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Section 4 - Other information
Supporting Information
Options 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 15 (access capital items)
If you chose these options you may be asked to send us supporting information to show us that you have met the necessary requirements. We will send you a single claim form in March 2007. You must fill this in and deliver it, along with any supporting documents that we may have asked you for, to your area office as soon as you have completed the options applied for. The deadline for submission is 31 August 2007. We cannot accept claims after that date.
You must have the original invoices and evidence to prove that you have made the expenditure. We can only accept correctly receipted invoices. You must keep all the records that relate to the scheme, including receipts and invoices for at least 4 years after you receive payment for the scheme year in which the costs were incurred. If you are undertaking a 5 year option, you must keep the documentation for the 5 years that the option is in effect plus 4 years after you receive the final payment.
Your invoice must show:
- Your supplier or contractor's name and address; and your business name and address as the customer;
- Details of goods and services purchased and supplied. Show separate costings for each approved option, and VAT details where appropriate. The date when the supplier or contractor delivered the goods and/or services to you;
- The total amount of the invoice;
- The amount paid by you in figures or words. If this differs from the total invoice amount, it must provide information to explain the difference (such as the amount of any discount, or credit or hire purchase charges);
- The signature and stamp of the supplier or contractor receiving payment (or their employee).
If you have settled an invoice for over £500 by cash, you must keep additional evidence of payment for your records. This might be a separately numbered receipt from the supplier's accounts or an accountant's statement.
Options 6 -14 and 15 (access - path maintenance only)
If you have chosen these options you will not need any supporting evidence. Your payment rate will be calculated by multiplying the area claimed on Section 4 column F of your application form by the option rates.
Payments
Payment under the Menu Scheme will be made in arrears, after you have completed the relevant undertakings. One payment will be made per application after the scheme year providing the claim forms have been returned to us with all supporting documentation as required to allow final processing.
Payment method
The Menu Scheme claims will be paid using the Bankers Automated Clearing System ( BACS). If you have not previously supplied this information you should obtain and complete a BACS (1) form and return it to your SEERAD area office as quickly as possible. This also applies if you need to change any of the details we hold.
Inspections
We may inspect your land to verify you have met the scheme requirements. If so, we will require access to all relevant documents. It is a condition of the scheme that you must allow SEERAD and European Commission staff, or representatives, access to land, animals and records at any reasonable time for the purposes of establishing compliance with the terms of the Scheme. If you refuse to co-operate, or if you obstruct an inspecting officer or fail to give reasonable assistance, we will not pay you and you may be prosecuted.
Inspection Information
Summary of inspections evidence
Options | Map | Invoices | Plan | Field | Other inspection |
Animal health and welfare management | part of bio security plan | | v | Fences | Performance indicators
Biosecurity plan
Lab analysis for blood samples Forage analysis and nutritional etc
advice |
Membership of quality assurance schemes | | v | | | Membership certificate |
Training | | v | | | Certificate of completion(if available) |
Farm and woodland visits | | | | | Risk Assessment
Farm information pack |
Off-Farm talks | | | | | Farm information pack |
Buffer areas | v | | | v | |
Management of linear features | v | | | v | |
Management of moorland grazing | | | v | v | |
Management of rush pasture | | | | v | |
Biodiversity cropping on in-bye | | | | v | |
Retention of winter stubbles | | | | v | |
Wild bird seed mixture | | | | v | |
Summer cattle grazing | | | | v | |
Nutrient management | | | | v | Soil analysis
field records |
Improving access | v | v | | v | |
Farm woodland planning | part of the plan | | v | v | |
Farm woodland management | part of the plan | | v | v | |
Options 1 - 15
Inspection will involve the examination of documentary evidence relating to these prescriptions, assessment of the management practices and the measurement of the areas or lengths claimed.
Option 15 - Access
We will inspect the route covered by this option. We will check that the route shown on the map offers unrestricted access. We will also check that you have installed any capital items claimed. In both cases we will check that you have met the requirements set down in Annex G.
If these checks reveal you have not fully met the scheme requirements, we will allow you until the end of the scheme year to comply. If you do not take the necessary action within this time, we will not pay you.
