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CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY 
Finance Committee Paper 3 16/05/08 

CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY 
FINANCE COMMITTEE 


FOR DECISION 


Title: RATIFICATION OF TRANSFER OF GRANT AID
FUNCTION FOR RANGER SERVICES IN THE NATIONAL PARK 

Prepared by: Pete Crane, Senior Visitor Services Officer 

Purpose 

To approve the detailed transfer of the grant-aid function for ranger services from SNH to 
Cairngorms National Park Authority. 


Recommendations 

That the Finance Committee: 

a) Approve the transfer of the grant aid function for ranger services in the Cairngorms 
National Park from SNH to CNPA, including the one-off transfer of £120,000 which 
henceforth will be part of the CNPA budget settlement. 


Executive Summary 

The Board of the CNPA has previously agreed that CNPA should take on the discretionary 
ranger grant function from SNH, subject any proposal not reducing the overall public 
support for ranger services and detailed approval by the Finance Committee. This paper 
provides an update on changes National Ranger policy, details the grant transfer involved 
and recommends that the Finance Committee approve the transfer of the function. 



RATIFICATION OF TRANSFER OF GRANT AID FUNCTION FOR 
RANGER SERVICES IN THE NATIONAL PARK – FOR DECISION 

Background 

1. Following the work of the Ranger Working Group, consultation with ranger service 
managers, an independent review, Board discussions and formal papers the Board 
agreed in November 2007 to: 

“…approve the transfer of the grant-aid function for ranger services from SNH to 
the Cairngorms National Park Authority, subject to any settlement not reducing 
the overall level of public support for ranger services in the National Park, and 
final approval by the Finance Committee”. 

2. This work is a key part of the Priority for Action on Promoting Awareness and 
Understanding of the National Park in the National Park Plan and particularly the 
following action: 

3a Develop a cohesive approach to management of 
ranger services that meets needs of visitors, land 
managers and communities and of the National 
Park. 
CNPA, Land Managers, Ranger Services, SNH, VS 

3. As has been previously agreed by the Board, greater direct influence from CNPA 
over the work programmes of ranger services will also assist in the delivery of many 
other outcomes in the National Park Plan particularly in the following Priorities: 

a) Providing High Quality Opportunities for Outdoor Access; 

b) Conserving and Enhancing Biodiversity and Landscapes; and 

c) Making Tourism and Business More Sustainable. 


Policy Changes since November 2007 

4. Since November 2007 Scottish Government has announced that all ‘long term’ grants 
from SNH to local authorities will, from April 2009, form part of the direct grant in 
aid to Local Authorities. This means that grants that SNH had previously given for 
ranger services, Long Distance Routes, etc. will form part of the general settlement to 
Local Authorities. However, this decision will not apply in the National Park if 
CNPA agree to take on the discretionary grant for ranger services (see below). 

5. In February 2008 a new national policy statement for rangers was presented to the 
SNH Board. A draft has been sent to CNPA for comment and this is compatible with 
the aims of ranger services in the National Park as agreed by the CNPA Board in 
March 2007. Also, in February 2007 the SNH Board agreed to the transfer of 
discretionary grant for rangers in the National Park to CNPA, and that ranger grants 
in Scotland would be maintained against a general requirement to reduce overall 
SNH grants by 10%. 

6. Officers of CNPA and SNH met in March 2008 to discuss the detail of the proposed 
transfer. We have also met twice with Scottish Countryside Rangers Association and 
key partners (SNH, Loch Lomond National Park Authority, Forestry Commission 
Scotland, Historic Scotland and National Trust for Scotland) to assist in coordinating 
the new ranger policy across Scotland. 


