Funding for rural Scotland

The funding will help create or safeguard at least 1600 jobs in more than 300 projects across the country, encouraging sustainable economic growth in rural areas.

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment Richard Lochhead said:

"A diverse range of valuable community, business and environmental projects will benefit in the coming years from the latest awards under our Rural Development Programme.

"The Scottish Government has ensured the maximum amount of funding is available to the widest range of recipients possible in this funding round, despite budget cuts imposed by the UK Government.”

The tenth round of Rural Priorities funding focused primarily on Axis 1 (business development) and Axis 3 (rural communities and rural enterprise) projects. Some funding will be paid over the course of several years to ensure the projects are properly maintained.

Rural Priorities is a competitive funding mechanism under the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP). It delivers targeted environmental, social and economic benefits to 11 designated regions. The priorities for each region are agreed with local stakeholders, and contracts are awarded for the proposals which are best able to deliver those priorities.