Option 16 - Farm Woodland Plan
When we receive your plan, we will send a copy to Forestry Commission Scotland ( FCS) for comment. They may need to visit the woodlands and would contact you to arrange this. If they find that your plan does not meet the requirements, we will not pay you. We may inspect the land to check the accuracy of the plan. If there are inconsistencies we may not pay you.
Option 17 - Farm Woodland Management
We may inspect the land covered by this option. We will check that the condition and management of the woodland meets the standard for Sustainable Farm Woodland Management (Annex H) and that you have done the necessary work as identified in your plan.
Withdrawal from the Scheme
If you withdraw from a Menu Scheme option which has a 5 year commitment, we will take appropriate measures (except where 'force majeure' applies - see the next page). If you want to withdraw from any 5 year commitment you should write to your SEERAD area office explaining why. You will normally need to repay any menu scheme payments you have already received, plus interest. You may also have to pay a penalty.
Selling or leasing all or part of your holding
If the new occupier of the land does not take on the Menu Scheme obligations you have committed to, you will normally need to repay all or part of the menu scheme payments you have already received, plus interest.
Change of occupiers under a joint application
If a tenant or licensee stops having control over the land during the five years of an option, the landlord or new tenant must enter into a 'successor's agreement' within three months of the tenancy or licence ending. If the successor's agreement is not completed within three months the original tenant or licensee would have to repay the scheme payments already paid, with interest. Depending on the circumstances, the tenant or licensee may have to pay a penalty.
You must let your SEERAD area office know about any changes affecting the legal occupiers of the land the scheme applies to.
Breaking the scheme rules and conditions
If you find that you can no longer meet the conditions of the Scheme, write to your area office explaining why and providing any relevant evidence.
You may have to pay back some or all of the payments we have made to you, plus interest. You may also have to pay a penalty. We would not seek recovery where you can provide evidence that the reason for the failure meets the strict conditions of 'force majeure' (see below).
Force Majeure
The term 'force majeure' means circumstances beyond anyone's control which affect your ability to keep to the scheme rules and conditions. Force majeure includes:
- the death of the farmer;
- the farmer being unable to work over the long-term because of ill health;
- a large part of the land being taken for public use (if this could not have been known about on the day the option was chosen); and
- a severe natural disaster seriously affecting the agricultural land on the holding.
We will consider each case on its merits. But for a situation to be considered as force majeure you must write to your area office within 10 days of being able to do so.
Penalties
Scheme Breaches and Penalties
A breach is where you have failed to meet the rules of the scheme. Our response to a breach will depend on its seriousness. We will issue a warning letter for very minor breaches, but we will recover payments and charge penalties for the most serious cases.
Seriousness of the Breach
We will take several factors into account when assessing the seriousness of a breach. SEERAD can impose one or more of the following sanctions:
Category | Description of Breach |
|---|
1. No action. | Force Majeure or withdrawal from scheme for valid reason without having received any payment. Force Majeure includes a severe natural disaster, accidental destruction of buildings for livestock or the death or long-term incapacity of farmer but does not include resumption of land by landowners. Valid reason includes illness and severe financial difficulties. This category would generally apply where the participant has notified the SEERAD area office early in the scheme year. |
2. Warning letter. | Infringement of little consequence or where doubt exists on validity of reasons given for breach but where no firm evidence to the contrary exists. |
3. Withholding (a) all, or (b) part of payment for specific item/area for specified period. | Temporary, site specific breach which would normally be rectified within a year. (Possibly will only apply to capital items eg fencing not up to standard, payment withheld until rectified, and is unlikely to apply to management payments). |
4. Reduce payment for a specific item/area for (a) 1 year, or (b) future years. | (a) Temporary breach but not remediable within 1 year;
(b) permanent breach but does not substantially undermine the overall environmental objectives. Applies where the damaged area is only part of an area covered by a measure. |
5. Do not pay for specific item or area for (a) 1 year, or (b) future years. | Similar to "4" above but where the whole area covered by a measure is damaged. |
6. Recovery (with interest) of (a) all, or (b) part of payment for a specific item/area for 1 year. | Temporary breach which occurs within previous 12 months and does not substantially undermine the overall environmental objectives. Where a payment has already been made for an area and a subsequent temporary breach has been discovered eg grassland for birds - not cutting in a bird friendly manner. |
