Scottish Rural Development Programme 2014-2020: ex-post evaluation - annex A scheme summary report

10. LEADER

Scheme description

LEADER (Liaison Entre Actions de Développement de l'Économie Rurale) is a long-established programme and predates the SRDP 2014-2020. Over time it has firmly established itself as a grassroots method of delivering support for rural development through the implementation of Local Development Strategies (LDS) which help to address the challenges each local area faced.

LEADER aimed to promote economic and community development within rural areas. It was a bottom-up method of delivering support for rural growth, aimed at: increasing the capacity of the local rural community and business networks by building knowledge and skills; encouraging innovation and co-operation; and attempting to tackle local development objectives through a community-led local development (CLLD) approach. It supported a broad mix of community, farm diversification enterprise and cooperation projects.

SG was the Managing Authority and Paying Agency for the LEADER 2014-2020 programme in Scotland. It managed the budgets, monitored delivery, and reimbursed Accountable Bodies for eligible expenditure. In the vast majority of cases, a local authority was the Accountable Body. At a local level LEADER in Scotland was coordinated, managed, and delivered by 21 Local Action Groups (LAGs) who were responsible for the strategic direction and implementation of LEADER, including managing the distribution of funds by selecting projects which fit with the LDS.

Public expenditure

The LEADER scheme was programmed to contribute to Priority 6 (Promoting social inclusion, poverty reduction and economic development in rural areas) and to FA 6B.

A summary of the public expenditure achieved by LEADER is provided in Table 10.1. Under the SRDP 2014-2020 the LEADER scheme made final co-financed payments to beneficiaries in 2022.

Source: Scottish Government, Annual Implementation Report 2023.

Performance indicators

A summary of the outcomes achieved by the LEADER is provided in Table 10.2.

Source: Scottish Government, Annual Implementation Report 2023.

Two of the three target indicators under FA 6B related to LEADER. The percentage of the rural population covered by LDS and the number of jobs created in projects supported by LEADER.

The AIR 2023 reports that:

• the 21 LAGs supported by the SRDP 2014-2020 cover a rural population of 2,100,000 - this is equivalent to 86.76% of the total rural population and meets the target set for the percentage of the rural population to be covered by LDS.
• 523 jobs (headcount) were created by supported LEADER projects - the target to create 551 jobs was almost achieved by the end of the Programme period (94.92%). There was limited data available on the gender of those people taking up the new jobs - 25 (female), 44 (male), and 454 (data not available or unknown).

On advice from the EC regarding the jobs created where the gender of the person employed was not available or unknown have been artificially allocated to either the female or male categories. This was done using the proportions of jobs created where the gender was known. This means that of the 454 jobs created where the gender of the person employed was not available or unknown 164 were allocated to the female category and 290 were allocated to the male category.

Overall, a majority of the jobs created by LEADER activities were taken up by males, as follows:

• female – 189 or 36%.
• male – 334 or 64%.

Scheme evaluation

SG officials confirmed that each LAG conducted its own internal or external evaluation of its LDS.

SG did not share a standard template with LAGs to enable a consistent approach to evaluation across Scotland. Rather the local LEADER evaluations undertaken were different in terms of scope, scale, methodology, and timing. While these evaluations typically provide a clear picture on the overall impact of LEADER at a local level, the SG has not undertaken activity to explore whether any of the data and findings could be brought together to provide a coherent and compensative picture on the impact of the LEADER Programme at a national level.

An internal process evaluation of LEADER 2014-2020 in Scotland (SG, 2018) comprised:

• analysis of administrative data on the Local Actions in Rural Communities System (LARCS) - all LEADER project details were uploaded to this IT system. Whilst projects were asked to report against various outcomes that would help to capture economic, social, cultural, and environmental impact, data at the time of the process evaluation was very limited due to the low share of completed projects. Consequently, no conclusions could be made at that time on impact solely based on data collected on LARCs. Note: at the time of the ex-post evaluation, there is no aggregated data readily available from LARCS.
• the collection and analysis of qualitative data generated through focus groups in four LAGs (selected based on the status of their projects, budget, and types of projects) – to help provide some insights on impact.

The role of the LEADER approach post-Brexit (2020) presented findings from research undertaken by SRUC on behalf of SG, to help better understand the evolution of the LEADER approach and its impact in rural/coastal Scotland since the early 1990s, and to identify options for the future post-Brexit. This research drew on evidence from various sources including:

• an international evidence review of the evolution and impacts of LEADER.
• analysis of available LEADER project data for Scotland since 1991.
• interviews with 24 national and regional stakeholders (in the UK and Europe) and a workshop discussion with 15 Scottish LEADER staff.
• LAG and project case studies that illustrate a range of experiences and outcomes.

