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CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY 
Paper 1 23/02/07 


CAIRNGORMS NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY 


FOR DECISION 


Title: 2007/08 OPERATIONAL PLAN 

Prepared by: David Cameron, Head of Corporate Services 


Purpose 

This paper presents the recommended 2007/08 Operational Plan and associated financial 
allocations, developed by the Management Team. The paper also presents a number of 
options for additional expenditure and/or investment of staff resources for consideration by 
the Board. The paper seeks the Board’s approval to the final Operational Plan for 2007/08. 


Recommendations 

It is recommended that the Board:-

a) Considers the options for resource allocation and expenditure set out in the paper 
and determines whether: 

i. 
Work on stakeholder opinion polling should be progressed in 2007/08 and 
appropriate resources added into the Operational Plan accordingly (see in 
particular paragraphs 24 to 26); 

ii. 
Additional resources should be allocated to develop the Authority’s planning 
enforcement powers (see in particular paragraphs 27to 29); 

iii. Additional resources should be allocated to progress work on climate change 
with partners (see in particular paragraphs 34 to 39); 

iv. Any additional financial implications arising from points i to iii should be 
accommodated by Management Team within their normal budget management 
strategies in order to deliver overall activity in line with budget by the end of 
the financial year. 

b) 
Considers whether any further amendments are required to the recommended 
Operational Plan set out in Annex 1 to this paper and, in any cases where further 
additional expenditure is proposed, agrees where offsetting reductions should be 
made; 

c) 
Subject to changes agreed under recommendations a) and b), approves the 
recommended 2007/08 Operational Plan set out in Annex 1. 


Executive Summary 

The paper presents the recommended Operational Plan developed by Management Team, 
within existing agreed strategy parameters as set out in the Corporate Plan for 2005 to 2008 
and the National Park Plan. The Plan is also set to be deliverable within the Authority’s 
overall resource availability, in terms of staff time and financial resources, primarily through 
grant-in-aid made available by the Scottish Executive. 

The 2007/08 Operational Plan represents the outcome of a relatively complex process which 
has required the Management Team to be sensitive to the outstanding work required by the 
existing Corporate Plan to 2008, approved by Ministers, and to the Authority’s need to 
maintain momentum and commence delivery of the National Park Plan, for which we also 
hope to have Ministerial approval prior to the start of the year. 

The Operational Plan therefore covers an interim year, completing the “set-up” phase of the 
Authority, and moving the organisation into the delivery phase of the National Park Plan. 

Analysis of work progressed in the first two years of the Corporate Plan shows that progress 
to date in delivering intended three-year milestones set out in the Corporate Plan in early 
2005 has been extremely good. Many of the milestones targeted in the Corporate Plan for 
achievement by March 2008 have already been met. 

A key priority in determining investment for the coming year has been to ensure that, as far 
as possible, remaining Corporate Plan milestones will be achieved. In considering the first 
year of delivering the National Park Plan, Management Team has also sought to ensure that, 
in delivering activities proposed, the Authority will add value to work within the Park and 
will not replicate efforts or investment which should be expected from other organisations. 

The Operational Plan has also sought to achieve a balance in resource allocation between a 
relatively wide range of activities in which the Authority and its partners will engage over 
the course of the year. Funds allocated will directly deliver priority activities, or will act as 
significant catalysts in initiating activity and investment in the Park. 

The paper highlights options for additional resource allocation to deliver stakeholder 
opinion polling, increased planning enforcement powers and work on climate change. 
These aspects of potential delivery typically fall outside of established policy direction and 
members’ views are sought on these specific areas in coming to agreement on the 
Operational Plan for the year. 




2007/08 OPERATIONAL PLAN – FOR DECISION 

Introduction 

1. 
The Operational Plan for 2007/08 represents the third and last annual operational 
plan to be delivered under the overall direction of the 2005 to 2008 Corporate Plan. 
This Corporate Plan was agreed by the Board at its meeting in February 2005. 

