Agriculture Act 1970

32 Amendments as to grants in connection with alterations of farm structure

(1) Part II of the [1967 c. 22.] Agriculture Act 1967 (which relates to grants in connection with alterations in farm structure) shall have effect with the amendments specified in the subsequent provisions of this section.

(2) In section 26—

(a) in subsection (1)—

(i) for the words preceding paragraph (a) there shall be substituted the words " The appropriate Minister may in accordance with a scheme approve, and (subject to section 50 of the Agriculture Act 1970) make grants out of money provided by Parliament towards expenditure incurred in connection with the carrying out of—

; and in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) the word " of " in the first place where it occurs in each of those paragraphs shall be omitted ;

(ii) in paragraph (a) (which relates to the carrying out of transactions for securing that agricultural land which is an uncommercial unit, but which together with some other agricultural land could form an intermediate unit or commercial unit, shall be owned and occupied with that other land), after the word " is " there shall be inserted the words " or forms part of ";

(iii) for the words " improvements and works which will be carried out" there shall be substituted the words " works and facilities which will be carried out or provided ";

(b) in subsection (3) as amended by subsection (6) of section 29 of this Act (which defines the expenditure towards which a grant may be made under section 26 in connection with an amalgamation or boundary adjustment) for the words from " shall be " onwards there shall be substituted the words " shall be any costs of the amalgamation or boundary adjustment of any description specified in the scheme ";

(c) in subsection (4) as amended by subsection (6) of section 29 of this Act (which specifies certain matters for which different provision may be made by a scheme under section 26) for the words from " amalgamations " onwards there shall be substituted the words " different circumstances ";

(d) in subsection (5) (which relates to the amount of a grant under that section) for the words from " shall be " onwards there shall be substituted the words " shall be determined in such manner as may be provided for by or under the scheme ";

(e) for subsection (6) (which relates to the matters by reference to which grant is to be payable under that section) there shall be substituted the following:—

“(6) A scheme under this section shall provide for grant in respect of such of any expenditure such as is mentioned in subsection (3) above as is approved for the purposes of grant by the appropriate Minister in connection with an amalgamation or boundary adjustment approved by that Minister in pursuance of the scheme, and any such approval—

(a) may be given either before or, in any case where the appropriate Minister thinks fit, after the expenditure has been incurred or the amalgamation or boundary adjustment has been carried out;

(b) may be given subject to such conditions as the appropriate Minister may specify, and in particular subject to any condition as to the time within which the amalgamation or boundary adjustment is to be carried out or as to the carrying out or provision within a specified period of specified works or facilities appearing to the appropriate Minister to be necessary as a consequence of the amalgamation or boundary adjustment ;

(c) may be varied or withdrawn by the appropriate Minister with the written consent of the person on whose application the approval was given;

and the appropriate Minister may, if he thinks fit, for the purposes of a claim for grant under section 29 of the Agriculture Act 1970 issue a certificate with respect to any work or facility that he considers it to be necessary or desirable as a consequence of an amalgamation, or to be necessary as a consequence of a boundary adjustment, approved by that Minister in pursuance of the scheme”;

(f) in subsection (7) (which provides that after certain payments the provisions of Schedule 3 shall apply) for the word " or " in the first place where it occurs there shall be substituted the words " any grant under section 29 of the Agriculture Act 1970 in respect of any work or facility certified under subsection (6) above or any grant under ";

(g) in subsection (7)(a) (which provides that the proposals for an amalgamation shall not be approved unless the appropriate Minister is satisfied that certain persons have given their consent to the application of Schedule 3) the words " the proposals for " shall be omitted ;

(h) in subsection (7)(b) for the word " proposals" there shall be substituted the word " amalgamation ";

(i) for subsection (7)(c)(i) there shall be substituted the following—

“(i) any such grant as aforesaid in respect of such expenditure as the appropriate Minister may certify as being expenditure related to the relevant unit, and”;

(j) in subsection (8), after the word " section ", there shall be inserted the words " or any such grant under section 29 of the Agriculture Act 1970 as is referred to in the last foregoing subsection " and for the word " proposals " there shall be substituted the words " boundary adjustment ";

(k) in subsection (11), for the words " in consequence of the carrying out of proposals approved under this section " there shall be substituted the words " as a consequence of an amalgamation or boundary adjustment approved in pursuance of a scheme under this section or in consequence of the carrying out or provision of works or facilities certified under subsection (6) thereof ".

