Audit and Risk Com­mit­tee — Paper 4

27 Septem­ber 2024

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For decision

Title: Intern­al Audit Plan ²⁰²⁴⁄₂₅: Oper­a­tion­al and Fin­an­cial Planning

Cov­er Paper pre­pared by: Dav­id Camer­on, Deputy Chief Executive

Report sub­mit­ted by: Eliza­beth Young, Stephanie Hume, Azets

Pur­pose

This paper presents the review of the annu­al oper­a­tion­al plan­ning pro­cess at the Park Author­ity, includ­ing how oper­a­tion­al plans are developed along­side, and the extent to which they are integ­rated with­in, the annu­al fin­an­cial plan. The review con­sidered the cycle of spend­ing and mon­it­or­ing of spend through­out the year to achieve the oper­a­tion­al plan, and the link to the deliv­ery of cor­por­ate out­comes, includ­ing the use of scen­ario planning.

Recom­mend­a­tions

The Audit and Risk Com­mit­tee is asked to:

a) Con­sider the intern­al aud­it­ors report and find­ings. b) Endorse the man­age­ment responses to recom­mend­a­tions for future action and improvements.

Exec­ut­ive Summary

1. Azets have com­pleted their intern­al audit review of the Cairngorms Nation­al Park Authority’s approach to oper­a­tion­al and fin­an­cial planning.

2. Five recom­mend­a­tions for action have been high­lighted. One recom­mend­a­tion has a ​“purple / advis­ory” rat­ing, with the remain­ing four recom­mend­a­tions graded 2 ​“yel­low / moderate”.

3. Over­all, the report notes that the Park Author­ity has clear pro­cesses in place for fin­an­cial and oper­a­tion­al plan­ning that ensure approved plans are in place pri­or to the start of the fin­an­cial year. Recom­mend­a­tions are offered to strengthen the exist­ing pro­cesses, par­tic­u­larly in the areas of pre­par­a­tion and review of scen­ari­os, and longer-term planning.

4. Four of the recom­mend­a­tions have been accep­ted by man­age­ment. The advis­ory recom­mend­a­tion reflects actions already under­way and that will be con­tin­ued. Three recom­mend­a­tions requir­ing action will be worked on over the com­ing months.

5. Recom­mend­a­tion 3.1 Report­ing and review of scen­ario plans is not agreed by man­age­ment. We believe that this recom­mend­a­tion does not add any con­trol value; con­trols are in place with­in the executive’s scen­ario plan­ning, and we report to appro­pri­ate com­mit­tees as and when we see any risk of budget amend­ments mater­i­al­ising along with pro­posed solu­tions. This recom­mend­a­tion is assessed as pos­ing high­er new risk around repu­ta­tion­al man­age­ment and dam­age than is offered by any lim­ited addi­tion­al value of act­ing on this recommendation.

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Dav­id Cameron

17 Septem­ber 2024

davidcameron@​cairngorms.​co.​uk