2. 
The Operational Plan for 2007/08 covers a final transition year for the Authority. The 
year ahead completes the initial “set-up phase” of the Authority as envisaged in the 
2005 to 2008 Corporate Plan. In 2007/08, the Authority also moves into the initial 
“delivery” phase of the National Park Plan (NPP) and will begin to deliver the five-
year outcomes set out in the NPP, along with the many partners involved in the NPP 
process. 

3. 
Determination of the Operational Plan for 2007/08 therefore represents a relatively 
complex process, requiring establishment of a set of activities that is sensitive to both 
the outstanding work required by the Authority’s Corporate Plan and to our need to 
maintain the general momentum on NPP and begin delivery, support and 
coordination of key activities within the seven NPP Priorities for Action. 

4. 
Our Operational Plan activities for the last two years, 2005/06 and 2006/07, have been 
structured in line with the 20 goals agreed within the 2005 to 2008 Corporate Plan. 
This Corporate Plan remains the key document setting out the objectives for the Park 
Authority itself over the period to 31 March 2008 and has been agreed by Ministers. 
It is the three-year milestones set out in the Corporate Plan which Ministers have 
effectively agreed should be delivered by the end of the coming year, and which they 
will have allocated over £13 million to secure by the end of the coming year. 
Quarterly Operational Plan monitoring reports have given detailed accounts on our 
progress to date in delivering each year’s contribution toward achieving these 
milestones. We have therefore continued to adopt this Corporate Plan structure of 20 
goals for 2007/08 proposals, in order to provide continuity in planning and reporting 
and more particularly continue to focus on delivery of the three year milestones 
agreed by Ministers. 

5. 
In moving into our delivery of the NPP, we have also sought to ensure that proposed 
Operational Plan activities take full account of the role the Authority will play in the 
first year of working towards the NPP five-year outcomes. Development of the next 
Corporate Plan, covering 2008 to 2011, will allow the Authority to more explicitly set 
out the role we will play in monitoring, coordinating and delivering the NPP, and 
future Operational Plans will flow from that. For 2007/08, we have sought to detail 
the interaction of the activities set out within the 20 goals of the current Corporate 
Plan structure with the commencement of work on the NPP Priorities. 



2007/08 Operational Plan Resources 

6. 
The Authority has been allocated total resources of £4.5m by the Scottish Executive 
for 2007/08. 

7. 
Of the total, some £1.4m will support the Operational Plan for the year. In 
accordance with Finance Committee’s resolutions, we have continued to develop an 
operational plan which allocates 120% of available budget into the Operational Plan 
prior to the start of the year, in order to allow for some inevitable slippage in the 
development and commissioning of projects over the course of the year, and to seek 
to ensure, as far as possible, that available resources are fully utilised by the end of 
each year. The total value of proposed expenditure within the draft Operational Plan 
therefore currently stands at £1.7m. 

8. 
The Board’s Finance Committee will continue to consider the detail of budget 
allocations and monitor progress in management of these approved budgets over the 
course of the year, in line with the Authority’s approved scheme of financial 
delegation. 

9. 
The Management Team has developed and refined the proposed 2007/08 Operational 
Plan over the course of the last three months. Initial expenditure proposals for the 
coming year totalled in excess of £2.2m, which would have required a total resource 
allocation of around £5.3m to deliver. 

10. 
The Management Team has refined planned activities and associated expenditure 
proposals in light of available resources, and also to take account of progress made in 
delivering Corporate and Operational Plan objectives over the course of the year to 
date. 

11. 
The proposed Operational Plan for 2007/08 is set out at Annex 1 to this paper. This 
Plan and proposed allocation of resources represents the Management Team’s 
recommended operational delivery plan, attainable within available resources, for 
the year ahead. 
Delivery of 2005 to 2008 Corporate Plan Milestones 

12. 
As mentioned in the introduction, the development of the recommended 2007/08 
Operational Plan has involved a complex transition between delivery of remaining 
Corporate Plan three-year milestones and the first year of delivering NPP priority 
actions. The Management Team’s recommended Operational Plan reflects an 
analysis of progress made in each of the 20 goals over the last two years, and the 
work that remains to be done to achieve the three-year milestones. The outcome of 
this analysis is summarised in Annex 2 to this paper. The analysis also gives a very 
brief summary of the contribution made to the first year of delivery of NPP priority 
actions through investment of resources in each of the Corporate Plan’s 20 goals, and 
this point is considered further in the following section of this paper. 

