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Rural Development Programme for England
FROM THE GROUND UP Taking the Leader approach in the NORTH WEST
Guide for Applicants
Foreword The diversity and innovative nature of LEADER programmes have been in large measure a testament to the effectiveness, commitment and enthusiasm of those involved. The value of the Leader approach to rural development, its involvement of local people in the planning, management and delivery of its programmes has been recognised by the EU, who have insisted that the new Rural Development Regulation should include delivery using this approach. I hope this prospectus will provide you with clear guidance on how the region can utilise the best of this approach, to effectively deliver the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) to best advantage which is being co-financed between the European Union and treasury. Our Regional Implementation Plan (RIP) provides details of how the RDPE will be delivered and they key priorities within the region. The Northwest RIP has four thematic action areas: • • • •
Making farming and forestry more competitive and sustainable Enhancing the environment and countryside Enhancing opportunities in rural areas Skills, knowledge transfer and capacity building
The Northwest Regional Development Agency’s role in effectively implementing RDPE must be about creating a strong sustainable foundation for the region’s rural businesses and communities and we intend to work with partners to achieve that end. RDPE must help make agriculture and forestry more competitive and sustainable. It must help ensure that we are enhancing opportunities for rural areas; and we must work together to ensure that RDPE Axis 2 activity, that aims to safeguard and enhance the rural environment is complementary to these objectives. The Leader approach is a mechanism by which a 'bottom-up' community involvement approach to rural development can be achieved. It is an important and valued approach and we look forward to your response on how we can deliver RDPE from the ground up.
David Hunter Head of Rural Affairs Northwest Regional Development Agency
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Introduction – The Rural Development Programme for England 2007 to 2013 and the LEADER approach. The new RDPE will run from 2007 to 2013 and is jointly funded by the European Union (EU), through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, and the United Kingdom (UK) Government. Funding through the new Programme will support the following objectives: • • •
Making agriculture and forestry more competitive and sustainable (Axis 1) Safeguard and enhance the rural environment (Axis 2) Enhancing opportunities in rural areas (Axis 3)
In order to enable a 'bottom-up' community involvement approach to rural development a final Axis of the Programme (Axis 4) has been developed and is termed “The Leader Approach” by EU. Rather than being a discrete package of activities, the Leader approach is a mechanism by which the other three axes can be delivered. The second axis will be delivered by Natural England and the Forestry Commission and axes 1 and 3 will be managed the Regional Development Agencies in England. Each region has prepared a RIP which provides details of how the RDPE will be delivered and the key priorities within the region. The Northwest RIP can be downloaded at www.nwda.co.uk/rdpe. In line with the national programme, the Northwest RIP has identified four thematic action areas: • • • •
Making farming and forestry more competitive and sustainable Enhancing the environment and countryside Enhancing opportunities in rural areas Skills, knowledge transfer and capacity building
The second theme will be primarily delivered by Natural England and the Forestry Commission through the Environmental Stewardship Scheme, the Hill Farm Allowance, the English Woodland Grant Scheme and the Energy Crops Scheme. The other themes, including the Leader approach, will be delivered by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA). A key objective of the Northwest RIP is the integration in the delivery of activities across the four thematic action areas to ensure the maximum possible benefit for rural areas.