(3) In section 27—

(a) in subsection (1)(a) (which relates to certain circumstances in which a grant under section 27 may be made) for the words from " amalgamation " onwards there shall be substituted the words " amalgamation approved in pursuance of a scheme under section 26 of this Act, or ";

(b) after subsection (5) there shall be inserted the following subsection—

“(5A) A scheme under this section may make provision, in a case where a person who has submitted an application for a grant under this section, and who has in prescribed circumstances either relinquished or become under an obligation to relinquish occupation of the uncommercial unit of agricultural land in question, subsequently dies before the application has been dealt with, for the application to be proceeded with after the death and for grants under this section of such respective amounts as may be determined by or under the scheme to be payable either—

(a) by way of annuity—

(i) in respect of any period after the relinquishment and before the death, for the benefit of the deceased's estate; and

(ii) in respect of any period falling after both the relinquishment and the death, to any person who was both at the date of the death and at the time when the application was made the spouse of the deceased ; or

(b) by way of a lump sum payment for the benefit of the deceased's estate.”.

(4) In section 28(1) (which relates to loans to assist amalgamations and boundary adjustments)—

(a) for the words from " incurred " to " applies " there shall be substituted the words " incurred in connection with an amalgamation or boundary adjustment approved by the appropriate Minister in pursuance of a scheme under section 26 of this Act ";

(b) in paragraph (a), after the word " section ", there shall be inserted the words " or incurred in the carrying out or provision of works or facilities certified under subsection (6) thereof ".

(5) In section 35(b) (which provides that a scheme under section 26 or section 27 may authorise the making of different grants in different circumstances) for the word " may" there shall be substituted the words " without prejudice to the provisions of subsection (4) of the said section 26 as to schemes under that section, may, in the case of a scheme under the said section 27 ";

and in section 35(f) (under which a scheme may contain such incidental and supplemental provisions as appear to the appropriate Minister expedient for the purposes of the scheme) for the words " for the purposes of the scheme " there shall be substituted " including transitional provisions treating as having been done under or in pursuance of the scheme anything done under or in pursuance of a previous scheme ".

(6) Section 37 (which relates to recovery of grant) shall apply in relation to the approval of an amalgamation or boundary adjustment in pursuance of a scheme under section 26 as amended by this Act and to that amalgamation or boundary adjustment as it applies in relation to the approval of proposals under that section as originally enacted or, as the case may be, to those proposals.

(7) Section 38 (which relates to the recovery of possession of farmhouses made redundant by amalgamation) or, as the case may require, Case 13 in Schedule 3 to the [1968 c. 23.] Rent Act 1968 (which replaces the provisions of the said section 38 for England and Wales) shall apply in relation to an amalgamation approved in pursuance of a scheme under section 26 as amended by this Act as it applies in relation to proposals for amalgamation approved for the purposes of a scheme under that section as originally enacted and, as so applied, shall have effect as if for references therein to the time when the proposals were submitted or the date on which the proposals were approved there were substituted a reference to the time when the application for approval of the amalgamation was made or, as the case may be, the date on which the amalgamation was approved.

(8) Subject to the provisions of any order under subsection (7) of section 29 of this Act, the provisions of this section shall have effect as respects any period beginning on or after the date appointed under subsection (6) of the said section 29; but the appropriate Minister for the purposes of section 26 may by order made by statutory instrument provide for any provision of this section to come into force from such earlier date as may be specified in the order; and the provisions of section 26, as amended by this section and the said subsection (6), are set out in Schedule 2 thereto.