13. 
The comments in Annex 2 show that progress to date in delivering intended three-
year milestones set out in the Corporate Plan in early 2005 has been extremely good. 
Many of the milestones targeted in the Corporate Plan for achievement by March 
2008 have already been met. With substantial progress made to date in achieving 
many other milestones, the planned activities set out in the Operational Plan for the 
coming year should ensure achievement of the great majority of Corporate Plan 
objectives by the end of the three year period. 

14. 
Of the other three-year milestones targeted by the Corporate Plan for delivery by 
March 2008, the objectives of having effective partnership mechanisms in place for 
developing and managing the path network within the Park, and of putting agreed 
management arrangements in place for use of ranger services, represent two areas 
where most work remains to be done to ensure objectives are achieved by the end of 
the coming year. On the first of these, work is in-hand to review potential options 
for partnership mechanisms, with the development of a Trust or charitable company 
agreed previously by the Board as the leading option. The results of ongoing work 
in this area are due to be presented to the Board in April. A separate Board paper to 
the February meeting outlines the options for ranger services. Board decisions on 
this paper will direct work over the coming year in achieving this Corporate Plan 
milestone. 

15. 
At this point, it appears that the anticipated timetable for a Local Plan Enquiry is 
likely to result in the adoption of the Local Plan some time after the end of March 
2008. In coming to set the Operational Plan for the last year of the current Corporate 
Plan period, the intended three-year milestone of the adoption of the Local Plan by 
end March 2008 therefore appears the only one to be at a significant risk of nondelivery 
by end of the three-year Corporate Plan period. 

16. 
The review of Corporate Plan delivery to date highlights that the organisation has 
maintained a good focus on the priority objectives set by the Corporate Plan. In 
some cases, activities have begun to go further than the intended milestones, seeking 
establishment of some of the longer-term differences within the Park envisaged in 
the Corporate Plan. It is in working further on these goals in particular that we can 
seek to begin to make real progress in delivering NPP Priorities for Action over the 
course of the coming year. 

17. 
The organisation has sought to achieve value for money in the deployment of its 
resources throughout the period. Over the course of the last years, financial 
regulations have been developed and rolled out within the organisation to ensure 
that operational delivery is supported by a focus on ensuring best value in the use of 
resources. Furthermore, additional funding from third parties levered into projects 
has increased annual resource allocations of around £4.3m to over £5m annually, 
ensuring that available funding is able to cover as wide a range of activities as 
possible. 



Delivery of the National Park Plan 

18. 
In the case of some goals, analysis in Annex 2 highlights that the Corporate Plan 
milestones have already been delivered. Working from the Corporate Plan alone 
would suggest allocating no, or minimal, resources into these goals for the 2007/08 
Operational Plan. 

19. 
The Management Team is equally conscious of the need to maintain momentum 
built up with partners in development of the NPP over recent years. We have, 
therefore, also analysed the contribution which will be made by working on the 
Corporate Plan goals over the course of 2007/08 to the first stage of NPP delivery. 
This analysis is summarised in the final column of Annex 2. 

20. 
In developing the recommended Operational Plan for 2007/08 we have sought to 
identify key areas where resource should be invested to begin delivery aspects of the 
NPP, even where Corporate Plan milestones for these goals have already been met. 
The NPP process has been hugely beneficial in developing a momentum with our 
partners in setting medium and long term objectives for the National Park. We 
believe it will be vital over the course of the coming year to maintain that momentum 
as we turn the focus from development to delivery of the NPP. Therefore, in some 
key areas the recommended Operational Plan for 2007/08 seeks to ensure the 
availability of some resource to initiate the first steps of delivery of NPP priority 
actions. Through bringing these resources to the table, we seek to lever in resources 
from other partners in joint delivery of agreed NPP priorities. 

