Performance & Business Plan: 2023 - 24
Financial Overview and Statement
Each year, we support our expenditure with four main sources of funds:
- National Park Grant from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
- Other government grants where available
- Income generation from sales and charges for our services
- Additional funds from grant bodies, partnerships, and donations.
During the financial year, we allocate expenditure to 8 functional headings in accordance with Defra’s Grant Funding Agreement, as shown in the following overall financial statement. The financial information covers four years:
- Resources used in 2021/22 and 2022/23
- Estimated resources used in 2023/24 (draft unaudited version - before external audit)
- Budgeted expenditure and income for 2024/25.
The November 2021 Spending Review was a three year settlement and as a result in May 2022 the Authority was issued with a three year grant agreement from Defra. This confirmed that the grant level will remain fixed at £6.669m for 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25 (although 2024/25 figures are indicative only). Despite the publication of the Landscapes Review in September 2019, which recommended inflation protection for National Park Grant as a minimum, this has yet to be implemented. The medium term financial stability of National Parks therefore remains uncertain.
For the 2023/24 financial year, the Authority set a borrowing limit (the authorised limit) of £2.5m. The Authority’s external borrowing as at 31st March 2024 was £299k. The Authority’s Capital Financing Requirement, i.e. its underlying need to borrow for capital purposes, was £1.128m at 31/03/2024 (£1.240m at 31/03/2023). The Authority did not enter into any financing transactions during the year, and relied upon internal cash resources.
# Overall Financial Statement
| Expenditure £,000 | 2021/22 Outturn | 2022/23 Outturn | 2023/24 Previous Year (draft) | 2024/25 Current Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservation of the Natural Environment | 5,781 | 5,989 | 9,681 | 9,097 |
| Conservation of the Cultural Heritage | 328 | 353 | 296 | 338 |
| Recreation Management & Transport | 1,871 | 1,824 | 1,860 | 1,185 |
| Promoting Understanding | 1,328 | 899 | 1,205 | 1,390 |
| Rangers Estates and Volunteers | 1,736 | 1,592 | 1,444 | 1,568 |
| Development Planning | 903 | 1,036 | 1,079 | 1,142 |
| Forward Planning | 719 | 569 | 714 | 814 |
| Corporate Management & Support Services | 2,828 | 3,073 | 2,964 | 4,806 |
| Total Gross Expenditure | 15,494 | 15,335 | 19,243 | 20,340 |
| Income - sales fees and charges | (2,401) | (2,384) | (2,591) | (2,999) |
| Income - grants | (6,341) | (5,469) | (8,315) | (9,420) |
| Total Net Expenditure | 6,752 | 7,482 | 8,337 | 7,921 |
| Capital adjustment | (330) | (730) | (710) | (1,266) |
| Funding Requirement | 6,422 | 6,752 | 7,627 | 6,655 |
| Funded by: | ||||
| Baseline National Park Grant (NPG) | 6,699 | 6,699 | 6,699 | 6,699 |
| Net Interest | 19 | 159 | 467 | 360 |
| Use of Reserves - (to) / from | (296) | (106) | 461 | (404) |
| Capital Expenditure | 510 | 812 | 1,217 | 1,369 |
# Notes to the Statement
- The Authority sets a budget in February for the financial year April to March, and reports outturns in the following May or July at the Authority Meeting; variances from approved budgets are identified in this report. Full committee papers can be found under the relevant month on our website, together with a complete set of the Authority’s latest audited accounts.
- The capital adjustment reverses depreciation, impairments and accrued pension and staff costs and adds back actual expenditure on financing capital assets, in order to arrive at the funding requirement for the year.