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Sheep Annual Premium Scheme Quotas - Explanatory Guide
SECTION ONE: SUMMARY OF QUOTA ARRANGEMENTS
Claiming Sheep Annual Premium
1 Using a Sheep Annual Premium (SAP) Scheme claim form, you may claim premium on all the eligible ewes you intend to keep during the SAP retention period, provided that your claim is for at least ten eligible sheep. Premium payments on your claim will be limited however to the number of eligible ewes (kept throughout the retention period) for which you hold sheep quota.
2 Premium is payable only to producers who hold quota correctly and fulfil the conditions of the scheme. Thus if you wish to claim premium as a sole producer you must hold quota in your own name as an individual. If premium is to be claimed by a limited company, the quota must be held in the name of the company. If you are in a producer group, which must consist of at least two eligible producers (for example, husband and wife), all members of the group must also hold quota in their own name as individuals and, in order to make full use of the quota, should ensure that they hold it in the same proportions as their shares of the groups flock. Payments on such claims will only be made up to the number of quota units held by each member of the group. It is therefore important that all members of the group hold quota which accurately reflects their shares of the business.
3 Up to, and including the 1999 scheme year Scottish partnerships were treated in the same way as producer groups described above. However, from the 2000 scheme year, partnerships recognised under Scots law should hold quota and claim for SAP in the name of the partnership. The Department has undertaken an exercise to roll-up the quota rights of individual members of Scottish partnerships who claimed SAP in 1999. If you are an existing quota holder and you propose to form a new or join an existing partnership you should transfer your quota to the partnership to ensure maximum SAP payments to the partnership.
4 You will not receive payment if your quota is of the wrong ring-fence designation (see Section Three). If you intend to move to another holding, acquire more land or dispose of some of your land, even on a short-term basis, you should pay particular attention to the rules on quota ring-fences in Section Three. You may find that your existing quota is not appropriate to your new holding. In those circumstances you will need to acquire quota of the correct ring-fence designation in order to receive premium.
5If you require further information on the rules governing the Sheep Annual Premium Scheme, please refer to the latest edition of the Notes for Guidance for the scheme. These notes and premium claim forms for the scheme are available during the scheme application period (early December to early February) from your local area office.
| The ring-fence of your quota must match the ring-fence of your land to ensure subsidy payment. |
Using your quota
6 All quota held by producers is subject to strict usage rules. You must use a specified percentage of your quota during each scheme year in order to meet these rules, otherwise you are liable to have some or all of your quota withdrawn from you without compensation. Section Two explains what you must do to meet the usage rules.
Acquiring or disposing of quota
7 You may acquire or dispose of quota by permanent transfer or temporary lease to or from another producer (see Section Four). In certain circumstances you may apply to receive free quota from the national reserve (see Section Five).
Supplementary allocations of quota
Participants in the pilot sheep extensification scheme or an environmentally sensitive areas scheme during the 1991 Sheep Annual Premium scheme year
8 If you participated in one of these schemes in 1991 but have since ended your participation in the scheme, you may have received a supplementary quota allocation. This would have been based on the difference between the number of animals on which you received premium in 1991 and the number on which you received premium in the year prior to joining the relevant scheme. You will have received a letter telling you that this quota is a supplementary allocation.
9 If you are still a participant in one of the schemes, you may qualify for a supplementary allocation of quota when your participation in that scheme ends. It will be calculated on the same basis. If you write to the QMS about this they will tell you what action you need to take.
10 If you have received supplementary quota under these provisions you are subject to special restrictions on its disposal (see paragraph 59).
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