21. 
Annex 3 to this paper further supports the detailed Operational Plan for 2007/08, 
setting out an analysis of planned 2007/08 expenditure against each of the seven NPP 
Priorities for Action. Each of the 20 Corporate Plan goals broadly corresponds to one 
of these seven priorities for action. Therefore, the majority of our Operational Plan 
activity over the course of the coming year can also be analysed in terms of its input 
to NPP delivery. 

2007/08 Recommended Operational Plan 

22. 
In developing the recommended Operational Plan for 2007/08 set out in Annex 1, the 
Management Team has sought to cover all existing strategic direction, whether set 
out in the Corporate or National Park Plan, as fully as possible within the level of 
resource available. 

23. 
We are, however, very conscious that there is a delicate balance to be achieved in 
prioritising resources between potential areas of delivery. Furthermore, we are also 
aware there is a need to determine whether any policy developments since 
establishment of the Corporate Plan early in 2005 warrant consideration in setting 
our resource investment priorities for the year. While it is, of course, open for 
members to consider all aspects of the Operational Plan recommended in Annex 1, 
we believe it is appropriate to highlight a number of specific areas of potential 
activity for further consideration. These are considered in more detail below. 

Stakeholder Opinion Polling 

24. 
It is now about 3 years since we carried out the initial, baseline opinion poll of 
stakeholder perceptions of the Authority’s work. The Management Team’s initial 
Operational Plan for 2007/08 included a resource allocation, including a £10,000 
budget, to undertake a follow-up opinion poll to measure movement from the 
2004/05 baseline. However, we have reviewed this, particularly in light of the 
timetable to place the local plan on deposit in June 2007 and the additional 
consultation that will flow from that. It may not be appropriate to conduct an 
opinion poll so close to this major activity, with the risk that some stakeholder 
perceptions may be unduly influenced by a single, high profile activity. 

25. 
Moreover, the results of a stakeholder opinion poll are likely to be very useful to the 
Authority in responding to its 5-yearly Performance and Financial Management 
Review (PFMR). A PFMR of each Non-Departmental Public Body is undertaken by 
the Scottish Executive every 5 years or so, and we expect that the Authority’s review 
will take place sometime in 2008 or early 2009. On balance, we believe it is 
worthwhile to defer the opinion polling activity to ensure data generated is as recent 
as possible in informing the PFMR, and not overly influenced by a single aspect of 
the Authority’s activities. 

26. 
We have therefore deferred this activity from 2007/08 until 2008/09 in the 
Operational Plan set out in Annex 1. Were the Board of the opinion that the 
stakeholder opinion polling work should be undertaken during the course of the 
coming year, Management Team would have to allocate a further £10,000 into the 
Operational Plan for 2007/08. 

Planning Enforcement Powers 

27. 
The Management Team is very aware that planning enforcement powers is an area 
high on the Planning Committee’s agenda. Delivery of increased planning 
enforcement activities by the Authority will require additional expenditure, either 
through recruitment of additional staff or contracting for the service. Existing staff 
resources are already fully utilised in development management (development 
control) and local plan development. 

28. 
It is possible, were the Authority to recruit a member of staff, that some of this 
additional cost could be offset by developing shared enforcement services through 
contracting enforcement services to local authorities. Recruitment of an officer at 
Band 2 would require new budget provision of around £50,000 in a full year 
(including employer’s pension and national insurance contributions and provision 
for other costs such as travel and subsistence). It is assumed, were this option agreed 
by the Board, a new budget provision of around £30,000 would be required for 
2007/08: this allows for a member of staff to start part way through the year but does 
not anticipate third party income support at this initial stage. 

29. 
This option does not sit within any current policy direction agreed by the Board, and 
is therefore not currently included in the proposed Operational Plan or core budget 
provision. It is highlighted here in recognition of recent Planning Committee 
discussions. 

Outdoor Access Infrastructure 

30. 
Works required in order to improve outdoor access infrastructure are, by their very 
nature, high cost activities. Tender process and partnership working seek to keep 
these costs down as much as possible, although works tenders are typically high 
value. Additionally it should be noted that the Park Authority is the access authority 
for the area and has a range of direct delivery functions, duties and powers available 
to it. The Park Authority are therefore expected to play a leading role in this field. 
This area inevitably accounts for a relatively large proportion of the Authority’s 
financial resources. 

