To:  All Potential Applicants of the Orkney LEADER

We have recently been advised by the Scottish Government, that after the UK Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on 23 November 2016, LEADER cannot provide any further offers of grant to applicants until we have been provided with clarity from the Scottish Government on the future of the funding.  Officials at the Scottish Government have advised that the impact of the Autumn Statement on LEADER will take some time to be processed, with the hope that we will be informed in early 2017 of the implications of the statement.

The Orkney Local Action Group (LAG) have therefore decided to introduce a special meeting on 3 November 2016 to process complete applications (that have match funding in place) in an effort to conclude offers of grant with projects which meet the scoring criteria prior to the Autumn Statement. The deadline for applications to this round will be 17 October 2016. If you plan to submit an application to this round, please contact me as soon as possible to discuss this.

After this round, the LAG plan to continue to hold meetings to which applications can be submitted, details of which can be found on this website. However, until clarity on the future of the funds is received from the Scottish Government, the LAG will only be able to provide projects with a decision in principle. This will not be a formal offer of grant, but will provide the applicant with an indication of whether their project meets the scoring criteria.

Once clarification on the funds has been provided by the Scottish Government in early 2017, assuming LEADER funding continues, the LAG will then review all applications that were provided with a decision in principle. At this point, the LAG will make a decision on which projects will be provided with offers of grant.  For clarity, therefore, a decision in principle will not be a guarantee of funding.

If you have any questions regarding this information please do contact me.

Amy Esslemont

LEADER Development Officer

Tel: 01856873535 (extension 2855)

E-mail: [email protected]