Funding for Outcome Plans
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 and as advised by the Case Officer:
- Business chapter: to cover regional priorities numbers 1-7, 26-32
- Environment chapter: to cover regional priorities numbers 8-25
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 (Type "a" or "b") or an Outcome Plan with specialist advice (Type "c" or "d") but not both.
Basic Outcome Plan
Type a. Prepared by Applicant - 50% of actual costs up to a maximum payment of £150 on production of a valid Proposal. Applies to any chapter.
Type b. Prepared by Agent - 50% of actual costs up to a maximum one-off payment of £200 on production of a valid Proposal. Applies to any chapter.
Outcome Plan with Specialist Input
Type c. Prepared by Agent/Specialist - 50% of actual costs up to a maximum one-off payment of £400 in a on production of a valid Proposal. Applies to any chapter.
Type 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 £873.28 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 Type " c" or wait until Type d. becomes available in 2009.
Funding under Type " 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 for Type " d" the Option guidance rate will apply.
Examples:
Business 1
An applicant with 5 hectares requires an Outcome Plan for 'Business' type activity (Basic).
The applicant spends 33 hours preparing the Outcome plan themselves. The total cost is calculated using an hourly rate of £9.18 / Hour. Thus 33 hours x £9.18 = £302.94. So the applicant is eligible for the maximum payment of £150 ( 50% of actual costs up to a maximum payment of £150)
Business 2
An applicant with 540 hectares 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 a maximum payment of £400) and has opted for the Type 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
An applicant with 305 hectares 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.