Eligibility
2.1 To be eligible, an applicant must be the legal occupier of and have control over eligible land. The land in question must be owned or held under a secure tenancy agreement or contractual license for at least an unbroken 5-year term or, if the term of the tenancy or contractual license has less than 5 years to run, the landlord will need to complete and sign a declaration in the RSS 2006 application form. That declaration commits the landlord to ensuring that the obligations detailed in the scheme agreement are properly fulfilled until the expiry of that agreement should the tenant cease to have control over the relevant land at any time before completion of the full 5-year term. A landlord can apply in respect of land that is in hand or let out on a seasonal basis only. If any land included in the application is leased out on a seasonal basis, it will be the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that all Scheme requirements are met. The land-based options cannot be adopted on land leased for grazing or mowing for a period of 364 days or less. On no account should land held on a seasonal basis be accepted. Seasonal grazing, whilst part of the applicant's allowance calculation, is not an eligible area for land-based measures e.g. agri-environment, forestry, access. Farmers, crofters or Grazing Clerks in this category are eligible to apply.
2.2 For the purposes of the RSS, eligible land means land which is "…. used for agriculture including land which is in Set Aside or included in a Habitat Scheme" and "agriculture" is defined in the Scheme Regulations as including "horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming, livestock breeding or keeping, the use of land as grazing land, meadowland, osier land, reed beds, market gardens and nursery grounds, including the growing of Christmas trees". Keeping horses for recreational or sporting purposes and fish farming are not considered to be agricultural activities.
2.3 An applicant must be the legal occupier of the land between the date of application and the date of commencement of the agri-environment commitment (for RSS, 1st September). In addition, the applicant must have '5 years' unbroken occupancy from the latter date. The applicant should be made aware that if he or she loses control of the land during the lifetime of the agri environment agreement, breach procedures will be invoked. On no account should land held on a seasonal basis be accepted.
2.4 An applicant who is a tenant must submit a completed Landlord Notification form with his/her application to join the scheme. The form (see Appendix XIX for template) should be signed by both the enant making the application and his/her landlord thus providing evidence that the landlord is aware of the tenant's application.
2.5 To be considered eligible for management under the Scheme, an area of land must, prior to entry to the Scheme, have been used for agricultural purposes at some time in the calendar year preceding application. This means, for example, that land used as an orchard would be eligible, but that land used for grazing horses kept for non agricultural purposes, and no other livestock, would be ineligible.
2.6 To be eligible for inclusion in an RSS agreement, a 'stand-alone' capital measure must be intended to benefit an area of land (i.e. designed landscape, field boundary, black grouse breeding area or farm pond) which, prior to joining the Scheme, has been used for agricultural purposes at some time in the calendar year preceding application.
2.7 Grazing Clerks or others acting on behalf of a Grazing Committee may apply in respect of Common grazings in addition to individual crofters who may apply in respect of their individual croft lands. There are additional requirements for applications on behalf of Common Grazing Committees.
The legal framework within which the Committee must operate requires that any proposed course of action (including participation in an agri-environment scheme) must be:
a. within the Committee's statutory powers; and
b. consistent with the Grazings Regulations.
An outline of the procedures that a Common Grazing Committee must follow before submitting an application to the Rural Stewardship Scheme is contained in "Guidance Notes for Grazings Clerks and Grazings Committees" - refer to Appendix VII.
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