7. Recovery (with interest) of all or part of payments made for the item or area. | Permanent breach where work or management not undertaken properly or at all but not undermining the overall environmental objectives. |
8. Recovery (with interest) of all payments. | Significant breach which substantially undermines the overall environmental objectives. This will normally apply where termination of agreement/undertaking is also envisaged. This may also apply where participants sell their farm, or whose lease is not continued, where the new participant does not take over the scheme obligations. |
9. Recovery (with interest): Overclaims. | A claim for an area or length which is greater than the actual. |
10. Penalty (up to a maximum of 10% of total reimbursable aid over 5 years). | Likely to be where economic gain has been, or would be, gained from the breach or where a serious breach has occurred. |
11. Termination of (a) whole, of (b) part of undertaking/agreement. | Deliberate or significant breach which seriously undermines the overall environmental objectives. Termination of undertaking/agreement will not be merited in all cases involving gross negligence and will only be justified in very serious cases. |
12. Exclusion for 2 years from ag-env schemes. | Gross negligence. Such exclusion will only be justified in the most serious cases. |
Good Farming Practice, Good Animal Husbandry and General Environmental Condition Penalties
You must meet the requirements set out at Annex J. If you do not, you may lose all or part of your scheme payment. We may issue a warning letter for a negligent breach that has a small effect and you can put right, but remove all subsidy for an intentional breach that has a permanent effect both on and off the farm. Full details are available from your area office or our website ( www.scotland.gov.uk/menuscheme).
Repayment
If we discover you have been paid money under LMCMS 2005 that you are not entitled to you will have to repay the full amount. If you have been overpaid because you have breached the scheme conditions, SEERAD will charge interest. This interest will be charged from the date that you were notified of the overpayment until you have repaid the full amount, including the interest.
Release of Subsidy and Recipient Information
The Scottish Executive is bound by the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998, the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.
It is the policy of the Scottish Executive to release information about the amounts of subsidy and the new recipients for the new Single Farm Payments Scheme and the new schemes under the Rural Development Regulation. We will process personal data we receive in line with the Data Protection Act 1998, but claimants should be aware that the particular information mentioned above will generally be disclosed.
For the Land Management Contract Menu Scheme, this means that we will release information on the number of options for which you have applied for aid and the amount of subsidy received. The information will also include your name and the geographic location. For public limited companies only, addresses will also be supplied.
We will also protect other personal data we receive in line with the Data Protection Act 1998. We will use the data provided in the CAP subsidy application primarily for the purpose of processing the applications. However, personal data may also be used subject to the safeguards of the 1998 Act for purposes connected with:
- Administration of the Common Agricultural Policy;
- SRDP and other aid schemes;
- The production and safety of food;
- Management of land and other environmental controls;
- Provision of services to businesses;
- Animal health and welfare; and
- Occupational health and welfare.
Data may be passed (when necessary for these purposes) to other bodies. For example to Customs and Excise for import or export purposes, or to local authorities for milk or health purposes. Data may also be used for statistical purposes, not identifying individuals, which may reduce the need for some statistical data collection. It may also be used when necessary to comply with the Freedom of Information Act or the Environmental Information Regulations noted above.
Appeals and complaints
If you feel that we have made an incorrect decision on your subsidy claim, you may appeal under the EU Agriculture Subsidy appeals procedure.
If you wish to complain about our standard of service, procedures or processes you may do so using our complaints procedure.
The IACS explanatory guidance booklet provides more details about both these procedures.
Legal base
To undertake options under the Land Management Contract Menu Scheme you must comply with the following regulations:
EC Regulation 1257/1999 (on support for rural development from the European Agriculture Guidance and Development Fund);
EC Regulation 1783/2003 (amending Regulation EC 1257/1999);
EC Regulation 817/2004 (laying down detailed rules for the application of EC Regulation 1257/1999);
EC Regulation 1782/2003 (common rules for support under the Common Agricultural Policy);
EC Regulation 795/2004 (rules implementing the single payment scheme); and EC Regulation 796/2004 (rules for the implementation of cross-compliance, modulation and IACS).
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