Spotlight on the council's Coastal Communities Fund
By Louise Shearer
I caught up with Executive Manager – Economic Development, Tommy Coutts, European Project Manager, Sally Spence, and External Funding Officer/Community Council Liaison Officer, Michael Duncan, to find out more about the council’s Coastal Communities Fund and the progress made towards delivering positive outcomes for Shetland communities.
The council was allocated £1,008,679 in September 2019 and £1,359,806 in July 2020 from the net revenue generated by Scottish Crown Estate assets during financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19 respectively. This funding is designed to make sure that coastal communities benefit directly from this net revenue.
Tommy – can you tell me a bit more about what those positive outcomes are and what progress has been made to deliver on these?
The Coastal Communities Fund is very much about delivering on the outcomes set out in Shetland’s Partnership Plan – Participation, People, Place and Money. The scheme is specifically looking to support development within, and driven by, communities, so investments in infrastructure, building community capacity, supporting projects to increase economic participation, improving quality of life, greater community cohesion and so on.
This was very much about supporting the aspirations of local communities to, in some ways, take charge of their own future. We cast the net widely in terms of who was eligible (local development organisations, third sector organisations, local committees who run an asset or are involved in an initiative etc) and also what type of activities were eligible, with the fund covering both capital and revenue projects.
What did establishing the pilot scheme involve?
The first thing we needed was the funding and we got two tranches – in 2019 and 2020. The funding comes from the distribution of net revenue generated from Crown Estate activity.
The decision was made in Shetland to establish a community-level third party grant scheme to distribute this funding – other councils across Scotland chose other methods of distribution. We took lessons from other similar funds, for example, the EU LEADER Programme, and we established a set of criteria through which the funding would be allocated, which included the level of award.
At the outset, we agreed that this would be a very high intervention rate scheme – 90% grants with a minimum grant of £10,000 and a maximum of £100,000. However, we still expect applicants to commit some level of funding themselves.
Once the criteria was established and we had set down what the scheme would do, we had to figure out the mechanics of the funding. We established a two-stage process whereby an applicant would submit a stage 1 expression of interest – a high-level summary of the project and how it will deliver on the aspirations in Shetland’s Partnership Plan, which is a very important consideration.
That then goes to a panel of officers representing each directorate within the council for a decision. If successful, the applicant is advised to proceed to full application. The stage 2 is a more in depth application process. If the grant request is below £50,000, the panel can approve and the award can be made. If it’s over £50,000, the panel will make a recommendation in a report to Full Council.
Michael added – the pandemic and the economic crisis it created meant we were encouraged to push ahead and launch the scheme as a one-year pilot fund as quickly as possible, which we managed to do during the summer of 2020. We pledged to review the effectiveness of the pilot and provide a report with learning points to elected members in 2021, making recommendations on whether to continue the scheme as is or whether to make any changes.
Sally – at the outset we wanted to make sure that the scheme wouldn’t duplicate any other assistance that already exists. We also saw the fund as filling a gap, particularly following the end of the LEADER Programme and until such time as UK funding schemes replacing EU funding become available.
Do all local authorities in Scotland get an allocation, even landlocked ones?
Yes, every local authority will get something. Each local authority’s allocation is based on a formula, which is based on a share of total sea area in the 0-12 nautical mile zone adjacent to each local authority. The allocations have been adjusted to make sure that each local authority, whether landlocked or with a coastline, receives a de minimis allocation of £1,000.
How did you promote the scheme?
Michael: We used different ways to promote the scheme, including press releases and getting information out to community councils and groups, as well as publicising on the council website. We generated a lot of interest quite quickly and that has been maintained.
In total then, how much funding has Shetland received to date?
The combined total for 2017-18 and 2018-19 is £2.37m, with a further £1.57m received for the 2019-20 tranche – it’s a considerable amount of money.
Who has received funding so far?
Sally – to date, 37 projects have been approved for funding and had grant offers issued, totalling £2,101,762.39. Following approval of a stage 1 application, an applicant may not come forward immediately with a stage 2 application as it can take some time to fully develop a proposal, and achieve project match funding and statutory consents before the stage 2 application is ready to be presented to the panel for consideration.
Carnegie Hall received funding to make some improvements in the hall – new internal doors, draught proofing measures and upgrading their heaters to make the hall a warmer, more inviting venue.
Walls Regatta Club received funding to develop their sailing facilities within the club house and purchase new equipment to encourage young people to participate in activities.
Tommy added – the geographic spread of the funds is worth noting, I think just about every community in Shetland has been able to get something for a project – so the benefits from this fund will be far reaching.
How will the impact of this funding be monitored/evaluated?
Tommy – we’ve set up a monitoring template to be reviewed once a project is complete, which will include collecting the lessons learnt and outcomes from the project – what went well, what has the project done for the community and so on.
Sally – when projects submit their final grant claim they are asked to provide a short report describing any project outputs/outcomes achieved as at final claim stage, also recognising that project outcomes often tend to come further down the line.
Do you have to share that with anyone?
Yes, we have to do a return to the Scottish Government to demonstrate how funds have been utilised through the Crown Estate.
Is this fund a given for the long term?
Michael: we’ll probably review things on an annual basis, in light of other funds coming into play over the next few years. We’ll need to be flexible and be ready to respond to the economic environment and new challenges and opportunities as and when they present themselves.
If you have any queries on the fund, please contact the team at:
Coastal Communities Fund
Shetland Islands Council, Development Directorate
c/o Solarhus
3 North Ness
Lerwick
ZE1 0LZ
Tel: 01595 744915 or 01595 743828
Email: coastalcommunitiesfund@shetland.gov.uk
Visit: www.shetland.gov.uk/grants/coastal-communities-fund