Current public sector support for Ranger Services 

7. Table 1 below shows the current levels of SNH grant to rangers services in the 
Cairngorms National Park. 

Table 1 SNH Grant-aid for Ranger Services in the National Park 

Ranger Service   /  Rangers working in CNP (FTE)  / SNH Discretionary Grant per year (£)  / SNH liaison time days/year 

Aberdeenshire Council 0.4 4,100 2 

Highland Council 2 20,500 8 

Angus Council 2 20,500 1.5 * 

Balmoral Estate 2.6 29,100 2 

Glentanar Estate 1.6 17,900 2 

Glenlivet Estate 1.2 16,150 2 

Explore Abernethy 0.7 8,400 3 

Totals 10.5 116,650 20.5 

* SNH spend a further 20 days liaising with Angus Glen Ranger Service over work associated 
with the management of Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve. 


8. It should be noted that SNH only provide grant aid to seven of the 12 services in the 
National Park that receive public support. Table 2 shows the public funding support 
for the five ranger services that do not receive SNH ranger grant and the mechanisms 
available to influence their work to deliver the National Park Plan. 


Table 2 Public Sector support for ranger services that are not funded by SNH 
grant-aid 

Ranger Service  / Employer  / Public Funder  / Mechanism to encourage NPP Delivery 

Cairngorm Mountain 
Highlands & Islands Enterprise/ Cairngorm Mountain 
HIE 
Concordat 

Forestry Commission Scotland 
Forestry Commission Scotland 
Forestry Commission Scotland 
Concordat 

Rothiemurchus 
Rothiemurchus Estate 
SNH & CNPA through a management agreement linked to the Rothiemurchus Concordat. * 
Management Agreement 

Speyside Way 
Moray Council 
Within the National Park CNPA fund the Long Distance Route and therefore the ranger service. 
Management Agreement 

National Trust for Scotland (Mar Lodge) 
National Trust for Scotland 
SNH as part of a National Concordat with NTS 
Management Agreement 


* Future public support for public benefits on Rothiemurchus Estate is likely to move from a 
Management Agreement, funded by CNPA and SNH, to a public funding stream under the 
Scotland Rural Development Programme. The mechanism for funding the work of ranger 
services, which forms part of the current interim Management Agreement, is subject to 
ongoing discussions led by Hamish Trench, Head of Heritage and Land Management Group. 


9. The five ranger services listed in Table 2 would not be directly affected by the 
proposed transfer of function. All of them indicated that they wish to work toward 
better coordination of rangers across the National Park and are willing to work 
toward delivering key actions in the National Park Plan. 

10. Any future inclusion of Highland Perthshire into the National Park is likely to bring 
Atholl Estates Ranger Service and part of Perth and Kinross Ranger Service into the 
‘Cairngorms family’. Both services currently receive SNH grant. However, it is 
likely that by the time the boundary changes that the grant to Perth and Kinross 
ranger service will form part of their general settlement. Therefore, the grant aid for 
Perth and Kinross ranger service within an enlarged National Park should form part 
of the future discussions with Scottish Government over the implications of 
expanding the boundary. 



Implications of Transferring Ranger Grant 

11. SNH has agreed to the transfer of full ranger grant plus an additional £3,000 to cover 
the cost of SNH administration of the grant. Nationally, SNH have also stated that 
ranger grant will be maintained (not increased). This means that transferring grant 
now will not reduce the overall level of public support for rangers in the National 
Park. 

12. If approved the grant aid function would formally transfer on 1st April 2009 with 
CNPA negotiating work programmes with services from autumn 2008. With the 
completion of the Outdoor Access Strategy and Core Path Planning process we have 
identified that there will be capacity within the outdoor access team in Visitor 
Services and Recreation Group to take on the role of negotiating work programmes 
and better co-ordinating the services across the National Park. 

13. As the requirements of the November 2007 Board paper have been met we 
recommend that the Finance Committee: 

a) approve the transfer of the grant aid function for ranger services in the 
Cairngorms National Park from SNH to CNPA, including the one-off 
transfer of £120,000 which henceforth will be part of the CNPA budget 
settlement. 


PETE CRANE 
May 2008 

petecrane@cairngorms.co.uk