31. 
At the same time, it is also vital to recognise that the Authority’s financial input to 
access improvements is typically matched by a variety of other partners. Analysis of 
the Authority’s expenditure in this area in 2005/06 shows that an investment of 
£330,000 on capital infrastructure assisted towards total investment valued at over 
£760,000. It is likely that, without the Authority’s contribution toward these 
schemes, entire projects would not have gone forward and, therefore, a much greater 
scale of investment into the Park would have been lost. Looking to the future we aim 
to build on this partnership approach through the creation of a Park-wide Trust 
which can pool funding and manage projects. Further proposals will be presented to 
the Board in April. 

32. 
In constructing the 2007/08 Operational Plan we have sought to strike a balance 
between meaningful delivery in this area while limiting costs as far as possible in 
order to ensure appropriate investment across all aspects of Corporate and National 
Park Plan activity. Significant reductions have been made to the original investment 
proposals for the coming year, reflecting resource need in other areas of delivery and 
also in recognition that, for the coming year, investment in access infrastructure will 
continue to precede the completion and agreement of the Core Paths Plan. 

33. 
The Management Team is not, therefore, highlighting any further specific options for 
increasing expenditure in this area of delivery for 2007/08. However, given the scale 
of the proposed investment in this area in the year ahead, and the prominence of 
ongoing work in this field, including the Outdoor Access Strategy and Core Path 
Plan, we feel it is appropriate to highlight the area in the paper for Board 
consideration. 

Climate Change 

34. 
Members will be aware that climate change has recently emerged as a top political 
issue. While the Park Plan does not include a discrete priority for action relating to 
climate change, the statutory aims of the Park, and various Park Plan policies and 
proposed actions relating to sustainability and land management have great 
relevance to the climate change agenda. In order to consider how to enhance the role 
that the public and private sector could play in addressing climate change issues in 
the Park, the Park Authority organised a multi-agency meeting on sustainable 
energy use which was held on 22 January 2007. The Authority was represented at 
the meeting by members and officers. The outcomes of this meeting included an 
outline agreement to undertake work to arrive at a credible and agreed vision for 
reducing carbon emissions from the Park; to undertake an audit of energy use in the 
Park; to use the results of the audit to identify a prioritised schedule of actions. This 
schedule would be aimed at promotion of energy efficiency, appropriate scale 
generation of renewable energy and developing effective opportunities for carbon 
offset. The schedule of actions would be undertaken by the various partner 
organisations. 

35. 
While the above meeting was a very successful start to a long term process, there is a 
need to raise the profile of this issue in the Park much more widely. There is also a 
need for the work of the various agencies to be co-ordinated to ensure that there is 
the greatest level of effective action between them. This co-ordination work and 
some specific actions could be taken by the Park Authority as a key part of its 
enabling function. At present, however, there is no specific line in the current 
Corporate Plan referring to climate change, so consequently there is no specific 
budgetary provision for climate change action made in our proposed Operational 
Plan. 

36. 
In progressing the outcomes of the 22 January meeting, we estimate that around 0.3 
of a full-time equivalent post will have to be directed towards this activity from 
across a number of Groups. This would be complemented by a financial budget 
requirement of £25,000 to deliver the review and prioritised action schedule and to 
establish a small fund to initiate work in the highest priority areas. It is expected that 
the staff resource will be allocated from existing resources, although this will clearly 
require reduced effort in other areas. The budget provision, however, would be a 
new cost. 

37. 
As with the other options above, if members agree this option should be included in 
the Operational Plan, then the Board is also asked to identify specific aspects of the 
proposed Operational Plan which should be reduced in order to accommodate the 
£25,000 cost. 

38. 
In the meantime members should be aware that officers will continue to address 
implementation of the Authority’s Greening Policy agreed by the Board in March 
2006. This will be co-ordinated and led by the Greening Group. The outcome of 
much of this Group’s work is focused on reducing the Authority’s carbon emissions, 
although the work is currently anticipated to be on a cost neutral basis. 

