The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

1.0 Description of the commonality and differences between JAC and SAF in terms of underlying requirements

This section meets the first part of objective 1, namely to describe the commonality and differences between the JAC and the SAF, in terms of underlying requirements. It compares and contrasts the underlying requirements of the single application form ( SAF) and the June agricultural census ( JAC). In order to obtain required information both primary and secondary data were collected. Interviews were conducted with RERAD staff over late December and early January, which included detailed conversations with key members of both the JAC and SAF staff ¹. To complement this a number of Government documents were examined, which included background reports, EU regulatory requirements and the actual forms themselves.

1.1 Regulations and Coverage

Relevant regulations

Both the SAF and the JAC have a number of EC statistical reporting requirements. These are outlined below.

For the SAF, a number of EU regulations apply to the single application claims and cross compliance checking. Commission Regulations ( EC) No. 795/2004 and 796/2004 detail rules for the implementation of the single payment scheme provided for in Council Regulation ( EC) No. 1782/2003 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers, as amended by Commission Regulation ( EC) No. 1974/2004.

Commission Regulation ( EC) No. 796/2004 lay down detailed rules for the implementation of cross-compliance, modulation and the integrated administration and control system provided for in Council Regulation ( EC) No. 1782/2003 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers. Within Scotland, these are both instituted within the Agricultural Subsidies (Appeals) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005. However, within these legislation there is little identification of specific data. Article 12 of Commission Regulation ( EC) No. 796/2004 states the following:-

'The single application shall contain all information necessary to establish eligibility for the aid, in particular:

(a) the identity of the farmer;
(b) the aid scheme or schemes concerned;
(c) the identification of the payment entitlements in accordance with the identification and registration system provided for in Article 7 for the purposes of the single payment scheme, broken down by set-aside entitlements and other entitlements;
(d) particulars permitting identification of all agricultural parcels on the holding, their area expressed in hectares to two decimal places, their location and, where applicable, their use and whether the agricultural parcel is irrigated;'

The SAF is also the current mechanism for validating areas for payment under LFASS and LMCMS and thus regulations 1257/1999, 1698/2005, 1974/2006 and 1975/2006 also apply.

Geographic Coverage

The SAF has an annual population of 21,000 and around 20,000 'businesses' (see 1.2.1 for main definitional differences between these and JAC holdings) are returned by those claiming a subsidy. The remaining 1,000 business are either entering the scheme in their first year to simply register their land, or planning for other schemes. It does not offer full coverage of the Scottish agricultural industry as, by its nature, it only covers those enterprises which have a history of agricultural support. Consequently, the main activities excluded from the SAF form are both pigs, poultry and horticultural activities (however, changes to the eligibility rules for SFPS effective from the 2008 will now allow certain horticultural activities to be declared on the SAF).

There is an on-line facility to fill in the SAF form, around 3,600 return through the web. The remainder are returned to area offices. Farmers are provided with a part-filled document, reflecting activities in the previous period relating to field data codes and forage areas. Farmers have to complete the form indicating any withdrawal from activities, or changes in activity levels of each enterprise.

The JAC covers the whole of the agricultural population of around 50,000, but has a return rate of 70%. This equates to about 25,000 returns each year, as only a third of the minor holdings are sampled each year. The remaining 30% of main holdings and minor holdings not surveyed have to be imputed (see processes below).

The JAC covers both a major and minor holdings (defined below). The minor holdings census is run every year but takes annual samples of a third of those registered as minor holdings. In addition the December Census is also conducted. The December census is a survey, and a questionnaire is sent to a sample of around 55% of main holdings (approximately 15,000). Responses are usually received from about 10,000 holdings. At present Minor holdings are not surveyed in December.

The December Census asks exactly the same questions for cattle, pigs, poultry, occupiers and spouses as those which are asked in June, and different questions on sheep, labour, cropping and grassland areas. In addition, there are two sets of questions on machinery and equipment which are asked in alternate years.

1.2. Unit descriptions

Definitions of Holding and Business

The JAC has a 'holding' as its smallest spatial unit. Holdings are classified as being either main holdings or minor holdings depending on their physical and economic size. A holding is classified as minor if ALL the following criteria apply:

1. The area of the holding is less than 1000 hectares
2. The net value of the crops and livestock is less than one and two-thirds European Size Units OR the area of land is less than one hectare
3. The holder does not farm another holding
4. The holding is not a large poultry unit (200 or more poultry)
5. There is no regular full-time farmer
6. The holding does not grow any hardy nursery stock or glasshouse crops
7. The holding has fewer than 100 farmed deer

All remaining holdings are classified as main holdings. Furthermore the JAC can identify a number of holdings, grouped according to owner.

