The Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP) implementation programme reached a major milestone on Monday 7 April with the launch of Rural Development Contracts (RDC) Rural Priorities. The initial guidance was published on the web in March and now applicants are able to access the on-line systems to complete and submit a Statement of Intent (SoI). By the end of April in excess of 250 SoIs had been initiated.
We received the EC's formal confirmation of SRDP approval in late February. Delivering the necessary domestic legislation, guidance and initial IT systems so soon after that has been a huge collective achievement. We have made it our priority to give applicants the earliest possible chance to become familiar with the RDC Rural Priorities opportunities and process.
Having achieved that quick opening we are intent upon maintaining steady progress - delivering the on-line guidance and further IT systems for RDC Rural Priorities in instalments over several months, as and when they are needed to support each stage of the live business process. We have also had to make some compromises over the quality of the initial IT systems. Although meeting business requirements at this stage (as the many cases already submitted demonstrate), we are aware that these initial IT systems have shortcomings that may sometimes inconvenience applicants and staff. We will make progressive improvements to the systems with further software releases. Meantime, please pay attention to any recommended tips and workarounds to minimise problems.
While the launch of RDC Rural Priorities represents a great deal of progress, it is a milestone in a long journey. RDC Rural Priorities is a major change of approach and process. Therefore, as well as further essential instalments of the systems and guidance, there will be a continuing programme of capacity-building for staff and potential applicants.
The other SRDP delivery mechanisms are also coming on stream: for example, Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) payments were made from February; RDC Land Managers' Options (LMO) guidance and forms issued in March; with access to LEADER, Food Processing, Marketing and Co-operation scheme (FPMC) and Forestry Challenge funds all either available or nearing completion.
An updated SRDP implementation timetable is now available. For RDC Rural Priorities, we have reviewed the dates and the sequence in which we will bring the next elements on stream. Key points to note are:
- Responses to Statements of Intent will not be made before 30 April. This is unchanged from the previous timetable and will ensure adequate capacity-building and consistency checks before the first responses are made.
- We propose to make the Outcome Plan template (with associated guidance) available in May. This will allow those applicants who are advised to develop their Statement of Intent into a full Proposal to progress with this work. We will discuss further with Case Officers how they may review and provide feedback to applicants on an Outcome Plan before it is finally committed with a full Proposal.
- Given the number of options available under Rural Priorities, the full Proposal system is a major piece of development work and we need to allow time for it to be tested rigorously. Therefore, it is now scheduled to go live by 7 July. Applicants will then be able to complete the specific information required to accompany the explanatory detail in their Outcome Plan, and commit the full case for formal assessment.
- We aim to hold the first round of Regional Proposal Assessment Committee (RPAC) meetings in August, although the timing of this will depend on stakeholder feedback on the time required to develop quality proposals for assessment. We are also intending to hold an RPAC round in late Autumn (to provide a further opportunity to consider proposals with multiannual elements seeking a start date 1 January 2009) and a third round in the early spring of 2009, before establishing a regular cycle of meetings to assess applications.