39. 
A report of the progress made to date by the Greening Group was submitted to the 
Board’s Audit Committee in December, with one of the key outcomes being a 
“silver” award from the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS) following a review 
of the Authority’s current activities and methods of operation. This shows that the 
organisation is starting work on improving the environmental impact of its 
operations from a reasonably good level, and the Greening Group is now focusing on 
improvements that can be made highlighted from the GTBS review with the 
potential to achieve an improved level of accreditation in future years. It is expected 
that a report will be brought to the full Board on the outcome of the first year’s 
activities in June. 

Cultural Heritage 

40. 
While not a specific option for increased expenditure in 2007/08, it is opportune to 
update the Board on the status of the Authority’s work on cultural heritage at this 
point. 

41. 
The Board agreed the Authority’s role in Cultural Heritage at its meeting in October 
2005. Since that time, the Authority’s Cultural Heritage Officer has resigned. Work 
on cultural heritage is ongoing, delivered through the activities of a number of 
Groups, for example Visitor Services and Recreation in its various works on 
interpretation, Economic and Social Development Group’s work on social 
development and the cultural heritage audit, and inclusion of cultural heritage 
considerations in the Local Plan development by the Planning Group. Key elements 
of the former Cultural Heritage Officer’s work have been taken forward in the 
interim period by Quentin McLaren, the External Funding Officer. Prior to 
appointing any form of replacement for the Cultural Heritage Officer post, the 
opportunity has been taken to review what is a very wide area of potential activity. 

42. 
In developing the NPP, the Management Team has considered an analysis of the 
wide range of cultural heritage issues that the Authority might engage with. We 
have also considered the diversity of other organisations who also have a strong 
interest in the area of cultural heritage and which equally could take NPP priority 
actions in this area forward. It is also a matter for further consideration with 
partners in this subject area as to whether a staff resource dealing with cultural 
heritage should be directly employed by the Authority or should be a shared staff 
resource with one or more other organisations with an equally strong interest in the 
cultural heritage of the Cairngorms, for example National Trust for Scotland or 
Historic Scotland. 

43. 
The review of this area is now being led by the Head of Natural Heritage and Land 
Management Group, in order that we link plans for resourcing cultural heritage with 
that on natural heritage. Over the next few months, the Head of Natural Heritage 
will, along with members of that Group, consider the prioritisation of workloads in 
delivering NPP priorities, and will also be engaging with other interested 
organisations in development of their roles in NPP delivery. From this work, the 
Head of Natural Heritage and the Group as a whole will consider how the Authority 
should best invest in progressing the Cultural Heritage agenda in the longer term. 
This will, of course, have to reflect other aspects of our work being undertaken, for 
example in VSR on interpretation and in ESD on social development. This work will 
continue to contribute to the diverse cultural heritage agenda and will influence how 
we deicide to take cultural heritage matters forward in the longer term. 

44. 
In summary, the recommended 2007/08 Operational Plan set out in Annex 1 is fixed 
with a budget allocation of around £1.7m, in line with overall financial planning 
measures outlined at point 7. The areas of activity highlighted above give rise to 
further potential expenditure of around £65,000 for the coming year, as summarised 
in the table below. 

Options for Additional 2007/08 / Expenditure / £ 

Stakeholder Opinion Polling 
10,000 

Planning Enforcement 
30,000 

Outdoor Access Infrastructure 
-

Develop Prioritised Actions to Address Climate Change 
25,000 

Cultural Heritage 
-

45. 
The Management Team anticipates that it would be possible to accommodate 
additional expenditure up to this total within its overall budget management 
strategies over the course of the coming year, should the Board wish to go ahead 
with any of the further developments highlighted in the preceding sections. 
However, where there is any further expenditure proposed over and above these 
amounts, we believe it would be necessary to make reductions to existing budget 
provisions to accommodate them. 

Next Steps 

46. 
The recommended Operational Plan for 2007/08 currently focuses on the allocation of 
financial resources to various activities. Following approval of the final Operational 
Plan by the Board, the Management team will also allocate required staff resources 
into each line of activity. This will link the Operational Plan for the organisation as a 
whole into individual workplans for the coming year, through the Authority’s 
established appraisal process, and will also provide the means of fully costing each 
of our activities. The recommended Operational Plan has, of course, been developed 
to this stage with the availability of staff resource in mind. The detail of staff 
allocations to specific activities has been delayed to allow this work to be done on the 
final, approved version of the Plan. 

