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CHAPTER 14: THE DESIGNATION OF THE PARTNERS CONSULTED AND THE RESULTS OF THE CONSULTATION
14.1 Designation of the partners consulted
Two public consultations were held in preparation for the 2007-13 Scotland Rural Development Programme. The first of these presented the priorities for the Strategic Plan, and the second set out proposals for implementing the Programme. For both consultations, an electronic copy of the consultation document was placed on the Scottish Executive website and hard copies were sent to approximately 1400 stakeholders including government agencies, local authorities, non-governmental organisations with economic, environmental and social remits, and bodies representing relevant industry and society interest groups. A list of the key organisations to whom copies of the consultation documents were sent is given in Annex 6.
14.2 Results of the consultation
Strategic Plan
The consultation on the Strategic Plan took place over 7 weeks between 8 February and 29 March 2006. A total of 107 responses was received. These have been categorised by stakeholder interest group. The number of responses received in each group is shown in Table 14.1. Local Authorities and Government Bodies accounted for over a third of responses, and the voluntary sector for about a fifth.
Table 14.1 Responses to the consultation on the Strategic Plan by type of respondent
Category of respondent | Number of responses |
|---|
Local Authorities | 19 |
|---|
Government Bodies | 18 |
|---|
Voluntary Sector | 19 |
|---|
Regional/Local Partnerships | 14 |
|---|
Private Individuals/Businesses | 17 |
|---|
Professional/Academic Bodies | 11 |
|---|
Representative Organisations | 9 |
|---|
TOTAL | 107 |
|---|
Rural Development Programme
The consultation on the Rural Development Programme took place over 12 weeks between 4 April and 30 June 2006. A total of 259 responses was received. The number of responses received for each category of respondent is shown in Table 14.2.
Table 14.2 Responses to the consultation on the Rural Development Programme by type of respondent
Category of respondent | Number of responses | % of total respondents |
|---|
Local authorities, including Community Planning Partnerships | 34 | 13 |
|---|
Government Bodies | 20 | 8 |
|---|
Voluntary Sector | 30 | 12 |
|---|
Regional/Local Development Partnerships | 33 | 13 |
|---|
Private individuals and businesses (including MSPs) | 78 | 30 |
|---|
Professional and Academic Bodies | 14 | 5 |
|---|
Representative Organisations | 50 | 19 |
|---|
TOTAL | 259 | 100 |
|---|
A series of 8 public meetings were held across Scotland in order to publicise the consultation and to receive direct feedback on the Scottish Executive's proposals. Locations for the meetings were chosen in order to maximise coverage of different regions of rural Scotland, and to reflect the diverse challenges and opportunities facing different areas. The locations that were selected for the meetings are shown in Table 14.3.
Table 14.3 Locations of the public consultation meetings
Location | Date of meeting |
|---|
Ayr | 8 June |
Benbecula | 1 June |
Castle Douglas | 23 May |
Kelso | 15 June |
Kirkwall | 12 June |
Perth | 14 June |
Tarbert (Argyll) | 20 June |
Thainstone | 31 May |
Dingwall | 13 June |
A summary of the results of the consultations is given in Annex 7, together with the response by the Scottish Executive. The results of the consultations revealed wide-ranging views but tended to support the Executive's high-level policy proposals for the SRDP. However, some adjustments were made in light of the findings to how some of our proposals would be implemented. For example, important changes were made to the structures for implementing the regional delivery of the SRDP.
Key stakeholders also participated in three Technical Working Groups that were set up by the Scottish Executive to identify and design measures for the SRDP. These groups covered Business Development, Natural Resources, and Countryside Issues respectively. Subsequent drafts of the SRDP and the measures proposed within were shared with the Executive's stakeholder group on the SRDP/ LMCs throughout autumn 2006 and spring 2007.
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