Scottish Government

4 Implementation process

Cohesion

Chapter 10 of the programme document highlights the complementarities between the measures and the overlaps with other public sector interventions, including the general statement "close co-operation with other executive departments, their agencies and local authorities will ensure compatibility between funding from the SRDP and other domestic sources of funding" (pp. 60).

Reference is made to the overlap with ETLLD who have responsibility for implementing structural funds, but there is little acknowledgement of crossover with other public sector departments. We suggest a need for wider exploration and clarity of demarcation between, and complementarities with, other Executive departments, European funding instruments etc.

The chapter discusses the overlap between EAFRD, EFF and SCF across individual axes within the SRDP scheme, but not other public departments e.g.SE business support. We suggest the chapter is too focussed towards description of the programmes being run, overlapping with the previous sections on detailed measures, and could be clarified by greater concentration on external collaboration. For example:

• Axis 1 - Statement that "diversification of the rural economy is also a strategic priority for Scottish Enterprise over the period 2006 - 09". An explicit link could be made to emphasise that the institutions are working collaboratively.
• Axis 2 notes a crossover with SNH activity, and also that interventions are central to the tourism industry. Also "VisitScotland intends to further develop Scottish tourism as one of the strongest performing sectors in the economy, with investment through the Enterprise networks in people and skills" (p59). Again, this linkage could be made more explicit in terms of VisitScotland's proposed interventions and input to the SRDP.
• Axis 3 definition notes education focus and LEADER overlap, but not the crossover with local college or national skills centre outcomes. As above, this again could be clarified.

We suggest a diagram or table highlighting axis priorities and potential collaborators/partners for each intervention area could prove a useful summary tool at the outset of the chapter (see below). This should highlight acknowledged crossover with existing public sector support, and demonstrate where interventions could be delivered through other partners e.g. business development under axis 3 could potentially be delivered through the Scottish Enterprise network.

Delivery bodies

Chapter 11 in the programme document highlights the authorities responsible for delivery and implementation of the programme. The draft contains a number of blanks, making the chapter difficult to formally assess, however the noted expansions appear appropriate.

SEERAD has overarching responsibility for delivery of the SRDP. However, in a number of areas, this responsibility is delegated to other bodies. It is not clear in some cases whether SEERAD is responsible for operational delivery or whether sub-contractors will be responsible. We suggest a more explicit link should be made between the mechanisms within the programme, and the responsible authorities. Where SEERAD is responsible for operational delivery, this should be made clear.

The diagram on p67 is a useful tool for summarising the management arrangements. However, it does not allocate delivery responsibility. The chapter notes that that the schemes are operated through service level agreements with delegated bodies - we suggest a box to this effect could be added to the summary diagram. Further description is required of how the managing authority will interact with these delivery organisations, but again, this is already noted in the draft for further fleshing-out.

In addition, the chapter refers throughout to the "management and control structure", and then the summary chart is labelled "governance and evaluation of the SRDP". We suggest that use of consistent terminology would aid understanding in this section.