47. 
We will be developing the next Corporate Plan, covering 2008 to 2011, over the 
course of the coming year. The Management Team intends to give some priority to 
this work over the second and third quarters of the year, in order that a draft 
Corporate Plan is developed, against which the outcome of the Comprehensive 
Spending Review and consequential resource allocations for those three years can be 
assessed. We will seek to bring a final draft of the 2008/11 Corporate Plan to the 
Board in February 2008 for agreement, along with the Operational Plan for 2008/09 
forming the first year of delivery of the revised corporate strategy. 

48. 
In approaching the new Corporate Plan for the next three-year period, we will take a 
lead from the agreed structure of the NPP. Establishing the Corporate Plan for 2008 
to 2011 will complete the Authority’s transition from one of planning and policy 
development to one of delivery, coordination of NPP implementation, monitoring 
and review. Future operational plans will take their structure from the new 
Corporate Plan, which is itself likely to reflect the structure of the NPP. 


Financial Implications 

49. 
The recommended Operational Plan for 2007/08 seeks to establish a balance in 
resource allocation across the Authority’s relatively wide range of activities, while 
recognising that some aspects of delivery are inherently more resource intensive than 
others. The balance of financial allocation also reflects the anticipated availability of 
other potential funding partners for various aspects of activity. 

50. 
Delivery of the approved 2007/08 Operational Plan will be undertaken in accordance 
with established schemes of delegation for financial approvals and with financial 
regulations on using CNPA resources. In terms of the Authority’s scheme of 
delegation, Board approval is required for proposed budget allocations of greater 
than £50,000 to activities. Below this value, the Finance Committee has delegated 
powers to authorise budget allocations prior to expenditure being committed by 
officers. Once the Operational Plan is approved by the Board, officers’ presumption 
is that expenditure justifications put forward in keeping with the thrust of the 
overarching activities set out in the plan will be approved. This is, of course, subject 
to due consideration of fit of specific proposals with the intention of the Operational 
Plan and appropriate consideration of value for money / Best Value of specific 
proposals. 

51. 
The recommended Operational Plan includes relatively few individual activities 
where planned expenditure exceeds £50,000. We are conscious of the balance in 
using Board time on making specific financial decisions, and will keep the 
effectiveness of the delegated limits in place under review. 

Presentational Implications 

52. 
The 2007/08 Operational Plan represents the outcome of a relatively complex process 
which has required the Management Team to be sensitive to the outstanding work 
required by the existing Corporate Plan to 2008, approved by Ministers, and to the 
Authority’s need to maintain momentum and commence delivery of the National 
Park Plan, for which we also hope to have Ministerial approval prior to the start of 
the year. The Operational Plan therefore covers an interim year, completing the “setup” 
phase of the Authority, and moving the organisation into the delivery phase of 
the National Park Plan. 

53. 
The Operational Plan has also sought to achieve a balance in resource allocation 
between a relatively wide range of activities in which the Authority and its partners 
will engage over the course of the year. Funds allocated will directly deliver priority 
activities, or will act as significant catalysts in initiating activity and investment in 
the Park. 

54. 
Progress to date in delivering intended three-year milestones set out in the Corporate 
Plan in early 2005 has been extremely good. Many of the milestones targeted in the 
Corporate Plan for achievement by March 2008 have already been met. With 
substantial progress made to date in achieving many other milestones, the planned 
activities set out in the Operational Plan for the coming year should ensure 
achievement of the great majority of Corporate Plan objectives by the end of the three 
year period. 

55. 
A key priority in determining investment for the coming year has been to ensure 
that, as far as possible, remaining Corporate Plan milestones will be achieved. In 
considering the first year of delivering the National Park Plan, Management Team 
has also sought to ensure that, in delivering activities proposed, the Authority will 
add value to work within the Park and will not replicate efforts or investment which 
should be expected from other organisations. 


David Cameron 
9 February 2007 

davidcameron@cairngorms.co.uk