Serving Scotland's Farmers

DescriptionServing Scotland's farmers booklet
ISBN
Official Print Publication Date
Website Publication DateDecember 02, 2003

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    Serving Scotland's Farmers

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    Contents

    Introduction
    Our standards of service
    Our targets
    If you wish to appeal against our decision
    If you have a complaint
    What we ask of you
    List of SEERAD area offices and sub offices
    Area boundaries and offices

    Introduction
    • We have reviewed and updated our commitments to Scottish farmers. This statement replaces the charter standard statement 'Serving Scottish Farmers, Second Edition'.
    • We have an agreed vision that focuses on delivering the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidy schemes. This is "to implement the CAP subsidy schemes in Scotland efficiently, effectively and in line with EU requirements, providing a fair and first class service to farmer customers and ensuring that the public funds disbursed are subject to proper financial control". We apply the same principles to our other work.
    Our standards of service

    The level of service you can expect

    • We are committed to providing high-quality standards of services.
    • Each year we will report on how well we are performing and setting out our future performance targets.

    Information

    • We will provide clear and accurate information about our schemes by sending you explanatory notes, or by putting advertisements and news releases in the farming press.

    Being polite

    • We will always be polite and try to be helpful.
    • Our staff will introduce themselves by name when you contact our offices.
    • Our staff will wear name badges when you meet with them at our offices.

    Promptness

    • We will answer your phone calls promptly. If the person you speak to cannot deal with your enquiry, they will pass you on quickly to someone who can, or someone will call you back.
    • We will normally send you a reply to letters and e-mails within two weeks of receiving them. But if this is not possible, we will explain why there will be a delay.
    • In our scheme documents we say we will acknowledge applications and claim forms - we will do this within two weeks of receiving the application or claim.

    Appointments

    • We will try our best to keep all appointments - both at our office and at your farm - at the time agreed. If we are unavoidably delayed, we will try our best to contact you and, if necessary, arrange a new appointment. If, in rare circumstances, we have to cancel, we will arrange a new appointment to suit you.

    Visits

    • Our staff have to enforce the rules governing how we pay grants and subsidies, and legal requirements generally mean that we do not tell you if we are going to visit you. If this is the case, we will explain what we have to do when we arrive at your farm and we will do our best to inconvenience you as little as possible. All our staff carry formal identification. You can find out more about what to expect from our visits in the leaflet 'Inspections by SEERAD _ What to Expect'. You can get a copy from our area offices or on our website at www.scotland.gov.uk/about/agriculture

    Privacy

    • We will treat any information you provide _ whether as part of a claim or in a letter _ in confidence. This will be in line with the conditions laid down in the Data Protection Act.
    • We will provide facilities for a private discussion if you need this. Please let us know beforehand if you need a private discussion or any special facilities, so that we can make sure they are available.

    Openness

    • We will carry out surveys to check if you are satisfied with the service you receive and we will publish the results.
    • If you have suggestions on how we might improve our service, please let us know by writing to your area office.

    Applying on-line using a computer

    • You can apply for many CAP schemes on-line rather than by filling in a paper form. Filling in your claim on-line has many advantages. We will let you know immediately that we have received your application and we have built-in checks so you have less chance of making a mistake. Visit www.scotfarmonline.gov.uk to get more information on how to do this.
    Our targets

    We will deal with applications for grants, subsidies, certifications and licences as quickly as possible. We must carefully check each application as there are always some which are not straightforward. We aim to get our decisions right first time, because in the long run that saves time.

    The targets set out below are for processing valid applications and eligible claims.

    Valid applications are those that contain full and accurate answers (including any appropriate supporting documents). We will process these without needing to ask you for more information. Eligible claims are those which meet the requirements of the relevant scheme.

    If we need to return incomplete or inaccurate forms, we may not be able to process the revised forms within the target periods we have given.

    Arable Area Payments

    • We will pay 85% of eligible claims by 30 November and 96% of scheme spending by 31 January.

    Less-favoured Area Support Scheme

    • We will pay 50% of eligible claims by 31 March and 90% of eligible claims by 30 June.

    We may need to amend these targets in response to changes to the LFASS scheme.

    Sheep Annual Premium Scheme

    • We will pay 90% of eligible claims within two weeks of opening the statutory payment period (opens 16 October). We will pay 96% of scheme funds by the following 31 March.

