LAG Evaluation Committee The LAG must establish at least one Evaluation Committee to assess and evaluate all applications for LEADER funding. The Evaluation Committee will be solely responsible for making recommendations for funding, or otherwise, to the LAG. The structure, membership and specific arrangements for the Evaluation Committee are a matter for the LAG, however, the LAG must ensure the integrity of the evaluation process and put in place arrangements that are – fair and non-discriminatory all applicants must be treated equally; and, – open and transparent applicants must be informed of the methodology and approach to – evaluating each application, and the results of the evaluation should be made available to the applicant together with the LAGs final decision. The Evaluation Committee membership may vary according to theme, call for applications, etc. Evaluation Committee members cannot be LAG members. Similarly, where the LAG has assigned implementing responsibility to an Implementing Partner, no person associated with the Implementing Partner can be a member of an Evaluation Committee considering a LAG / Implementing Partner in-house project. i.e. no staff member, no Board member, etc. can be a member of the Evaluation Committee. Members can be rotated, however, between the Evaluation Committee and the LAG, as required. This will help retain expertise within the LAG and the Evaluation Committee in the medium term. Evaluation of Projects The Evaluation Committee must complete a formal evaluation scoring record, based on objective criteria (see scoring template in Appendix 11 ). This scoring record must be signed and dated by the Chairperson of the Evaluation Committee and then submitted to the LAG for final decision. The LAG may adapt the evaluation scoring template to suit its own local needs, provided that all of the project assessment criteria in the template are retained. A project must score a minimum of 65% of the total marks to be recommended for approval to the LAG. Where there is a targeted call for applications, projects should be ranked in order of highest to lowest as per the scoring record and funding distributed according to this ranking.
LAG Evaluation Committee The LAG must establish at least one Evaluation Committee to assess and evaluate all applications for LEADER funding. The Evaluation Committee will be solely responsible for making recommendations for funding, or otherwise, to the LAG. The structure, membership and specific arrangements for the Evaluation Committee are a matter for the LAG, however, the LAG must ensure the integrity of the evaluation process and put in place arrangements that are – fair and non-discriminatory – all applicants must be treated equally; and, open and transparent – applicants must be informed of the methodology and approach to evaluating each application, and the results of the evaluation should be made available to the applicant together with the LAGs final decision. The Evaluation Committee membership may vary according to theme, call for applications, etc. Evaluation Committee members cannot be LAG members. Similarly, where the LAG has assigned implementing responsibility to an Implementing Partner, no person associated with the Implementing Partner can be a member of an Evaluation Committee considering a LAG / Implementing Partner in-house project. i.e. no staff member, no Board member, etc. can be a member of the Evaluation Committee. Members can be rotated, however, between the Evaluation Committee and the LAG, as required. This will help retain expertise within the LAG and the Evaluation Committee in the medium term. Evaluation of Projects The Evaluation Committee must complete a formal evaluation scoring record, based on objective criteria (see scoring template in Appendix 11 ). This scoring record must be signed and dated by the Chairperson of the Evaluation Committee and then submitted to the LAG for final decision. The LAG may adapt the evaluation scoring template to suit its own local needs, provided that all of the project assessment criteria in the template are retained. A project must score a minimum of 65% of the total marks to be recommended for approval to the LAG. Where there is a targeted call for applications, projects should be ranked in order of highest to lowest as per the scoring record and funding distributed according to this ranking.