Cairngorms National Park Authority meetings attendance drops after pay rules relaxed
Attendances by members at Cairngorms National Park Authority meetings have dipped since rules on pay were relaxed.
Chief executive Grant Moir revealed the fall in a discussion at the CNPA board's latest meeting over the failure to be able to form quorums for smaller committees on a ‘repeated basis’.
The audit and risk committee in particular had problems including when external auditors were present.
Several members were unhappy it was being proposed three would be enough to form a quorum for six members committees when the current requirement was 50 per cent plus one member ie four members.
Bill Lobban described the proposal as a ‘severe democratic deficit’.
But Mr Moir said later in the meeting: “I have to say – and I will be very blunt on this – we had extremely good attendance when under old system members did not get paid if they did not attend.
"That attendance has fallen away as we have moved away from this.”
He pointed out that it was within members’ gift to return to these arrangements.
The change on remuneration was agreed by the CNPA’s board in June 2019.
It was to recognise some members undertook more extra-curricular activities on behalf of the CNPA than others but were still docked pay if they failed to attend meetings.
Board member Eleanor Mackintosh said: “For four members to turn up to partake in a meeting which can be important is not much to ask.”
She described it as ‘embarrassing’ to be at a meeting with external people which could not then proceed because of a lack of numbers.
She said: “For me, members should have had a knock on their door.”
CNPA board convener Xander McDade said that this had happened.
A decision on reducing the quorum to three members for small committees was deferred at the meeting so officials could come back with proposals to allow substitutes to attend instead.
David Cameron, the CNPA's director of corporate services, told the Strathy afterwards: “Our governance committee currently has a number of temporary vacancies which the board will resolve through an agreed elections process to those roles in the coming weeks.
"Our audit and risk committee meeting last week week was not quorate: it is carrying a one vacancy in membership from a total of six places currently while three other members submitted their apologies for the meeting...
"Where a members’ attendance at meetings falls below 80 per cent the convener addresses the matter of attendance with the member concerned.”
How does pay work for members of the Cairngorms National Park Authority board?
Members are appointed on the basis of providing a time commitment of between two to three days each month.
Mr Cameron said: "The typical approach is for board members to commence appointment on the basis of 2.5 days time commitment and associated fee payment each month.
"This amount of time may be increased to the maximum of three days on agreement with each member of additional responsibilities to be undertaken on behalf of the board."
