Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP)
The Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP) was
recommended for approval
by EU Ministers on 23 January 2008 and is a £1.6 billion
programme of economic, environmental and social measures
designed to develop rural Scotland over the next six years.
The Scottish Government
has stated that it will honour existing agri-environment and
forestry scheme agreements and they will be funded from the
SRDP Budget.
The SRDP is a “one stop shop” of different types of grant scheme
brought together by the Scottish Government. The principle schemes
forming the core of the SRDP are as follows:
- The Crofting Counties Agricultural Grant Scheme
- The Food Processing
- Marketing and Co-operation Grant Scheme
- The Forestry Grants and Challenge Funds
- The LEADER Initiative
- The Less Favoured Area Support Scheme
- The Rural Development Contracts and
- The Skills Development Scheme
A series of milestone dates has been
agreed by the Scottish Government from January to October 2008, these
dates set out the scheduled roll out of the various schemes
and we understand that they remain on-schedule. The Less Favoured
Area Support Scheme for instance is up and running, with payments
already having been made in January to farmers in fragile areas
based on historic claims, while others such as the Rural Development
Contracts (Land Managers Options and Rural Priorities) will
be published in the very near future.
>>> Click here to contact the
Bell Ingram SRDP regional
specialists
In order to receive payments from SRDP schemes, applicants must
have a recognised Business Reference Number (BRN) and
Location Code
Number (FCN), and in some cases will be required to make an
IACS return on 15 May. It is useful to understand how
the Scottish Government delivers its subsidy schemes to the rural
community; there are three Tiers through which funding is channelled,
they are as follows:-
Tier 1
Single Farm Payment Scheme, while not part of the SRDP, provides
the environmental cross-compliance measures which set out the
standards to which all schemes must comply.
Tier 2
Formerly known to many in its former incarnation as the ‘Land
Management Contract Menu Scheme.’ Tier 2 payments are non-competitive
and open to all land managers with the payment available, based
on the number of hectares registered on the annual IACS return.
While the pot from which individual applicants can obtain funding
is relatively small the LMCMS have proved very popular and are
allocated on a non-competitive basis, therefore assuring payments
are received. A word of warning however for 2008 is that while
the headings may appear the same as in previous years the underlying
responsibilities and payments have changed, so be aware before
completing your return in May.
Tier 3
Will provide higher and more targeted levels of benefit
to be delivered regionally while feeding into the wider Scottish
objectives. Tier 3 payments will not be capped and therefore
potentially far more rewarding than those available under Tier
2, that said the pot is open to a considerably larger cross
section of the rural community and will be competitively based.
In order to provide the regional benefit set out by the SRDP
the Scottish Government has split Scotland into 11 distinct regions
or RPACS (Regional Proposal Assessment Committees) which have
been established to develop regional priorities and assess the
individual proposals, which is understood to be available from
25th March 2008.
The RPACs are made up of public officials
from SGRPID (Scottish Government Rural Payments & Inspections
Directorate), SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency),
SNH (Scottish Natural Heritage), and FCS (Forestry Commission
Scotland.) Additional members such as the National Parks will
sit on the groups where they have an ongoing interest to assist
in the delivery of particular regional priorities. The role
of the RPACs is to recommend which proposals deliver and best
meet the regional priorities. The groups’ members will receive
expert input on an ad hoc basis where required for specific
proposals.
The application procedure is intended to be simple, with a two
stage process, supported by Case Officers that can be made at
any time of year and as regularly as wanted.
The stages are:
1. “Statement of Intent” (SoI). Providing an outline of what
is proposed to be made online, though backed up with a paper
map. The SoI is assessed and the applicant provided with an
amber or red light, the former indicating the application should
proceed to the second stage
2. “Full Proposal”. Comprising details of the business/holding
setting out the proposals for delivering on one or more of the
regional priorities which is submitted to the RPAC.
While applications can be made at any point of the year it is
understood that the RPACs will meet three times a year to assess,
approve and consent to the applications. There is some speculation
that the RPACs may meet more frequently initially to enable
them to cope with the anticipated flood of initial applications.
It should be born in mind that the CPS and RSS schemes are fast
running out and new woodland grants have not existed for nearly
two years so there are likely to be a considerable number of
applications as soon as the schemes are announced, which is
very likely to put pressure on the system and in turn slow the
process down.
The seriously good news for landowners and occupiers is the
planned single visits to assess compliance. The idea of one
inspector able to cover all relevant interests during a single/multipurpose
visit is a dream for many.
Unfortunately we still await confirmation of the payment rates,
though a sceptic may suggest that they will be lower than those
previously available. This may well turn out to be true but
should be weighed against the fact that at present no upper
limit has been set so a well considered proposal could lead
to significant returns along with longer term wider benefits.
So what to do next?
Bell Ingram’s experience has shown that those who apply to agri-environmental
schemes as early as possible are those most likely to reap the
benefits of the funding available. It is fair to say that due
to the breadth of the scheme, competition will be fierce and
a strong application is therefore highly advisable.
With this very much in mind Bell Ingram have formed a team of
specialist advisors including surveyors and forestry managers
with a firm grounding in making applications into environmental
schemes, in-house accounts staff able to provide robust cash
flow projections, architects and building surveyors available
to advise on the built environment and green energy specialists
and tourism advisors who have a wealth of knowledge of rural
issues and the urban fringe.
>>> Click here to contact the
Bell Ingram SRDP regional
specialists
Mark Mitchell of Bell Ingram’s head office in Perth Office says
‘Bell Ingram’s unique geographical spread of offices across
Scotland allows us to have experienced members of staff available
within each of the 11 regions to assist all applicants such
as crofters, farmers, forestry owners, large diverse estate
owners and community groups. This unique position enables Bell
Ingram to advise with confidence on the Regional Priorities
within each and every region and therefore cover the relevant
issues the RPACs seek.