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What was LEADER and what is the “Leader Approach”? LEADER (Liaison Entre Actions de Développement de l'Economie Rurale) has been a major initiative for rural development since its launch in1991 as a Community Initiative funded through the EU Structural Funds. The LEADER initiative provided rural communities with the tools to enable them to play an active role in shaping their own future. It aimed to encourage rural territories to explore new ways to become or remain competitive and make the most of their assets. There have been three phases of LEADER since 1991, LEADER I (1991 – 1994), LEADER II (1995 – 1999) and LEADER+ (2000 – 2006). Each programme has built upon lessons learnt in the previous programme and in the UK the coverage of the approach has expanded. The community based bottom-up approach (“The Leader approach”) to rural development provides opportunities for local communities and enterprises to identify their needs and devise appropriate strategies as part of the delivery of RDPE. This approach involves establishing partnerships that will receive a budget to support the implementation of projects. The key difference between the previous LEADER programmes and the new Leader approach is that it is a method for delivery and not a separate programme of activities. Its focus must be the priorities within the RIP for the RDPE. The new Rural Development Regulation sets out the key requirements that define the Leader approach which must apply in ALL cases: • • • • • • •
it should be area based involving well-identified sub-regional territories it should involve local public-private partnerships (local action groups or LAGs). Non-public sector representation must make up at least 50% of the partnership it is a “bottom-up” approach with decision-making power for LAGs a local development strategy must be formulated which is representative of a broad cross-section of the local economy it must involve innovative locally tailored solutions to meet the needs of the area it must involve co-operation between organisations there should be networking of LAGs facilitated by a National Rural Network
Geographical Coverage The Leader approach will be open to all rural areas in the North West of England. However the following conditions must apply: • •
the population of the geographic area must be no less than 5,000 but not more than 150,000 inhabitants the area shall offer sufficient critical mass of human and financial resources to support a viable local development strategy
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the area should constitute a socially cohesive territory sharing common traditions, a local identify and a sense of place
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Composition of Local Action Groups LAGs can be new groups or groups that have already qualified for delivery for LEADERII or LEADER+. The Rural Development Regulation sets out the conditions a LAG must meet as follows: • •
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it must propose a local development strategy and be responsible for implementation it must represent various socio-economic sectors in the geographic area. At the decision-making level it must include a minimum of 50% membership from outside the public sector, such as farmers, rural businesses, young people, rural women, voluntary and community organisations. it must select an administrative or financial lead actor or come together in a legally constituted structure it must network with other LAGs to ensure best practice and implement innovations from elsewhere
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How will Groups be selected? In order to comply with the Rural Development Regulation, the procedure for selecting LAGs, must be open to all rural areas and ensure competition and transparency. The selection process will be consistent across all of the Regional Development Agencies in England and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have produced national criteria. However, each region will have the ability to apply regional flexibility to the national criteria in order to ensure regional priorities highlighted in the Northwest RIP are met. The Process in the North West In the North West, LAGs will be selected using a two-stage process. The first stage involves the submission of an Expression of Interest (EOI) pro-forma. The first call for EOI will be launched on 1 August 2007. The EOI should be completed by all groups wishing to apply to deliver RDPE activity using the Leader approach in the North West. The EOI will need to include the following information: • • •
details of the geographic area to be covered a description of the key issues which you intend to address and how you will address these the rationale for using the approach
The EOI pro-forma can be downloaded from the NWDA’s website at www.nwda.co.uk/rdpe. A guidance note is also available to assist interested groups with the completion of the pro-forma. The guidance note should also be read in conjunction with the Northwest RIP which sets out the strategic direction for the RDPE in the North West. A copy of the RIP can be downloaded from the website at www.nwda.co.uk/rdpe. The deadline for submission of completed EOIs is 29 August 2007 at 1700 hours. The EOI pro-forma will not be scored but all applicants will receive feedback to enable them to decide whether to continue to the full applications stage. If a group intends to make a full application then they must first submit an EOI. A second call for proposals will be issued in early 2008. The second stage of the LAG selection process involves the submission of a full application which will include the local development strategy. The call for full applications will be launched on 1 October 2007 where organisations who have submitted an EOI will invited to progress their applications. Funding for capacity-building may be available to assist new and existing groups develop their strategies. Completed applications will need to be submitted to the NWDA by 1700 hours on 14 January 2008.
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Local development strategies will need to demonstrate how they will: •
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contribute to the achievement of the priorities set out in the Northwest RIP and other regional strategies such as the NWDA’s Regional Economic Strategy, Regional Rural Delivery Framework, the Regional Forestry Framework and the Sustainable Farming and Food Strategy address the measures and themes of the RDPE as detailed in the Northwest RIP ensure integration across the three RDPE axes and the integration of sustainable development principles Complement and where appropriate add value to wider economic development strategies such as the strategies of sub-regional partnerships, Local Area Agreements and Local Strategic Partnership priorities.
