When you submit your application for funding you are asked to specify when you intend to claim the funding (i.e. the claim year). It is very important to get this right as activities for Options with capital costs must be claimed in the year in which it is scheduled in your contract and Schedule of Works.
You can only make a capital claim for costs incurred, and claim must be in the year that you have said you will claim in your contract.
The claim year for capital items will run from 1 January to 31 December, in line with the year for Annual Recurrent Payments. For example, claims for capital items which are scheduled, according to the approved contract, for 2010, must be submitted between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2010 along with all the supporting documentation.
Payments for capital items will be made on a continuous basis throughout the year, as soon as possible after receipt of a valid claim and in any case within 3 months of receipt of a valid claim.
You will need to schedule works on Options to ensure that it is financially viable to submit the required claim documentation within the correct claim year. Claimants should also schedule their claims in such a way that they will be able to supply all the relevant supporting documents within the timeframe, including any provided by a third party. If you find you are going to be unable to submit your claim before 31 December you must write and request a Variation in order to make Changes to Claim Years. Variations will only be approved in exceptional circumstances.
Claims for the natural regeneration Option, where the claim is submitted once a certain number of years worth of growth can be shown, should be made when the work to allow natural regeneration to commence (e.g. fencing off) has been completed. Option specific guidance for this Option is available.