Tensions, limits and potentials - Evaluating rural development policies in Scotland

The establishment of the EU's Rural Development Regulation (EC 1257/99) reflects the continuing efforts of policymakers to develop integrated policy initiatives for the pursuit of sustainable rural development. The resulting changes have been given added impetus in UK regions by the emergence of new forms of rural governance under devolution. This process is also highlighting the need for governments to respond flexibly to distinctive ruralities, as well as the scope for developing greater 'joined-up' policy making at the point of implementation. These agendas also present a considerable challenge to the management and evaluation of public policy: objectives have multiplied, become more nuanced, yet may not always be straightforwardly compatible. Thus, policymakers and evaluators alike are being compelled to find new ways of deliberating tradeoffs, as well as constructing coherence in policymaking and delivery processes among different policy actors and sectors. Policy evaluation is playing an important, yet problematic role in this search for coherence, and this paper reports on the application of a policy appraisal methodology (the 'Cardiff Methodology') to two complex sets of issues facing rural Scotland: the scope for making schemes of public assistance to rural land uses more streamlined, more participative and conditional on compliance with other regulatory requirements; the compatibility of current and emerging transport policies with rural development objectives. The methodology seeks to support the deliberation of issues lying at the interface between sectoral policy objectives, and focuses on identifying the scope for action at the Scottish level in respect of these issues. The paper concludes with some interim findings about the utility and application of the policy evaluation methodology, and considers some wider implications for this new 'evaluation paradigm' in rural governance.