MINUTES OF THE SINGLE FARM PAYMENT IMPLEMENTATION ADVISORY GROUP
MONDAY 28 FEBRUARY - ROOM 449, PENTLAND HOUSE
Present
Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD)
National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS)
Scottish Agricultural College (SAC)
Scottish Rural Property and Business Association (SRPBA)
Laurence Gould Partnership
Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers Scotland (IAAS)
National Sheep Association (NSA)
National Beef Association (NBA)
Scottish Crofting Foundation (SCF)
Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers Scotland (IAAS)
1. APOLOGIES
Apologies were received from Quality Meat Scotland (QMS), Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), Environment LINK.
2. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
The minutes of the last meeting were agreed and will be placed on the website.
3. 10 MONTH RULE
SEERAD informed the group that the Minister had announced at the NFUS conference on 25 February that an amendment to the Commission Regulation had been voted through with the effect of allowing a second 10-month period for SFPS claim eligibility. The Minister had been clear, however, that there were still legislative hurdles to clear and that whilst it was his hope that this facility should be made available to Scottish producers, this could not yet be put beyond doubt.
SEERAD are planning on the basis that the second period would come into effect. But the IACS packs were at final proof stage with the printers and it would not be possible to amend the forms to include details of the two 10-month periods. It was therefore proposed to the group that in the event that the change can be implemented before 16 May, either:
- A letter and form be sent to all producers or;
- A letter sent to all producers but forms sent to only those who informed SEERAD of seasonal lets in their 2004 IACS.
Comments from the group were invited:
- grass lets are starting now so it would be preferable to let producers know as soon as possible. Taking adverts out in the press to inform producers of the change was suggested.
- if it applies to all producers, all should be informed.
- the 'tidiness' of it (i.e. including it in the IACS packs) was not important but it was important to let all producers know.
- due to the amendments to the Agricultural Holdings Act, 2 dates would be more beneficial to Scottish producers. A lot of seasonal lets were unofficial agreements between producers but now they are going to have to declare it, 2 dates would make this easier.
- Concerns were raised that people might not complete the IACS and 10 month form correctly (i.e. missing out FIDS on one, but including it on the other), would penalties arise from this?
SEERAD stated that these kinds of mistakes would be considered under the 'obvious error' heading.
4. CHALLENGES & UPDATE ON APPEALS PROCEDURES
SEERAD gave the group an update on how Challenges are progressing. As at 28 February 2005 6790 Challenges had been received from 2600 businesses. Of these 992 businesses have had their Challenge Upheld, 931 have been Rejected and 371 have had both Upheld and Rejected Challenges. There are 306 businesses still awaiting a decision, this amounts to 11.77% of total businesses who have challenged.
A press release will be taken shortly to announce the closing date of 31 March 2005.
SEERAD are going to write to all producers with unsuccessful challenges informing them of the new appeals procedures. Agri-Environment participants have received letters informing them that payments would be reduced and they should seriously consider challenging their estimate if they have management options with an element of subsidy foregone (letter issued 25 February). SEERAD are also currently trying to identify producers who did not have activity during the reference period but did so before and after in order to write to them and ask if it was due to a Force Majeure/Exceptional Circumstance.
In respect of the appeals system, appeals SSI which is about to be laid will embrace the SFPS. It will come into force in late March. The processes for appeals against unsuccessful challenges and the information in the Single Application Form are being reviewed as these need to be dealt with as expeditiously as possible. Consideration is being given to reducing the appeal period to 30 days and restricting stage 1 appeals to written only. The new stage 2 external Panel members received training on 25 February 2005; they received a basic grounding of appeals and the SFPS.
- The point was raised that there seemed to be some confusion with Organic Aid Scheme Challenges. There is also concern that producers cannot have a successful Agri-Environment Challenge and be accepted to the National Reserve.
- The question was asked: what proportion of upheld challenges were as a result of Foot and Mouth Disease. SEERAD said that the statistics were not broken down to that level, but there was a higher proportion of challenges upheld by the area offices that were affected by FMD.
- The question was asked: what the position was on producers who had participated in LWDS and should these producers submit a challenge before the deadline. SEERAD said that letters would be issued shortly and there would be no need to submit a challenge.
- There were concerns about the proposed to changes to the appeals procedures. There was already quite a lot of cynicism about the procedures and shortening the time period would not help that. The point was also raised that not everyone was comfortable with stating their case in writing.
5. NATIONAL RESERVE
SEERAD updated the group on the position with the National Reserve.
- An Information Leaflet and Application Form was sent to all producers;
- Extra copies were sent to Area Offices for producers wishing to apply to the New Entrant category.
- Training has taken place for Area Office staff.
- A mailbox has been setup for enquiries ( Nationalreserve@scotland.gsi.gov.uk)
A paper was issued detailing how many applications had been received. 462 applications have been received as at 28 February 2005.
Comments were invited from the group:
- Concerns were raised about the way it is progressing, and expects that there will be a rush towards the closing date.
- Concerns were raised that there was some inconsistency between advice being issued from SEERAD HQ and Area Offices. Some producers may be told that they are not eligible for the National Reserve when infact they are and lose out. SEERAD said that follow up training was being given on 10 March 2005. And that any instances of inconsistency should be brought to SEERAD's attention.
