Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) 2007 – 2013

Background and budget

emda is delivering the socio-economic elements of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) between 2007 – 2013.

Funded by the Defra and the European Union, emda has approximately £60m available for projects in the East Midlands during the life of the programme. This is split between the following elements:

ERDP Legacy - £5 Million
Core RDPE - £31 Million
Livestock Allocation - £12 Million
LEADER Approach - £12 Million

RDPE will target land-based businesses in the East Midlands including farmers, foresters, horticulturists.

RDPE will focus on ‘Competitiveness, Collaboration and Diversification’ and the criteria for projects to be eligible for grant funding includes:

Adding value to agricultural, horticultural or forestry products – including the development of new products, processes and technologies
Improving co-operation and collaboration between businesses to improve efficiency – including infrastructure and equipment investments
Promoting diversification in the rural economy.

The majority of investment will benefit land based businesses. Fewer but more significant and strategic investments are planned (in comparison to the former England Rural Development Programme 2000 - 2006) and we intend to actively encourage groups of producers or farmer controlled businesses to suggest collaborative projects. The funds will be available for investments anywhere in the East Midlands region (with the exception of the LEADER Approach element).

East Midlands Regional Implementation Plan, second edition (January 2010)

Following consultation in late 2009 with the Regional Consultation Group (RCG) for the RDPE, the second edition of the East Midlands Regional Implementation Plan has now been completed and approved by the regional Programme Management Group (PMG). This second edition reflects the revisions which were supported by programme stakeholders in the RCG and, where appropriate, approved by the emda Board. The revisions were in part prompted by the availability of additional funding from the European Economic Recovery Plan announced during 2009. As required by Defra, half of the additional EERP funding is allocated to dairy sector restructuring and half to enhancing rural broadband. In addition, the allocation towards rural broadband is further enhanced by reallocating RDPE funds between measures to create a rural broadband fund of approximately £4.4million. A new fund for forestry micro-enterprises is also created. Programme delivery will now proceed in accordance with the revised Regional Implementation Plan with one exception; confirmation of full approval by Defra is awaited before the full rural broadband fund can be launched.

Regional Implementations Plan (Second edition) [PDF, 284 KB]

RDPE Network

The Rural Development Programme for England Network has been set up under European Union rural development regulation to support the implementation and evaluation of the RDPE. Visit the RDPE Network website to find out more about the network and benefit from sharing ideas, knowledge, experience and practice with others at www.rdpenetwork.org.uk