Other useful documents include:

• Scottish Rural Network: evaluation (SG, RESAS, 2020).
• Recommendations for a future LEADER programme (James Hutton Institute, 2022).

What worked well and/or less well

Aspects of LEADER which worked well include:

• the power of the bottom-up approach (delivered via the LAGs and the LDS’) for delivering local actions to address local needs, often in innovative ways.
• the ability of LEADER to empower communities in taking actions to improve resilience, particularly in places which may normally not be eligible for financial investment and other support.
• the potential for LAGs to include diverse perspectives and skills, and the wide-ranging support from LEADER staff that supported local community capacity-building.
• the impressive breadth and depth of projects supported by LEADER, many of which would not have been delivered otherwise, and many of which that have had long-lasting impacts and led to other projects or initiatives.
• the direct job creation and safeguarding of other roles as a result of LEADER projects, as well as delivery of training.
• the role that LEADER projects can play in long-term, strategic community economic and social development.

Aspects of LEADER which worked less well or were challenging included:

• cumulative delays which had a knock-on effect on achieving momentum at a local level – largely arising from the time taken to close the 2007-2013 LEADER programme and the time taken for LAGs to be established, to finalise guidance for the LEADER 2014-2020 programme and for the IT system to go live. Further, following the UK EU Referendum in 2016 no new LEADER funding awards could be made for a period of six months.
• the negative impacts that the increasing administrative complexity associated with LEADER had on the reputation of the programme among potential applicants.
• the demands placed on LEADER staff teams to deal with the various administrative aspects of their work.
• difficulties for new applicants with no experience of LEADER in ‘getting on the LEADER ladder’.
• some LAG areas found it difficult to meet the original ring-fenced proportion of the project budget to be used for enterprise and farm diversification projects, and for cooperation projects – due to local circumstances as well as the impact of Brexit and the pandemic.
• the uncertainty or ‘hiatus’ that occurred between LEADER programmes and the challenges this created - for example, loss of knowledgeable and experienced staff.
• variations in the application requirements and standards of service between the LAGs.

Lessons learned

In thinking about replacement schemes, the following points were noted:

• the LDS approach should be retained.
• the LEADER ‘brand’ should be refreshed.
• there should be continued emphasis on innovation but not as a requirement for every project.
• administrative requirements should be simplified.
• a tiered approach to projects should be explored.
• there should be adequate time and budget for animation and capacity-building.
• the top-down and bottom-up aspects of LEADER delivery should be balanced more appropriately.

Current status of the scheme

The LEADER programme is now closed.

Successor funding to LEADER has been made available by the SG on an annual basis, including:

• in 2021 £3.3 million was allocated to test future approaches to CLLD in rural and island communities in Scotland through the Rural Communities Testing Change the and Rural Communities Ideas into Action funds.
• in 2022-2023, £11.6 million of CLLD funding was made available:
• £8.6 million was allocated to LAGs to support CLLD within their areas through the Rural Community Led Fund.
• £3 million of funding was open to community groups delivered by Inspiring Scotland through the Rural and Island Communities Ideas into Action fund.
• in 2023-2024 £11.6 million funding was made available to support CLLD across rural and island Scotland, which included statutory funding (£6.7 million) ringfenced for resource use by the CLLD LAG network. A top up of £2.9 million capital for use by LAGs was allocated, bringing the total amount of funding directed to the LAGs to £9.6m. Of the remaining funding, £900,000 was approved to support collaboration activities between LAGs and foster better partnership working.
• in 2024-2025 £12.2 million was made available to continue to support CLLD and similar initiatives. Of the £12.2 million budget, £6.9 million is statutory funding for CLLD. This funding is being released in tranches:
• funding of £6.65 million was distributed to LAGS over May/June 2024 – this comprised £2.9 million capital and £3.75 million revenue funding.
• the remaining £250,000 was allocated for a review of CLLD, Scottish Rural Action, and the Scottish Rural Network in 2024-2025.

Reports which provide additional information include:

• Review of the Rural Communities Testing Change Fund 2021-2022 (Rural Policy Centre, SRUC, 2022).
• Review of Evidence on Rural Community Interventions (Rural Policy Centre SRUC, 2024) - a review of evidence on past and current interventions to support the sustainability of Scotland’s rural and island communities, their success factors and impacts, to inform a forthcoming review of CLLD in rural Scotland.