Scotland Food & Drink Partnership’s Regional Food Fund records: EIR release

Information requested

Records on the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership’s Regional Food Fund, specifically:

1. Scotland Food & Drink Partnership’s Regional Food Fund, how much has been spent on this, breakdown per year and per region. Can this include names and descriptions of all projects which have been handed cash?

2. Could you supply the full policy analysis of how well this project has went?

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

You will find a response below to some of the information you have requested regarding point 1 and the remaining information of: breakdown per year, per region, project names and descriptions will be enclosed in a separate document attached.

The ‘Scotland Food & Drink Partnerships Regional Food Fund’ was launched in February 2021, to support the development of regional food and drink projects across Scotland.

Since 2021, funding has been made available equating to £510,000 with contributions from Scotland Food & Drink to the ‘Scotland Food & Drink Partnerships Regional Food Fund’, which supports creative, innovative and collaborative projects, varying from food and drink tourism trails, festivals, a variety of showcase events and promotional regional marketing campaigns.

You will find a response below to point 2 of your request; full policy analysis of how well this project has went?

The Regional Food Fund plays an important role in highlighting the benefits of showcasing local produce by supporting regional activities, community engagement, collaboration and networking initiatives and tourism opportunities which in turn deliver long term benefits to Scotland’s local food and drink sector.

The Scottish Government commission the fund in partnership with Scotland Food & Drink who deliver it on our behalf which includes conducting analysis of the projects and fund. It is evident since the launch of the Regional Food Fund, the success and impact had on our local businesses has been instrumental in ensuring the people of Scotland continue to have access to the high-quality local produce that Scotland has to offer.

The number of applications received for the fund exceeds the amount we can grant which demonstrates the demand from local businesses to take part. Through our independent assessment panel who review every application, they look at the geographical spread to ensure every region where we have received applications for is represented where possible when meeting the aims of the fund.

To ensure applicants have completed and achieved the project they submitted, the fund was spent appropriately and there were no concerns, project teams are required to submit an interim and final project report outlining the tangible impacts achieved to Scotland Food & Drink who will confirm it is satisfactory before final payments have been made.

By reviewing each project report, we are able to measure the effectiveness of the fund in helping us to achieve our commitment to driving the growth of local sourcing and reducing our carbon footprint but also the effects it has on different regional groups, for example the positive impact for those in more rural areas where it is harder to access local produce from a variety of suppliers in one place and this is where our collaborative farm shops, in-person and online markets benefit for both producer and purchaser.

Scotland Food & Drink will also conduct case studies after each round of the Regional Food Fund with successful applicants who choose to participate to gain further feedback on how effective the fund has been in achieving the projects objectives.

The case studies look at three key areas:

• What did the project aim to achieve
• How did the regional food fund help
• What has the regional food fund help you to achieve

Case studies can be found on the Scotland Food & Drink Partnerships website. Regional Food Fund | Scotland Food & Drink (foodanddrink.scot)

The fund encourages local businesses to work collaboratively with their Regional Food Group who can provide continued support to promote local food and drink businesses to develop strength and long-term sustainability.

Regions are benefitting by turning small-scale projects into long term legacy projects from supporting the expansion of farm shops to include more local suppliers, regular and seasonal food & drink markets, more online presence showcasing stories from local producers, collaborative food menus and educational community engagement, we are showcasing the amazing Scottish produce and that is why the fund is so successful.

Some of the information you have requested is available from the Regional Food Fund section of the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership’s website. Scotland Food & Drink annually publish successful projects of the Regional Food Fund and will publish those projects for financial year 2024-25 in due course.

Regional Food Fund | Scotland Food & Drink (foodanddrink.scot)
Project Archive | Scotland Food & Drink (foodanddrink.scot)

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

EIR 202400431402 - Information released - Annex

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