) [05. Summary of stakeholder engagement.pdf](05. Summary of stakeholder engagement.pdf) [06. Equalities monitoring report.pdf](06. Equalities monitoring report.pdf) [07. Terms of reference for comms and engagement group.pdf](07. Terms of reference for comms and engagement group.pdf) [08. Commonplace development phase responses.pdf](08. Commonplace development phase responses.pdf) [09. Sustrans comms and engagement guidelines.pdf](09. Sustrans comms and engagement guidelines.pdf) [10. Target audience table.xlsx](10. Target audience table.xlsx) [11. Cairngorms National Park brand guidelines.pdf](11. Cairngorms National Park brand guidelines.pdf) [12. Delivery phase engagement heatmap.pdf](12. Delivery phase engagement heatmap.pdf) [13. Volunteering overview by project.xlsx](13. Volunteering overview by project.xlsx)
Appendix D — Cost plan [OL-19 – 02745 Appendix D — C2030CostPlan.pdf](OL-19 – 02745 Appendix D — C2030CostPlan.pdf) [Appendix D — Delivery phase cost plan.xlsx](Appendix D — Delivery phase cost plan.xlsx)
Other Appendices [OL-19 – 02745 Appendix E — ProcurementBriefsForExternallyCommissionedWork.pdf](OL-19 – 02745 Appendix E — ProcurementBriefsForExternallyCommissionedWork.pdf) [OL-19 – 02745 Appendix F — Job descriptions .pdf](OL-19 – 02745 Appendix F — Job descriptions .pdf) [OL-19 – 02745 Appendix G — C2030StrategicEnviroAssessment.pdf](OL-19 – 02745 Appendix G — C2030StrategicEnviroAssessment.pdf) [OL-19 – 02745 Appendix H — C2030Images.pdf](OL-19 – 02745 Appendix H — C2030Images.pdf) [OL-19 – 02745 Appendix I Letters of support.pdf](OL-19 – 02745 Appendix I Letters of support.pdf) [OL-19 – 02745 Appendix J Memorandum of understanding.pdf](OL-19 – 02745 Appendix J Memorandum of understanding.pdf) [OL-19 – 02745 Appendix K — Management & Maintenance Plan.pdf](OL-19 – 02745 Appendix K — Management & Maintenance Plan.pdf) [OL-19 – 02745 Appendix L — Monitoring and Evaluation Framework.pdf](OL-19 – 02745 Appendix L — Monitoring and Evaluation Framework.pdf) [OL-19 – 02745 Appendix M — Development phase story of change report.pdf](OL-19 – 02745 Appendix M — Development phase story of change report.pdf)
Cairngorms National Park Authority Üghdarras Pàirc Nàiseanta a’ Mhonaidh Ruaidh Performance Committee Paper 1 8 December 2023 Page 12 of 12
[OL-19 – 02745 Appendix N — CNPACorporatePlan2023-2027.pdf](OL-19 – 02745 Appendix N — CNPACorporatePlan2023-2027.pdf) [OL-19 – 02745 Appendix O — CNPAParkPartnershipPlan2022-2027.pdf](OL-19 – 02745 Appendix O — CNPAParkPartnershipPlan2022-2027.pdf) [OL-19 – 02745 Appendix P — Project staff allocation.xlsx](OL-19 – 02745 Appendix P — Project staff allocation.xlsx) [OL-19 – 02745 Appendix Q — CNPAOrganisationChartC2030.pdf](OL-19 – 02745 Appendix Q — CNPAOrganisationChartC2030.pdf)