    Cattle Schemes

    • We start to process your claims under the cattle subsidy schemes when we receive your claim form, correctly filled in and with supporting documents. Payments normally take the form of 'advance' and 'balance' payments. Advance payments usually start in the autumn, at a date fixed by the EU. We make the balance payment the following spring. Our specific scheme targets are shown below.

    Beef Special Premium Scheme

    • We will return your cattle passports before the end of the retention period - the two month period a claimed animal must be kept on your farm to qualify for payment.
    • We will make advance payments by 31 December or within 12 weeks of the end of the retention period, whichever is later.
    • We will make balance payments by 30 June the following year.

    Slaughter Premium Scheme

    • We will make advance payments by 31 December or within 12 weeks of receiving the claim, whichever is later.
    • We will make balance payments by 30 June the following year.

    Suckler Cow Premium Scheme

    • We will make advance payments by 31 December or within 12 weeks of receiving the claim, whichever is later.
    • We will make balance payments by 30 June the following year.

    Extensification Payment Scheme

    • We will make extensification payments by 30 June the following year.

    Scottish Forestry Grants Scheme - Farmland Premium

    Farm Woodland Premium Scheme

    Farm Woodland Scheme

    • We will pay claims we receive by 1 August by the end of October.
    • We will pay claims we receive after 1 August within three months of receiving them.

    Organic Aid Scheme

    Rural Stewardship Scheme

    • We will accept or reject applications by the end of August each year.

    Countryside Premium Scheme

    Rural Stewardship Scheme

    Organic Aid Scheme

    Habitats Scheme

    Environmentally Sensitive Area Scheme

    • We will pay eligible claims within six weeks of receipt.

    Agricultural Business Development Scheme

    Farm Business Development Scheme

    • We will send out decision letters on applications to carry out eligible measures within fifteen working days of a Project Assessment Committee meeting.
    • We will pay claims within three months of receiving a valid claim.

    Farm and Conservation Grant Scheme

    * We will pay claims within three months of receiving them.

    Plant Health inspections _ potatoes

    • We will inspect growing crops between 1 June and 31 August.
    • We will inspect seed potatoes within two working days of receiving your request for labels.
    • We will issue labels within five working days of you applying for them.

    Permit to buy strychnine

    • We will reach a decision on permits for strychnine (either to issue or refuse) within four weeks.

    If we cannot achieve any of these targets, for example because of changes in European Union rules or other events we could not expect, we will explain the position to you, through news releases or through the farming press.

    All our targets depend on our receiving valid applications and eligible claims with all the information we need. Taking care with the paperwork saves everyone time.

    If you wish to appeal against our decision

    If you are not sure why you have been penalised or do not fully understand the contents of a letter, first contact the area office that gave you the decision. They will provide a fuller explanation.

    If you are not satisfied with this explanation, you can formally appeal against the decision we have taken on your subsidy claim, using the EU Agricultural Subsidy Schemes Appeals procedure. The procedure covers all IACS, agri-environment and afforestation schemes and quota decisions on Sheep Annual Premium and Suckler Cow Premium. You have 60 calendar days from the date of our decision letter to send us your appeal. You can get an information leaflet, AP(EL) June 2001 and application form, from your SEERAD area office or from:

    The Appeals Secretariat
    SEERAD
    Room 028
    Pentland House
    47 Robb's Loan
    Edinburgh EH14 1TY

    Or, log onto www.scotland.gov.uk/about/agriculture

    If you have a complaint

    Complaints about the standard of service you received are not covered by our formal appeals procedure. If you want to complain, contact the person in your SEERAD area office who is dealing with your case. If you are still not satisfied with their response, you can:

    • write to the Principal Agricultural Officer at your area office;
    • write to the Chief Agricultural Officer at Pentland House;
    • ask your MSP or MP to take up your complaint with the Minister for Environment and Rural Development; or
    • ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to investigate your complaint.

    You can get more information on the complaint procedure in the subsidy scheme explanatory booklets.

    What we ask of you

    Please help us to help you.

