NRN Self-Assessment Profiles

UK - England

The UK has a taken a unique approach to structuring its national rural network in accordance with the requirements of the EAFRD Regulation. A two tier system has been implemented which consists of four regional rural networks which operate in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales under the umbrella of the UK National Rural Network.

The Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) Network has been fully operational since April 2008. The purpose of the network is to support the delivery of the English Rural Development Programme (RDP). This is achieved by providing tools and opportunities for stakeholders to exchange ideas, practice and experience across the four axes at EU, UK, national, regional and local levels.

The RDPE Network priorities and activities are based upon the findings of a ‘Market Research and Stakeholder Engagement Project’ that was undertaken in 2008 to scope out:

• the RDPE policy priorities, programme management and implementation arrangements within each of the eight English regions, and;
• stakeholder needs and expectations of the RDPE Network and their implications for informing the structure and activities of the Network.

A copy of the report from the ‘Market Research and Stakeholder Engagement Project’ can be viewed here.

The RDPE Network is operationalized via Annual Action Plans. These include a detailed work programme, setting out the outputs and related activities that will be delivered to achieve the overall outcomes of the network. The work programme also identifies ‘indicators of delivery’ which propose indicators and/or descriptions of how the network support unit (NSU) will judge delivery of the Action Plan.

The 2010-11 RDPE Network Action Plan can be viewed here.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is ultimately responsible for the RDPE network and the approval of its Annual Action Plans. Nonetheless, the network aims to ensure that as much as possible stakeholders and users play a central role in influencing the structure and activities of the network. For example, the 2010-11 Action Plan for the RDPE Network was built on the basis of extensive stakeholder consultation involving a number of face-to-face networking events and on-going dialogue with Defra, the delivery bodies and key stakeholder organisations.

The Annual Action Plans are regarded as dynamic tools, to be reviewed quarterly in order to take into account ever-evolving implementation issues. Any significant changes are agreed with the Defra RDP Team.

Monitoring and evaluation of the RDPE Network activities includes:

• Quarterly progress reviews and reports - these are drafted for Defra and highlight progress against the work programme, highlights, current challenges and stakeholder engagement and relationship development. Following these reports the Action Plan is reviewed by the NSU to understand implications of progress and make any necessary adjustments to the Plan;

• Monthly financial monitoring - this consists of: i) monthly ‘traffic light’ reports monitoring spend against the profiled budget, and; ii) quarterly invoicing providing a breakdown of spend against key budget headings;

• Specific feedback forms tailored for each networking activity – see Existing Tools Used by NRNs for Self-Assessment for examples. One characteristic of these feedback forms is that they always ask participants to comment on overall use of the event / activity that they intend to take forward as a result of the event;

• Website monitoring – a number of aspects of the website networking tool are monitored, including staff time required to maintain functionality and content and a range of statistics around usage, visitors etc.

• General feedback mechanisms – the RDPE Network uses a number of mechanisms for receiving ad hoc feedback, views and ideas on future networking activities. These include an online feedback service: https://www.rdpenetwork.org.uk/give-feedback

• Programme / project management mechanisms – the NSU utilises various standard project management mechanisms to manage delivery and monitor progress. For example monthly team meetings, clear work planning for NSU staff, project plans/management for specific network activities etc.

The monitoring and evaluation mechanisms used to assess the delivery and added value of the RDPE Network are subject to on-going updating, but one key principle established from the outset was the routine maintenance of a centralised record management system in order to ensure the full availability of information for audit and evaluation.