SAF holdings (>0.3 ha) can be divided down to a business unit level, which are then surveyed. A SAF form is completed per business unit level, which can be attributed to a component holding. These business units, as defined by the SAF, are ' managed as a separate business, according to certain rules (legal status of the businesses, how far operations are run separately each day in practice, whether there are separate farm plans and accounts, the independence of decision-making between the separate farms and where the overall economic control of the businesses rests)'.

Definitions: Areas

Within SAF all common grazing is stated by the producers and is then shared out afterwards. There are around 900 commons claimed within the SAF and around 4,500 who claim common grazing.

The census explicitly asks that common grazing not be included within the assessment of rough grazing. No other reference is made to common grazing.

Definitions: Livestock

Definitions between SAF and JAC tend to differ. SAF asks for the number of livestock on a holding, whereas the JAC asks for livestock owned or hired. This would apply to the recipient's farm or elsewhere. Consequently, JAC tends to capture more livestock than SAF businesses.

However, a problem emerges with animal numbers collected on land within the JAC. Seasonal tenants with no permanent holding of their own may have livestock grazing seasonally on land owned by others. However, their livestock numbers are not captured, as the seasonal tenant does not receive a JAC form in their own right, and therefore has nowhere to record the figures.

1.3 Reporting Periods and Deadlines

Both the census and SAF follow a set of timing deadlines, which allows efficient processing throughout the year. The census has specific dates in which to report, whereas the SAF has flexible timings. Nevertheless, the major timing that has to be considered is to maxmise payment of subsidy on 1st December (which is the first day of the payment window which stretches to 30th June the next year) and reporting cross-compliance breaches (which have to be finalised by 31st December). Hence, return forms have to be processed in time to organise appropriate inspections. At present, the final date for submission is 15th May and inspectors can be on the field within 6 weeks.

The following outlines the scheduling of tasks for the Census and the SAF.

Census

i. Pre-administration: At the beginning of early spring a re-classification of minor and main holdings occurs, this is not just one-way. A list of long-term non-respondents to the census are sent a letter before the actual census form is sent, to explain the purpose of the census and to encourage participation. Minor holdings are selected for the year. Around a third of all minor holdings are surveyed each year.

An internal consultation of the questions on the census is conducted, with bids for new questions considered as well as the removal of questions no longer required.

ii. Administration

The finalised census form is sent to the printers and error checked by staff. The census is then sent to recipients. A return rate of around 70% is usually achieved for both the major and minor holdings census, which equates to around 25,000 holdings.

iii. Processing of the Census

The returned census forms are scanned throughout the return period. Quality assurance checks are conducted on returns for each holding and include: (i) logic checks for internal consistency of results on the form, (ii) checks on data above pre-defined thresholds, (iii) comparisons with previous returns to identify any large changes in activity, (iv) checks on total holding areas against other corporate data sources. Returns which fail these checks are queried with the holdings.

Data for non-respondents are then imputed in order to generate overall results as well as to create a comprehensive database covering all holdings, which is used for analytical purposes. Generally imputation is stratified by size, type and geographic location of holdings. Imputation is taken item by item. Effectively, all non-zero values in year t are taken as a ratio of their non-zero values in year t-1. In some cases, information from IACS is used to complete census data for non-responders, but only where there is a direct holding match on IACS.

Further quality assurance is carried out on aggregated census results at the national and sub-national level. This includes an investigation of un-expected trends, which can lead to further queries being raised with individual holdings. Once the quality assurance has been completed for the main holdings, estimates for minor holdings are added to produce results

Provisional results are published in September to meet one of the EC regulation deadlines. These are be based on main holding forms processed by the start of September. Final results are published in October, which are based on all main forms being processed. In each case, estimates for minor holdings are included based on results from the previous year.

iv. Minor Holdings

After the main holdings census has closed, then the processing of minor holdings census is started. There is limited quality assurance of the minor census forms, which reflects the lower level of detail included on the form There is a similar level of response as for main holdings (around 70%). Results from the minor holdings will be used to update previous estimates and are included in subsequent publications.

