Also see Claims for Outcome Plans.
The Outcome Plan will contain either a Business chapter or Environment chapter or both depending on the priorities selected by the applicant:
- Business chapter: to cover regional priorities numbers 1-7, 26-32
- Environment chapter: to cover regional priorities numbers 8-25
Note: Community groups should complete either a Business or Environment Chapter, or both, depending on the regional priorities their Proposal aims to address and as advised by their Case Officer.
Each chapter is funded separately. So if you have 2 chapters, they can be funded at different rates.
An Outcome Plan can either be a basic plan or one requiring specialist input (those requiring specialist input will be identified at the Statement of Intent stage).
Those requiring specialist input for which the applicant incurs a cost are paid at a higher rate to reflect the higher costs involved.
For a single application/case you can claim for either a Basic Outcome Plan ('a' or 'b') or an Outcome Plan with specialist advice ('c' or 'd') but not both.
Basic Outcome Plan
a. Prepared by applicant - Flat rate £150 in a one-off payment on production of a valid Proposal. Applies to any chapter.
b. Prepared by agent - 50% of actual costs up to a maximum of £200 in a one-off payment on production of a valid Proposal. Applies to any chapter.
Outcome Plan with Specialist Input
c. Prepared by agent/specialist - 50% of actual costs up to a maximum of £400 in a one-off payment on production of a valid Proposal. Applies to any chapter.
d. Funding of Outcome Plans of this type will become available in 2009. The Plan is prepared by the agent/specialist - £1.02 per hectare per year for the first 150 hectares and £0.20 per hectare per year for the next 100 hectares. It is paid annually for 5 years, giving a maximum of £865.00 per plan. This is only available for activities covered by the Environment chapter and payable if approval is given for the Proposals it supports.
If you require an Outcome Plan for land management Options (e.g. that meet regional priorities numbers 8-25), you can choose to get funding through c. or wait until type d. becomes available in 2009.
Funding under a. b. or c. is limited to a maximum of £1000 per business over the life of the Programme (i.e. to 2013). This includes any payments made for Nutrient Management Plans, Soil and Water Plans (Land Managers' Options or Rural Priorities) and also includes Land Managers' Options Business Audits.
Note: Where the Rural Priorities Options guidance mentions a specific payment rate per hectare per year for a specialist plan that differs from that given under payment rate d. the Option guidance rate will apply.
Examples:
Business 1
5 ha requires an Outcome Plan for 'Business' type activity (Basic).
Applicant prepares the Outcome Plan themselves, so is eligible for £150.
Business 2
540 ha requires two chapters in their Outcome Plans for 'Business' (Specialist) and 'Environment' (Specialist). His Business Plan costs him £600 and his Environment Plan costs £1000.
He is eligible for £300 for the Business Plan (50% of actual costs up to £400) and has opted for the d. funding for the Environment Plan so is eligible for:
£1.02 x 150 = £153
£0.20 x 100 = £ 20
£173 per annum for 5 years = £ 865 provided the Options the plans support are approved.
Business 3
305 ha requires two chapters in their Outcome Plan. A specialist input to a Business chapter and a specialist input to an Environment chapter. They also have a Nutrient Management Plan under LMO which cost them £1000 (and at 40% is limited to the £300 maximum funding).
The Business specialist plan prepared by agent costs £1300 so eligible for £400.
The Environment specialist plan prepared by agent costs £1200. The applicant opts for c. funding and is eligible for £400.
This total comes to £1100 so funding will be limited to £1000.
Claiming payment for Outcome Plans
Your claim for payment for the Outcome Plan and specialist advice will be eligible once the Case Officer has assessed the Proposal and approved the plans as 'fit for purpose' at Stage 2 in the Proposal assessment process.