Scottish Rural Development Programme 2014-2020: Evaluation of Capital Grant Schemes – Main Report

1. Introduction

This report presents the findings of the independent evaluation of three capital grant schemes funded through the Scottish Rural Development Programme (SRDP) 2014-2020.

The evaluation was commissioned by the Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services (RESAS) Division within the Scottish Government (SG) and was undertaken by EKOS Ltd between January and July 2024.

The research was overseen by a small Research Advisory Group (RAG) comprising representatives from SG which met monthly over the study period.

Context

Scotland has benefitted from European funding for many years. The SRDP 2014-2020 had a budget of around £1.3 billion to deliver on its priorities related to the rural economy. It delivered Pillar II of the European Union (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and was managed, as a whole, by SG as Managing Authority (MA).

The SRDP supported economic, environmental, and social measures for the benefit of rural Scotland and its purpose was to help achieve sustainable economic growth. The main priorities of the Programme were to:

• enhance the rural economy.
• support agricultural and forestry businesses.
• protect the natural environment.
• address the impact of climate change and support rural communities.

The SRDP 2014-2020 comprised a diverse range of schemes, including the three capital grant schemes which were subject to this evaluation, viz:

1. New Entrants Capital Grant Scheme (NECGS).

2. Small Farms Grant Scheme (SFGS).

3. Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme (CAGS).

The capital grant schemes differed in terms of scale and timescales, however, all had a focus on business improvement and sustainability of new and small businesses in rural (and island) communities, and in how that could support the attraction and retention of farmers and crofters in the agricultural industry.

The capital grant schemes were intended to address European Commission (EC) Focus Area 2A: Improving the economic performance of all farms and facilitating farm restructuring and modernisation, notably with a view to increase market participation and orientation as well as agricultural diversification.

Evaluation aims and objectives

The aim of the evaluation was to examine the impact of the three capital grant schemes, including reflections on lessons learned, and at a minimum address the EC Reporting Requirement to achieve change in agricultural output.^[1]

More specifically, the evaluation considered:

• to what extent did the schemes support or reach the intended audience? What impact did the eligibility criteria have on this?
• what were the characteristics of grant recipients?
• what investment decisions did grant recipients make that they would not have done without receiving the grant?
• how did these investments impact their business (for example, in terms of productivity)?
• what other benefits did the schemes bring in addition to individual business success and growth (for example, community, sector, industry collaboration, climate/biodiversity)?
• what needs did the schemes meet and/or fail to meet?
• what feedback do grant recipients have on the experience of applying for and utilising a grant? What barriers to participation did they encounter?
• what barriers do grant recipients foresee to the application process moving online in future?
• what lessons can be learned from these schemes to inform any future grant support?

Report structure

The remainder of this report is structured as follows:

• Chapter 2 provides details of the study methodology and research limitations.
• Chapters 3, 4 and 5 consider each of the capital grant schemes based on a review on data provided by SG.
• Chapter 6 presents the main themes from the stakeholder interviews.
• Chapter 7 presents high level findings from the grant recipient survey and case studies.
• Chapter 8 considers the impact of the capital grant schemes, including change in agricultural output.
• Chapter 9 presents the conclusions from the evaluation.
• Chapter 10 provides lessons learned for consideration by SG.

Three separate annexes have been provided including:

• a document which sets the scene for the evaluation, including SRDP 2014-2020 policy context and programme development and focus, and touches on the transition period to 2024 and beyond. It also provides an overview of the agriculture sector in Scotland, including trend data analysis.
• a document that sets out the frequency tables and open-ended question analysis from the grant recipient survey.
• a document contains the fieldwork materials used as part of the primary research.