Community Led Local Development or CLLD is a funding mechanism under the European Regional Development Fund programme. Strict criteria determine which areas can benefit from this funding and these rules allow CLLD only if the population is 10,000 or higher. We put a business case to the European Commission to support the inclusion of the Isles of Scilly.
We are disappointed that the European Commission has not accepted derogation on the minimum size for inclusion in Community Led Local Development programmes for the UK. This means that the Isles of Scilly will not be able to run a CLLD programme for the islands.
In the last programme of European funding we were successful in securing a £2.25 million Local Action Group (LAG) programme that supported a range of business and community projects. The LAG partnership has not been successful in the new round of LEADER funding. The evaluators expressed concerns over the size of the programme and the potential for conflicts of interest within a small community. Our appeal focussed on our proven track record of exemplary management of funds and delivery of outputs. Unfortunately our appeal was unsuccessful.
To ensure that our businesses are not disadvantaged, the Council is in negotiation with the Department for Communities and Local Government to assess other mechanisms of funding that could be established to support the development of our businesses.