Group 1 (Annual Recurrent Options)
Late submission
Late submission of the Single Application Form (IACS2) or the Rural Priorities Annual Recurrent Claim form (RP1) results in a standard penalty reduction of 1% of the payment for each working day your form is late during the 25 calendar day period after the 15 May deadline.
For SRDP options including those under Rural Priorities/Land Managers Options, this will apply to Annual Recurrent area related Options which are declared on the SAF data sheets unless there is a case of force majeure or exceptional circumstances.
There is a 100% penalty if the Land Managers Options Annual Recurrent Claim form (LMO1) is received after the 15 May deadline.
Over-declarations of land - As defined in Article 16 of the amended version of Commission Regulation (EC) 1975/2006
Your claim will be adjusted, and if you have over-declared by more than 3% or 2 hectares, penalties will be applied. This includes cases where you are 'double claiming', that is, claiming for Options on the same land which are incompatible. Please refer to guidance on how penalties are calculated for over-declarations for more details. These examples will explain how we apply over-declaration penalties for land based option.
Scheme Breaches- As defined in guidance to comply with Article 18 of the amended version of Commission Regulation (EC) 1975/2006
SRDP Scheme breaches (i.e. not meeting the Options specific eligibility criteria and rules) - will be assessed by one of our officers for intent, extent, severity, and permanence. This will determine the order or magnitude of any penalty. Please see further details on how we assess a scheme rule breach.
Cross compliance breaches
There is a standard penalty matrix depending on the severity of the breach. Penalties are applied to the total payment for all the area related Annual Recurrent measures in the application/contract. Detailed rules on reductions and penalties as a result of a breach of cross compliance can be found in the Cross Compliance notes for Guidance.
Other compliance requirements
- In addition, for those with agri-environment Options, there are minimum requirements to comply with for the protection of historic and archaeological features. Reductions and penalties as a result of a breach are similar to those for breach of cross compliance.
Group 2 (Capital Options)
Overclaims - As defined in Article 31 of the amended version of Commission Regulation (EC) 1975/2006
For capital Options, the main type of breach is an over-claim. This is defined as deliberately or negligently claiming more than your invoiced, eligible expenditure for a relevant item. Declaring more than you have applied for (LMO ) or than you have agreed in your contract ( RP) does not constitute a breach if it is eligible expenditure and backed up by the relevant supporting documentation. However, we cannot pay you more than you applied for or agreed in your contract.
These examples will explain how we apply breaches and penalties to capital items.
If the over-claim is less than 3%, the claim will be adjusted to its correct level, i.e. the level supported by your invoices or the level agreed in your contract or application, whichever is the lesser. No additional penalties will be applied.
If the over-claim is greater than 3%, we will reduce the claim to its correct level as above, and deduct an additional amount equal to the amount over-claimed.
Scheme Breaches
Scheme rule breaches can also apply to capital Options, for example where the capital work does not meet the Option requirements or any rules associated with that particular Option. Please refer to the guidance on each of your Options for more detail on what is required of you.
Contract Breaches
A breach of contract will be considered if an Option has deliberately not been completed to satisfactory standard, or not been completed or carried out at all. If you have been awarded a contract, you should therefore seek to carry out all Options within it, as this penalty may otherwise apply.
Multiple breaches occur when there is non compliance with the requirements for more than one Option within an agreement; and/or where there is non-compliance with the requirements for an Option on more than one site or land parcel within an agreement and in the same scheme year.
If any agreement under the SRDP mechanism is deemed to be unviable by Scottish Ministers as a result of non-compliance with the conditions of funding for the project, or for one or more Options within the agreement, the agreement may be terminated at any point.
Please refer to the Table Summary of Breaches and Penalties for details of how breaches apply to each group.
For both Capital and Annual Recurrent Options under Rural Priorities, a separate additional penalty may be applied where:
- intentional non completion of options/items has occurred (especially if the options were pivotal in achieving a higher ranking score)
- negligent non completion of options/items has occurred
A Rural Priorities breach of contract, where options or capital works have not been completed, will be assessed by one of our officers for intent, extent, severity, and permanence. This will determine the order or magnitude of any penalty. We describe how to classify breaches involving annual recurrent options (Group 1) and capital works (Group 2) under How are Rural Priorities contract breaches calculated?
Please refer to the Rural Priorities Matrix of Penalties for details of the action we will take following a breach of this kind.