27 November 2009
A planned shutdown of the RDC Rural Priorities Front Office Data Capture will take place on Wednesday 2 December 2009, from 8.00am for 2 hours, to allow essential system maintenance. The system will be unavailable for use during this period.
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.
17 November 2009
Rural Priorities - Update on Community Services and Facilities Option transfer to LEADER
Following the Cabinet Secretary's announcement at the Rural Gathering on September 25, guidance was published on October 6 that the Community Services and Facilities (CSF) option under Rural Priorities was being considered for transfer into the LEADER programme, and that the November assessment round would be the last opportunity for CSF projects to be considered under the Rural Priorities mechanism.
In response to concerns raised by stakeholders, it has been agreed that, for a transitional period, we will continue to accept and progress CSF applications under Rural Priorities.
Applicants should therefore note that, as previously announced, the November RPACs will consider CSF projects as usual.
We can also confirm that projects containing CSF options which meet the appropriate January deadlines and information requirements can be assessed at the RPACs scheduled for March 2010, where the 90% grant rate announced by the Cabinet Secretary will apply.
Projects still in development should continue to follow Rural Priorities guidance and timescales, in consultation with Case Officers. Details on the arrangements for assessment beyond the March RPACs will be announced in due course.
In the meantime, work on transferring CSF into LEADER will continue . Further details on this process will be published on the SRDP website as they become available.
12 November 2009
Rural Priorities - Informing Applicants of RPAC Results By Email
We are constantly trying to improve the way we communicate with Rural Priorities applicants. This will be potentially challenging for this round due to the extraordinary number of cases under consideration but we are committed to making every effort to ensure applicants are informed promptly once the result of their application has been confirmed.
In order to make the notification of results faster and more efficient we are planning to move towards notification via email to applicants or their agents in addition to the official letter issued by post.
It would be helpful if applicants could ensure their contact details, in particular their email addresses are up-to-date by November 30 which coincides with the end of the upcoming RPAC round. The email address can either be personal or that of an agent. You can check and amend your email address, and other contact information, by logging into your account at Rural Payments Online.
If you do not wish to receive notification by email and only wish to be contacted by letter, please call on 0131 244 4424 quoting your case numbers, business reference number and business name, again by November 30.
6 November 2009
ANNUAL RECURRENT PAYMENTS
Please note that the intention is to begin to pay annual recurrent claims for Rural Priorities in early 2010, as soon as possible after the end of the scheme year. This is in line with arrangements for previous agri-environment schemes, where such payments were also made after the end of the scheme year.
The different date of payment is down to the scheme year for Rural Priorities being different, i.e. January to December rather than September to August which was the case with RSS.
The timing is also informed by the need to comply with European requirements for all inspections for land-based activities to be carried out before payments can be made.
Once the inspections have been completed, we must prioritise work to be carried out at a busy time of year, with processing of Single Farm Payments taking precedence.
We are aware that guidance has previously referred to earlier dates for annual recurrent payments. This was erroneous and should have been corrected as soon the error was recognised. We apologise for any confusion and inconvenience caused by this oversight. We will of course make every effort to ensure payments are made as soon as possible.