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ANNEX 1
Template for LEADER Local Development Strategy and Business Plan

(To be read in conjunction with the Guidance pack of June 2007.)

There are four sections to complete. Section A should be completed by 22 August 2007 in order that the Scottish Executive can review the breadth of the partnership and geographical areas chosen. It should then be encompassed in the main Business Plan text. The document should lead with an Executive Summary. You may include diagrammatic presentations indicating structures and processes.

: Partnership Details (to be submitted by 22 August 2007)

1. Local Action Group Name

2. Contact Details

3. Partnership details - please provide full information. Note the expectation that at least one member of the "On the Ground" family would sit on the LAG and also the RPAC to provide integration across the Scotland Rural Development Programme.

4. LAG area including maps and description of the area to be covered by the LAG

5. Population of the area and including full justification if the population ceiling of 150,000 inhabitants is breached.

(to be completed and submitted by 31 October 2007)

1. What is/are the theme(s) around which your strategy is based? An evidence base is suggested at Annex 2 section 1.3. Leader+ groups should also provide an evaluation of their Leader+ activities indicating how successful these have been, what lessons have been learned and what needs to be addressed. You may find it useful to include analysis of data from community workshops.

2. What are the main issues identified/specific needs you intend to tackle in the strategy and what are the objectives of the strategy? Are there any target groups?

3. How do you intend to tackle these issues and target the groups identified?

4. What outcomes do you hope to achieve as a result of the actions taken?

5. How is innovation worked into your strategy? What makes the strategy innovative and how will this be transferred to projects?

6. Cooperation is one of the key tenets of LEADER. Define in your strategy how you propose to use cooperation to the benefit of the rural community in the LAG area.

7. How does the strategy complement the Scotland Rural Development Programme, Structural Fund programmes, Scottish Executive, Local Government and LEC policies and the local Community Plan(s)?

8. How does the strategy reflect EU, national, regional, and local priorities and partnerships?

9. Demonstrate how the strategy contributes to sustainability.

(to be completed and submitted by 31 October 2007)

1. A detailed explanation of the delivery process should be provided and how State Aid issues will be dealt with.

2. The Administrative and Financial arrangements should be set out. These should include job description(s) and salary proposals for staff, financial controls and any restrictions on levels of approval.

3. A Communications and Publicity Strategy is seen as key to the success of LEADER. Please identify your communication and publicity strategy and how you will use LEADER funding in the implementation. Please note that there is an expectation that successful project beneficiaries will be publicised, and that the EU and LEADER logos should be displayed prominently on all projects.

4. A programme of planned activities for the LAG should be included.

5. Please indicate your commitment to Discrimination, Diversity, Disability and Equality policies and how you will ensure the LAG is also committed to ensuring equality of opportunity in the preparation and delivery of projects.

6. Actions proposed under the identified theme(s), priorities and measures should be noted. You may wish to separate the four actions and identify what will be funded under each, how the proposals fit with the local development strategy and what the priorities are.

7. The selection criteria you propose to use in the assessment of projects for LEADER funding should be noted.

8. Monitoring and Evaluation proposals should be noted including the level of project inspections and how the target indicator information required by the Scottish Executive and European Commission will be gathered, plus any additional indicators you intend to use to judge the extent to which outcomes are achieved. Details of how individual projects will be evaluated should also be included.

(to be completed with the Business Plan)

Please indicate as near as possible the total costs that will be incurred by your LAG over the following 6 years. Costs should be restricted to ONLY those eligible for LEADER. Management costs are capped at 20% of the total allocation under Action 1 and 2 respectively. It is recognised that new groups will initially have higher management costs and lower project expenditure, but over the lifetime of the programme period will need to keep management costs within the 20% ceiling. New Lags will not be penalised for this when compared to applications from established groups.

Table 1
TOTAL ELIGIBLE COSTS £000's

Please indicate as near as possible, the level of funding that you plan to attract from different sources shown below. We intend that LEADER funding will match £ for £ that attracted from Match Funders.

Table 2
SOURCES OF FUNDING FOR ELIGIBLE COSTS £000's

Table 3
FUNDING PROFILE £000's

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