Local Development Strategies will therefore need to include: • • • • • • • •
details of the membership of the LAG including sectors covered and whether these are public, private or voluntary the overall objectives of the strategy and how these fit with the RDPE and the Northwest RIP a definition of the geographic area to be covered including wards and parishes. The description of the area will need to include an analysis of the socio-economic and environmental characteristics of the area details of how the LAG will achieve integration across all three axes details of the organisation that will undertake the accountable body role, how segregation of duties and financial issues will be managed a robust description of the planned activities and projects a demonstration of the need derived from an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the area concerned an indication of the targets from the RDPE that the LAG intends to deliver through the projects described above
What are the selection criteria? Guidance received from Defra has identified a number of criteria to be used when selecting LAGs which will be applied across all regions. These are: •
appropriateness of the partnership The partnership’s purpose is to deliver an integrated rural development strategy. It is therefore important that, as well as satisfying the private/public sector split in terms of membership, the partnership has a broad representation across social, environmental and economic interests. The application must provide sufficient assurances that the partnership can define and implement a development strategy for the
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area (or has the potential to do so with appropriate capacity building support). •
coherence of the area The area must be sufficiently coherent from a geographical, economic and social point of view. The application should be precise on the geographical area to be covered, including wards and parishes.
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quality of the proposed Local Development Strategy There should be socio-economic and environmental analyses, with objectives and proposed actions that follow clearly from the evidence.
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financial and administrative capacity The strategy will need to demonstrate that appropriate resource exists to implement the strategy. There must be clear evidence supporting the partnership’s suitability and competence, including: the capacity of the individuals; and its ability to administer public funds and implement the strategy.
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fit with National Programme objectives Partnerships must show how their development plan contributes to the overall objectives of the RDPE.
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integration of sustainable development principles Proposed strategies should take account of the need to: o support and enhance the social, economic and environmental sustainability of the area to be covered; o ensure that resources will be used in such a way that options available to future generations are not impaired: strategies supported must demonstrate that they do not have any significant negative environmental impact.
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commitment to integration across the objectives of the three axes Proposed strategies will need to demonstrate how the partnership has the expertise to achieve this integration and what it would mean in practice.
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commitment to co-operation It is not a regulatory requirement for all LAGs to carry out co-operation but Article 37.4 of the Implementing Regulation states that Member States “shall seek to ensure that a priority is given to the selection of local action groups which have integrated co-operation into their Local Development Strategies.” Co-operation could be with another group in England, in another part of the UK or in another Member State. Cooperation may take the form of a specific project, or complementary actions such as joint marketing by Leader groups that share a common interest. An example may be the development of joint tourism initiatives based on a shared cultural heritage.
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What about Cross-regional boundary application? NWDA is in support of cross-regional border applications for coherent LAG areas on the following basis: • • • •
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If partnerships are considering cross border applications, they should contact all the RDAs involved at the earliest opportunity to discuss their intentions and raise initial awareness When RDAs are aware of the intention they will undertake to support applications by electing a single lead RDA to be the lead contact for multi-region applications Applicants will be asked to submit a single EOI and full application to the lead region RDAs will try as far as possible to align timescales for selection processes but in some cases cross-border applications may take longer to receive final decisions owing to multi-region consultation requirements. A decision panel for multi-region applications will include all relevant RDAs as well as members of regional partners. Please note it is possible that multi-region applications may not meet the criteria required for every region covered by their application. Applicants should be aware that approval by one region will not necessarily indicate overall approval of their application
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What happens next? The EOI stage will be open from 1 August until 29 August 2007. All applicants will receive a letter acknowledging receipt of the EOI. The EOIs will be considered and feedback will be given to all applicants by the beginning of October 2007. The submission of an EOI is no guarantee that your full application will be approved.
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