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New Opportunities Fund – Scottish Land Fund
Briefing to Scottish Land Reform Convention
By Pauline Cameron, Head of Scotland Office, 24 March 2000
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Background
 | Green Spaces and Sustainable Communities Programme11.5% allocation to Scotland. 75% (10.78 million) for community acquisition of land in rural Scotland |
| Use award partner to deliver grant management and assessment of programme |
| Delegated decision making to Scottish Land Fund Committee (sub-committee of NOF Board) |
| Funding to be allocated to award partner by end 2002 |
| Award partner contract to last until 2007 |
Scope
| Complement legislation (including crofting provisions) but not restricted to funding projects where community power to purchase is exercised |
| Community land purchase and management as a package |
| Management of land in partnership with agencies (on an equal partner or tenancy basis) |
| Management costs: capacity building in community business skills, land management, income generation projects |
| Contribution towards land acquisition costs |
| Contribution towards feasibility studies in assessing a proposal |
| Feasibility study costs: land valuation, economic/environmental assessment |
| Communities: who live and work on or near land which they are interested in purchasing/managing. Not about access to land for visitors to area. Communities can be defined geographically by parish, ward, community council area etc |
| Genuine community involvement: reasonable representation/ interest of the community on partnership/ applicant body. Rigorous checks that more than tokenism |
| Rural: follow legislative definition, but will allow for case to be made by applicant |
| Not-for-profit community based organisations/ business/ trust; include public/private sector agencies as partners |
| Additional income levered in by project (eg leasing through increased land value) must be reinvested into activities for which the project was originally intended (eg community development) |
| Applications from communities and/or organisations which will contribute to the sustainability of rural communities in fragile areas > population retention, increased skills base |
| Demonstrate balance between environmental and socio-economic benefits |
| Contracted out grant management for open application grant scheme: |
| Application request: dedicated NOF phone line, postal address: retain NOF identity |
| Promoting programme to target communities |
| Assessment |
| Recommendations to NOF sub-committee |
| Compliance monitoring and evaluation |
| Appointment by NOF Board: chaired by Scotland Board member |
| Range of expertise/ skills: community land management, grant management, community development, range of sectors, geographic spread, land reform legislation, crofting issues etc |
| Responsible for strategic direction of programme |
| Responsible for decision making on all grants from the fund |
| Formal procedures for dealing with conflicts of interest |
| GSSC Case Manager |
| Management of contracts |
| Support award partner in servicing of sub-committee |
| M&E programme delivery |
| Ensure adequate ongoing consultation with stakeholders |
| 31 March 2000 deadline date for submission of expressions of interest in becoming the award partner |
| April 2000: Board approval of 8 shortlisted candidates for Scottish Land Fund Committee |
| May 2000: first Scottish Land Fund Committee meeting |
| Summer: successful award partner notified and asked to progress to stage 2 to develop bids in more detail |
| Autumn 2000: contract approved by Scottish Land Fund Committee and launch of award partner scheme |