Local Area Partnerships

All LEADER areas will have a local area partnership (LAP); the partnership will have control over a budget and make decisions on LEADER project applications arising in their area.

Each LAP will be responsible for producing a development plan for their area against which projects will be assessed. These plans are currently being developed and once completed will be available to download here. For more information please contact your local development officer.

Guidelines for LAP's

LAP's must be composed of a maximum of 50% public sector and a minimum of 50% private, community and voluntary sector representatives; for a list of public and private representatives please download this;

LAP's are also expected to prepare local development plans for their areas which will be submitted to the Strategic LAG . There are a number of documents available to assist in the creation of local development plans and these can be downloaded from here;

Once the local development plans have been approved, a local area allocation will be made, based on 2/3 population, 1/3 area (as per Scottish Government allocations). LEADER applications which relate to the local area will then be considered by these LAP's. Strategic projects which cover more than one LAP will be assessed by the Strategic LAG and any approved funds will come out of a seperate strategic budget.

One aim of the Highland LEADER Programme is to delegate a significant proportion of the budget and as much day-to-day responsibility as possible to the local level.