    • We try to keep our forms simple. But some schemes have complicated rules. We have to set out these rules fully, otherwise we could mislead you. If you have difficulty understanding them, we will try to explain them to you. If you have any difficulty filling in the forms, or if you are not sure about what action you should take, you should get professional help.
    • Please fill in forms accurately, fully and clearly. Make sure that you attach any papers we ask for. We will normally return to you forms that are not filled in properly and we will explain what is wrong. However, that causes a delay, and in these circumstances we may not always be able to process forms within our published target periods.
    • If possible, do not leave your application or claim to the last minute. The sooner the form is with us, the sooner we can deal with it. You can suffer serious financial penalties if we do not receive an eligible claim by the deadline. Remember, you must claim under the Extensification Payment Scheme and the Less-favoured Area Support Scheme using the Integrated Administration and Control System Area Aid Application form.
    • On schemes where we say in the scheme documents that we will acknowledge your application or claim, we will send you a letter to say we have received your application or claim. If we do not, contact your area office and ask if we have received your form. If we have, ask us for a written acknowledgement. Remember to keep any acknowledgement in a safe place so that you can produce it if you need to.
    • If you need to send us a payment, please do so on time.
    • If we have an appointment to see you, please let us know if you cannot keep it.
    SEERAD area offices

    Ayr
    SEERAD
    Russell House
    King Street
    Ayr KA8 0BE

    Phone : 01292 610188
    Fax: 01292 611483
    E-mail: SEERAD.Ayr@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

    Benbecula
    SEERAD
    Balivanich
    Isle of Benbecula HS7 5LA

    Phone : 01870 602346
    Fax: 01870 602077
    E-mail: SEERAD.Benbecula@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

    Dumfries
    SEERAD
    Government Buildings
    161 Brooms Road
    Dumfries DG1 3ES

    Phone : 01387 255292
    Fax : 01387 267116
    E-mail: SEERAD.Dumfries@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

    Elgin
    SEERAD
    32 Reidhaven Street
    Elgin IV30 1VE

    Phone: 01343 547514
    Fax:01343 552312
    E-mail: SEERAD.Elgin@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

    Galashiels
    SEERAD
    Cotgreen Road
    Tweedbank
    Galashiels TD1 3SG

    Phone: 01896 758333
    Fax: 01896 754460
    E-mail: SEERAD.Galashiels@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

    Hamilton
    SEERAD
    Cadzow Court
    3 Wellhall Road
    HAMILTON ML3 9BG

    Phone: 01698 281166
    Fax : 01698 285277
    E-mail: SEERAD.Hamilton@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

    Inverness
    SEERAD
    28 Longman Road
    Inverness IV1 1SF

    Phone: 01463 234141
    Fax: 01463 714697
    E-mail: SEERAD.Inverness@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

    Inverurie (Thainstone )
    SEERAD
    Thainstone Court
    Inverurie AB51 5YA

    Phone : 01467 626222
    Fax : 01467 626217
    E-mail: SEERAD.Thainstone@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

    Kirkwall
    SEERAD
    Government Buildings
    Tankerness Lane
    Kirkwall KW15 1AQ

    Phone: 01856 875444
    Fax: 01856 873309
    E-mail: SEERAD.Kirkwall@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

    Lairg
    SEERAD
    Ord Croft
    Lairg IV27 4AZ

    Phone: 01549 402167
    Fax : 01549 402117
    E-mail: SEERAD.Lairg@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

    Lerwick
    SEERAD
    Charlotte House
    Commercial Road
    Lerwick ZE1 0HF

    Phone : 01595 695054
    Fax : 01595 694254
    E-mail: SEERAD.Lerwick@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

    Oban
    SEERAD
    Cameron House
    Albany Street
    Oban PA34 4AE

    Phone: 01631 563071
    Fax: 01631 566756
    E-mail: SEERAD.Oban@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

    Perth
    SEERAD
    Broxden Business Park
    Lamberkine Drive
    Perth PH1 1RZ

    Phone: 01738 602000
    Fax: 01738 602001
    E-mail: SEERAD.Perth@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

    Stornoway
    SEERAD
    10 Keith Street
    Stornoway
    HS1 2QG

    Phone: 01851 702392
    Fax: 01851 705793
    E-mail: SEERAD.Stornoway@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

    Thurso
    SEERAD
    Strathbeg House
    Clarence Street
    Thurso KW14 7JS

    Phone: 01847 893104
    Fax: 01847 895983
    E-mail: SEERAD.Thurso@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

    Portree
    SEERAD
    Estates Office
    Portree
    Isle of Skye IV51 9DH

    Phone: 01478 612516
    Fax: 01478 613128
    E-mail: SEERAD.Portree@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

    Head Office Address
    Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department
    Pentland House
    47 Robbs Loan
    Edinburgh EH14 1TY

    Phone: 0131 244 6477
    Fax: 0131 244 5656
    E-mail: SEERAD.CAPM1@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

    Map

      Page updated: Thursday, May 25, 2006