- The point was raised that there was still a lot of confusion about Consolidation, in particular if someone was to apply under Category 1 but wants to consolidate; a request was made for more detailed information to be circulated. SEERAD said that Consolidation would be covered in the SFPS Notes for Guidance.
- The Laurence Gould Partnership felt that in some circumstances the use of parish averages was unfair and asked if there were any plans to review them. SEERAD said that there were not any plans to review them, various options for this had been considered. SRPBA said that the group had covered this extensively and had agreed to the parish average option. NFUS agreed and added that by choosing this option they had managed to minimise anomalies.
6. ENTITLEMENTS REGISTER
SEERAD gave an explanation of the Entitlements Register to group and gave a demonstration.
- The register was created on 5 February 2005.
- 4,382,061 entitlements were created.
- The Scottish register is the first to be created in the UK.
SEERAD said that it would be 3 weeks to a month away before producers could view their entitlements and that they are currently looking at how agents will be able to access the screens. Agents and third parties will have to use the on-line form for trading , producers will have the option to complete a paper form.
- The question was asked if a producer was to sell in June, would it have to be at the end of the 10 month period. SEERAD said no, that this would be covered by a forage transfer.
- Rumours were circulating that Defra are concerned about the amount of quota being transferred from England to Scotland and are planning to bring measures in to stop this.
SEERAD stated that they had not heard anything along those lines, but would look into it.
- The question was asked: if cross border/consolidation cases money would be moved to Scotland to help the national ceiling. SEERAD said that regional ceilings will not be fixed until July. This issue will be discussed with the other devolveds.
- Clarification was sought on the fact that set aside entitlements would not be issued from the national reserve. SEERAD confirmed that this is correct. The subsequent question was asked if a producer could sell set aside entitlements under a private contract clause. SEERAD said that this was acceptable.
- Clarification was sought on set aside penalties. Would it just be the set aside payment that would be affected or the entire SFPS. SEERAD clarified that if a producer declares less land than he has, he must use his set aside entitlements first and will only be paid on the same percentage for SFPS. However, if he has forfeited set aside rules he will lose all payments.
7. CROSS COMPLIANCE
SEERAD gave an update on cross compliance.
- The SFPS Notes for Guidance will have an appropriate section on cross compliance.
- Training is being organised for SEERAD, SEPA and SNH staff.
- A mailbox has been set up for enquires ( XCMailbox@scotland.gsi.gov.uk)
The point was raised that there were fears about the penalties; producers think that penalties will be far more significant as there is now only 1 scheme. There are also still fears about SEERAD, SEPA and SNH undertaking multiple inspections. And that neighbours will inform SEERAD of alleged breaches of cross compliance. SEERAD said that currently there are 3 groups in the UK working on the penalty regime. Also, that all farms that are selected for inspection will have to have all aspects of cross compliance checked. From the introduction of cross compliance there has only been 1 allegation of a breach reported so far.
- The suggestion was made that SEERAD issue a booklet along the lines of "What to expect at an inspection" also explaining the penalty regime.
- The question was asked: how long would SEERAD expect a whole farm inspection to last. SEERAD said that it would depend on the size of the farm. CII inspections will be the same.
8. KEY MESSAGES AND COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
SEERAD circulated the Communications plan. This is a timetable of information that will be issued or the next 3 months.
The group will now be canvassed for key messages before they are issued; this is to ensure that the messages are relevant and not repeated.
The Land Management Contract Menu Scheme Notes for Guidance will be issued at the end of March. They are currently with the Plain English Campaign. Flyers are being included in the Scottish Farmer.
- SCF asked if there was any other option of sending out the LMC flyers as most crofters do not read the Scottish Farmer.
- The question was asked if there were any plans to do more road shows for LMCs. The meetings that SAC held for the crofters went well and there is a huge desire for more information. LMCs may be quite attractive to crofters. SCF and the Crofters Commission are planning to put something together on LMCs. SEERAD said that this would need to be discussed, but the feedback that is being received is showing that people are getting saturated with all the information that is being disseminated.
SEERAD are considering issuing IACS packs to Agents prior to them being issued widely. This would give Agents some time to familiarise themselves before enquires started coming in.
The Scottish Beef Calf Scheme Notes for Guidance have been revised and have been put forward for a Crystal Mark.
SEERAD asked the group if they thought an event for Agents about IACS would be helpful. The group felt it would be helpful and may stop problems, however, time lines are tight due the RSS closing date.
SEERAD told the group that they are currently looking into the possibility of doing a DVD on cross compliance, however, the timescale may be a problem. Did the group think that this would be beneficial?
The following points were made:
- an interactive CD-rom would be better as producers could by-pass the parts that are not relevant to them.
- There was general concern about the method of the message i.e. some producers may not have a computer or DVD player, and perhaps a video would be better.
- producers would be more likely to watch a video than read a booklet.
- The question was asked: how quickly SEERAD would inform producers of National Reserve awards. SEERAD informed the group that this is priority in Area Offices. SEERAD said that the notification letters have been finalised and the programme will be available shortly.
9. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
The group asked if the SFPIAG will take over the implementation of Land Management Contracts now that it has been approved. It was felt that the LMC Menu Scheme was an important part of CAP Reform. SEERAD said that this sounded reasonable but confirmation would need to sought with. Agricultural Policy Division.
10. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The date and time of the next meeting will be at the NFUS Offices on Tuesday 12 April 2005 at 10.00 am.
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