The Leader Broadband Challenge Fund

Rural Secretary Richard Lochhead formally launched the LEADER Broadband Challenge fund on the 1st July 2010.

Rural communities will be able to bid for a share of a million-Euro fund (£800,000) to bring enhanced broadband to their areas across all of Scotland. The new investment is to be delivered by the LEADER scheme which supports small-scale, community driven projects in rural areas and is aimed at improving coverage and bringing faster broadband rural communities.

Leader Local Action Groups have now been invited to collect local applications, assess them using their existing LEADER procedures, and submit those deemed suitable to a Rural Broadband Challenge Fund.

Bids will be considered by the Scottish Government in October so all applications from Orkney should be completed and passed to The Orkney LEADER Programme by 27th August 2010

Projects should be in keeping with the LEADER principles and applications made to LAG groups should have a positive rural development impact which they consider improved broadband access would bring.

Examples include: community groups wishing to upgrade exchanges, pilot projects into next generation broadband, supporting a business collective to access better broadband etc

Applications for financial assistance will be accepted from:

· Individuals (although the project must support LEADER principles and demonstrate wider rural development benefits)

· Constituted community groups

· Public organisations and agencies

· Partnerships, trusts and other non-governmental organisations

· Social enterprises

· Collaborative business/ community organisations (constituted groups).

There is no limit set for the value of project bids to Scottish Government or applications to LAGs. One million euros is to the total funding available in the Challenge Fund. No match funding is required ie 100% costs under Challenge Fund.

The Orkney LEADER Lag will employ its existing application forms and assessment procedures to consider projects. Due to the summer holidays there is not much time for applications to be made so we urge any communities, groups etc wishing to put forward a bid to submit a draft application form as soon as possible

A summary of the application process is available in our Document Library

• As a direct result of Scottish Government intervention, broadband availability in Scotland is over 99 per cent.
• Following broadband projects delivered by the former Scottish Executive and successful completion of SG’s Broadband Reach Project in March 2010, basic broadband coverage, defined as 512 kbps (kilobits per second), is now generally available throughout Scotland. 
• The Broadband Reach Project, which was completed in March 2010, is now providing a basic, affordable, broadband service to over 2,400 households and businesses, many located in rural areas, previously unable to get broadband due to distance from the exchange.
• In a separate project, BT is investing £3 million in a programme of upgrades to 81 rural and remote exchanges located throughout Scotland, by agreement with the SG. The exchanges are all experiencing capacity issues. The programme is now two thirds complete; the remainder will be complete by the end of November 2010.
• This latest announcement means that communities will have the opportunity to define their broadband needs and, develop a project which meets these needs. It will then be for the LAGs to assess the merits of these applications and bid for funding to the Challenge Fund.

• The local council
• Local Enterprise Company
• Business people
• Other public agencies
• Voluntary action groups
• Community groups

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