SAF

i. Pre-administration
Development of SAF 2008 begins in September, October 2007
Meeting of those with a vested interest in SAF
Base form and field data sheets sent to printers in November
Explanatory booklets mid January
Cut-off for amendments is by 19th January

ii. Administration
Forms signed off, printed and sent off 15th March
Producers to declare all land they hold on the 15th May
Final Date is 15th May late claim periods 9th June (25 days) and incur late claim penalties. After that it is invalid.

Turnaround (past) information is sent to the producer and populated on screen for web based work. Checks on fields, e.g. whether its LFA gross areas etc.

iii. Processing
IT programs replicate the form question by question. All data is captured and acknowledgement sent to the producer. A certain level of validation is undertaken with the data and 'Special Checks' conducted which highlight issues that need to be checked, e.g. relating to the existence of contracts for non-food or energy crop production.

The processing staff estimate that around 60/70% of forms go through 'clean'. The remainder have to be validated. Some errors could have emerged from keying in at regional offices. Checking is also against corporate database, e.g. checking against farm records. The producer may also be contacted for clarification of issues and some deficient information may have to be checked by visits to the farm. On the electronic forms, validation is usually at the producer end and then an acknowledgement is sent to the producer.

Timeline of JAC and SAF process

1.4 Required Outputs

Reporting of the Census

There is an EC requirement for provisional information on pig numbers in August. UK data is collated by Defra. Provisional census results are published in September followed final results in October, again to meet various EC deadlines.

Census data and information is also used in a number of other publications, namely:-

i. Scottish Abstract of Statistics (published in February)

This publication contains comprehensive trend information from the June Census from 1982.

ii. Summary Sheets of Census (published in March)

The totals, and numbers of items aggregated along 14 regions ( based on Unitary Authorities)

iii. Economic Report on Scottish Agriculture

The ERSA collects data from a number of sources ((Farm Accounts Survey ( FAS) , June Census/ Total Income From Farming ( TIFF)/December Census). Predominantly, it shows comparisons with the UK and offers summaries of outputs such as size, region, area, type

iv. EUROSTAT Farm Structure Survey (required every 2-3 years)

Data from the Census is combined with other information at the holding level to produce a sample of holding records which are anonymised before being sent to the EC. Every EU Member State is required to participate in this survey. The resulting EU database provides a powerful tool for the EC to analyse structures and trends in agriculture to inform CAP policy.

Notably, the next EU Farm Structure Survey will be conducted in 2010. The main feature of the 2010 survey is that current proposals include a new Survey of Agricultural Production Methods ( SAMP) and increased sample sizes.

Aside from reporting, the Census also has a number of key uses, most significantly it is the main source of statistical information about the agricultural industry. Importantly, in terms of an emergency such as a disease outbreak, the census provides a basis for identifying farm activities, in particular those holding livestock.

Reporting of the Single Application Form

i. Publication of payments appear on website by business area office, SFP scheme is listed along with other payment schemes. This is voluntary and was initiated by the past administration.

ii. The Report on the Administration of CAP, which emerged from 2004 onwards and is a non-compulsory requirement, outlines the public cost of CAP payments schemes and declares the cost per pound of subsidy to administer. This is divided into pillar 1 and pillar 2 payments.

iii. Publication of beneficiary date is now compulsory under recently adopted amendments to 1290/2005 (to be in place by end Sept 2008). That now requires publication of pillar 1 and 2 payments including first name and surname where the payment is made to an individual along with details of municipality - postcode and postal town.

iv. Ad-hoc requests from Ministers, Press etc.

v. EUROSTAT (annual publication)
Feed and field register
Permanent pasture ratio
Protein and energy crops (changes)

Quality Assurance

Within the JAC a number of quality controls are imposed on the collection of the data. Those protocols outlined in the process section highlight a number of checking levels. In particular the census has historic trend data to compare a holding's declared activities with those of previous years. Various measures are in place for confirming any large deviation in declare activity from one year to the next. In addition, the JAC follows the National Statistics Code of Practice and Release Practice Protocol ². These in turn are influenced by QA protocols defined at the EC level for quality assurance mechanisms for collecting and disseminating agricultural statistics. Accordingly, holding level data submitted to the EC from the Farm Structure Survey goes through a set of quality assurance checks, which Member States need to resolve before final submission of data.

Cross-compliance checking on farms is a powerful form of QA for the SAF. In addition to this there are five levels of audit coverage for administration of quality assurance:-

Every year:
i. Internal Auditors
ii. External certification work on Scottish Government accounts
iii. Co-ordinating body RPA - external audit

Cyclical:
iv. EC Directorate auditor
v. EURO Commission monitors.

« Previous | Contents | Next »