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CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY 
Paper 6 05/10/07 

CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY 



FOR INFORMATION 

Title: OPERATIONAL PLAN 2007/08, QUARTER 2 

Prepared by: David Cameron, Head of Corporate Services 


Purpose 

To present an update on progress on the 2007/08 Operational Plan after the end of the 
second quarter of the year. 

To present the summary “balanced scorecard” model highlighting key aspects of 
organisational performance. 


Recommendation 

The Board is requested to note the progress made on the 2007/08 Operational Plan actions 
over the first quarter, and in particular that: 

a) Activity on 6 of the 7 priority 1 goals for 2006/07 has broadly delivered the outputs 
and outcomes sought by the end of 2006/07. Work toward maintaining 
development control caseloads at manageable levels remains highlighted as 
meriting some additional management attention. 

b) All 13 priority 2 goals are classed as green at the end of the quarter reflecting good 
progress across a wide range of activities in the year. 

c) In general, organisational performance, as illustrated by use of the balanced 
scorecard performance measurement model, is meeting targets. 


Executive Summary 

The Operational Plan sets out a range of actions, and performance measures associated with 
these actions, which contribute over the course of 2007/08 to the delivery of the 20 goals 
within the existing Corporate Plan. The Operational Plan for 2007/08 represents the third 
and final delivery plan for the achievement of the existing 2005 to 2008 Corporate Plan goals 
and milestones. 

The Management Team’s review of the delivery of the 2007/08 Operational Plan over the 
period to date has sought to identify whether planned activities remain broadly on target in 
terms of timetable and delivered intended outcomes, or whether, for any reason, activities 
have not delivered intended outcomes or timetables have slipped. 

The results of the Operational Plan monitoring process, including comments on delivery to 
date, are set out in Annex 1 to this paper. The Management Team has adopted a “traffic 
light” system of categorising progress, with each action classes as green, amber or red 
depending on the level of risk attached to delivery of intended outcomes. 

The monitoring process has highlighted that one of the Authority’s seven priority goals 
continues to merit some additional management attention. Delivery of an effective and 
efficient development control service remains highlighted as “amber” in risk management 
terms, as a result of the outstanding caseload of applications called-in. 

The remainder of the Operational Plan activity is broadly on track to deliver intended 
outcomes by the end of the year and hence contribute to final achievement of the objectives 
set in the three year Corporate Plan. Individual areas of activity where there have been 
some delays in increased risk to delivery plans have been highlighted in the usual way in 
Annex 1. 

Broader organisational performance, as illustrated by use of the balanced scorecard 
performance measurement model, is generally meeting targets. The summary of the 
balanced scorecard is set out in Annex 2. Governance and risk management; human 
resource management; and Corporate and Operational Plan delivery are all shown to be 
broadly performing in line with targets. 

Financial Management is highlighted as meriting some additional management attention, 
primarily as a combination of slower than anticipated expenditure on Operational Plan 
activities over the first half of the year and uncertainty over future years’ funding levels as 
we await the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review and Scottish Government 
resource allocations. The position on operational plan expenditure is not uncommon at this 
stage in the year and has been successfully redressed in previous years. Information on 
future years’ funding allocations is expected towards the end of November. 

David Cameron 
September 2007 

davidcameron@cairngorms.co.uk