The Scottish Government

What is Match Funding?

Match funding is the amount which organisations, other than Rural Priorities, give towards the eligible costs of a project.

Depending on the rate of support through Rural Priorities, applicants may wish need to apply for match funding from other sources before applying to Rural Priorities.

What can I use as match funding?

Rural Priorities will accept match funding from all other sources including other Government funding, Lottery (Heritage Lottery Fund, Awards for All, Big Lottery, etc.), enterprise companieslocal authority funding, Landfill Communities Fund, charitable trusts, etc., except Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative (SCHRI).

What can't I use as Match Funding?

You cannot use match funding from other European Union (EU) sources including:

• other Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP) funds, e.g. LEADER,
• European Social Fund (ESF), e.g. Highlands and Islands Partnership Programme,
• European Regional Development (ERDF),
• LIFE,
• Interreg.

Is there a limit to the amount of public funding?

Public funding includes, but is not limited to,

• Exchequer funding and Scottish Government funding
• Local authority funding
• Lottery and
• Landfill Communities Tax

Each Rural Priorities Option has an "intervention rate" which means the maximum percentage of costs of eligible operations that can be provided from public funding sources. The intervention rate for each Option is included in the "Rate of Support" information on each Option web-page and on the RPAC Payment rate page. For example, if the maximum intervention rate is 80% and the cost of an eligible operation is £1,000, the total payment of public funds towards that operation cannot exceed £800. You cannot use match funding from public funding sources to exceed the maximum allowable intervention rate because it is forbidden by the EC and regarded as State Aid, see below and State Aid - Impact of Funding.

Can I count In-kind Contributions?

In-kind contributions are non-cash contributions to a project, typically donated goods and services, which are necessary for the project and would otherwise have to be purchased for the project to go ahead. For Rural Priorities, the only in-kind contribution that will be treated as eligible expenditure is the provision of land or real estate and this applies only where all of the following apply:

• there is a direct link between the land acquisition and the objectives of the project to be funded;
• they are not already owned by the applicant or a project partner;

• they have been identified and valued by an independent, qualified valuer or duly authorised official body, which has then provided a certificate confirming that the valuation price does not exceed the market value;
• the value of the land / real estate does not represent more than 10% of the total, other eligible expenditure of the project; (value in excess of 10% would be ineligible)
• national or European Community grants have not previously contributed towards their purchase and / or development.

Table 1. Example calculation of in kind contribution of land to a project

For Rural Priorities, staff or other costs are not eligible as in-kind contributions, but may be counted as eligible project costs.

What about State Aid and Match Funding?

Particularly for applications supporting non-agricultural, commercial activities, Rural Priorities funding may be regarded as a State Aid. Other public funding may also be regarded as State Aid.

You should contact the other public funders of your project and check with them whether they regard their funding as State Aids and, if so, under what terms they awarded it (e.g. De Minimis State Aid or General Block Exemption). You should then provide this information to the Case Officer when you submit your proposal to Rural Priorities as it may affect the level of funding that can be awarded. Please see attached guidance on how to work out if your project or activity is likely to be affected.