Under the Mandatory Guidance a qualitative assessment needs to be undertaken by the Authority. This should involve assessing a project/programme's viability, desirability and achievability.
The Stage 2 qualitative analysis entails the Authority providing answers to a set of questions. These questions are common to all projects. The response for the majority are however project specific. It is important that this assessment is prepared by the Authority, rather than there being significant reliance on the advisers.
The same qualitative questions apply at the Stage 1 level.
A number of observations are included in the tables below. This follows the format in Section 5.1 of the Mandatory Guidance. These observations are intended to serve as a general guide for Local Authorities. They should not be construed as representing appropriate answers and should not be copied verbatim.
These are designed to assist the Department and Local Authorities with completing the Stage 1 and Stage 2 qualitative assessment, and the same answers are relevant to both stages assessments.