CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY Paper 1 7/11/03 CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY FINANCE COMMITTEE Title: CURRENT YEAR’S FINANCIAL PROVISION Prepared by: ANDY RINNING, HEAD OF CORPORATE SERVICES Purpose To provide Members with an update on the current year’s financial provision. Recommendations • That the Committee note the content of this report Executive Summary Following a meeting in June between the Convenor and the Minister to discuss the Park Authority’s grant-in-aid requirements, the Scottish Executive wrote in July agreeing the figure of £2million for the financial year 2003-04. An original budget of £2.006 million was approved by the Board in May 2003. The current projected outturn of £1.99 million takes account of actual spend up to end September and revised budgeted expenditure for the period October to end March 2004. The projected outturn is illustrated at Annex 1. It is anticipated that the Park Authority will spend all its allocated provision to enable it to discharge effectively its full range of statutory functions. 03/11/03 1 CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY Paper 1 7/11/03 CURRENT YEAR’S FINANCIAL PROVISION Discussion 1. Members will recall that the Park Authority’s original budget of £2.006 million (see Annex 1), approved by the Board on 23 May 2003, was prepared prior to a formal announcement by the Scottish Executive on the level of grant-in-aid for 2003-04. At that time the Public Expenditure allocation for CNPA was set at £1.2 million, the balance remaining within the National Parks line. In the intervening period, the Convenor met the Minister to discuss the Park Authority’s financial requirement, based on the figures approved by the Board. The Scottish Executive wrote in July confirming the agreed grant-in-aid allocation of £2 million for the financial year 2003-04. 2. Spend during the first 6 months has been principally directed towards staff salaries, recruitment, corporate ID, website and the new computer and telephone systems. To date we have drawn down £760K, representing 38% of our total allocation. Over the next 3 months we expect the refurbishment work to be completed at Grantown and Ballater. This work, together with associated costs for IT, furniture, fixtures and fittings will account for some £230K of expenditure. Additional staff costs in the last quarter of the financial year will add a further £50K to the salary costs. Contributions to projects this year will be approximately £160K. Details of the full projected budget are set out in Annex 1. 3. Staff salaries, including Board and Committee costs, remain relatively unchanged from the original budget. Staff salaries show an increase to take account of recruitment up to the end of the financial year. Board and Committee costs show a slight decrease overall, mainly due to an expected reduction in members' travel and subsistence costs. 4. Other Staff Costs have increased significantly as a result of contracting out the recruitment process of the senior management team and higher than expected advertising costs. Staff travel and subsistence costs have increased to take account of additional travel costs related to the Park Authority's statutory planning functions. Provision has also been made for an additional pool car to be based at Ballater. 5. Accommodation costs show an increase overall mainly due to the rise in refurbishment costs for the premises at Grantown and Ballater. The original budget included an anticipated cost of £117K for the refurbishment of the adjoining offices in Grantown but the final estimated cost is now in the region of £175K, based on a competitive tendering process. This figure does not take account of the cost of IT, furniture and fittings, which are likely to add a further £20K. The office at Ballater had not been identified at the time the original budget was prepared. Modest provision had been made but more realistic costs are available and it is expected that the cost of refurbishment plus IT, fixtures and fittings will amount to approximately £35K. 03/11/03 2 CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY Paper 1 7/11/03 6. Corporate identity costs show significant savings. Prudent use of contracting the services of a project manager resulted in considerable savings in both cost and staff time. A successful website and corporate logo are now in place. 7. Programme expenditure provision was set at £282K in the original budget, which included an amount of £98K for commitments inherited from the Cairngorm Partnership. These costs have been subject to on-going assessment taking account of lead-time and staff availability. The current provision of £159K more accurately reflects what the Park Authority will be able to deliver this financial year. A number of projects have been reprogrammed for 2004-05. Andy Rinning 29th October 2003 andyrinning@cairngorms.co.uk 03/11/03 3 CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY Paper 1 Annex 1 7/11/03 BUDGET for 2003-2004 Original Budget Head Revised Budget Head Total Total Staff Salaries 523,456 523,456 573,159 573,159 Other Staff Costs 93,378 217,044 Staff recruitment 70,000 160,231 Travel & Subsistence 9,402 37,014 Pool Car 7,976 10,926 Training 6,000 8,873 Board Costs 244,858 237,430 Member salaries 173,358 189,717 T&S for Board Members 37,500 10,893 Member training 20,500 17,503 Board meeting costs 3,500 5,699 Committee meeting costs 3,600 7,243 Adv Gp and Wkg Gp costs 6,400 6,375 Accommodation 427,599 510,648 Office rent - GoS 72,500 30,714 Office rent - Ballater 3,162 Sub/Office 61,130 Temporary Accommodation 2,175 5,565 Rates/refuse/water 18,199 20,521 Insurance 0 0 Cleaning 6,935 6,553 Heat & Light 5,280 5,701 Office maintenance and refurbishment 97,880 264,273 Furniture, fittings, equipment 46,000 7,003 Ditto 52,316 IT hardware 117,500 114,840 Office Services 33,829 36,575 Telephone 8,846 9,278 Postage 8,125 7,247 Stationery, p'copying, gen office svcs 10,474 7,203 Ditto 5,253 Ditto 498 Printed stationery 5,000 4,155 Library and newspapers 1,384 2,941 Publications and PR 241,052 134,495 Corporate ID (including website) 169,500 51,584 PR adviser 33,492 18,952 Publications 30,000 36,313 Other info, events 8,060 27,646 Support Services 160,510 130,008 HR Support 95,000 39,735 Legal support 10,000 7,350 Accounting support 4,000 4,000 Accounting support (Annual Accounts) 5,000 IT support (Internet) 6,260 1,034 (Computers) 18,481 03/11/03 4 CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY Paper 1 Annex 1 7/11/03 (Web page) Misc (Other Professional Support) Annual Audit Subscriptions 8,782 30,250 29,256 10,000 12,000 5,000 4,370 Sub total Programme expenditure 282,251 159,190 Existing Commitments 97,751 159,190 Additional Commitments 184,500 Sub total TOTAL 2,006,933 1,998,549