Evaluation of the Arwain Sir Benfro LEADER scheme in Pembrokeshire
Final report December 2021
Evaluation of the Arwain Sir Benfro LEADER scheme in Pembrokeshire
This is the final report of an independent evaluation of the implementation of the LEADER scheme in Pembrokeshire from April 2015 to its closure at the end of December 2021.
First introduced in the 1990s, and active in Pembrokeshire since then, the LEADER approach includes seven specific features and, importantly, is dependent on all of these being employed together:
- Area-based development strategies
- Bottom-up elaboration and implementation of strategies
- Local public-private partnerships: Local Action Groups
- Integrated and multi-sector actions
- Innovation
- Cooperation
- Networking.
It is these features, and their integration, that define LEADER as a specific approach to rural development and community-led local development (or ‘CLLD’) more generally.
LEADER is one of several schemes within the Welsh Government Rural Communities - Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 (hereafter referred to as ‘the RDP’) funded by the Welsh Government and the European Union (EU) through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).
For the current RDP programme period, LEADER has been implemented in Pembrokeshire by the Arwain Sir Benfro Local Action Group (the LAG) with PLANED undertaking the administrative and financial operations on their behalf.
Some key numbers:
- A total investment in Pembrokeshire of £5 million
- 26 meetings of the LAG to manage the implementation of the scheme
- 71 pilot, locally developed, projects supported
- 865 stakeholders engaged
- 5,356 participants supported
- 43 jobs safeguarded
- At least £2.5 million of follow-up funding secured by projects funded.
This is the third and final report of the evaluation of the implementation and outcomes of the LEADER scheme in Pembrokeshire as delivered by the Local Action Group for the area, Arwain Sir Benfro.
The first report (March 2019) focused on introducing the LEADER approach, its delivery in Pembrokeshire and setting out how the evaluation will be undertaken. The second formative mid-term report (March 2021) assessed the delivery of the programme within the county to date to inform delivery over the remaining lifetime of the programme. This summative final evaluation report has a focus on assessing the outcomes, impact and added value of the programme.
This report draws on the research undertaken to inform the mid-term as well as the final phase of the evaluation.
Download the full LEADER Final Term Report here: LEADER Final Term Report (PDF - 1.9MB)