The Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2004

Regulation 2(1) and 10(4)

SCHEDULE 1 LIVESTOCK UNITS AND STOCKING DENSITY

PART I CALCULATION OF LIVESTOCK UNITS (“LU”)

For all claimants
Number of Suckler Cows		X 1.0 = _A_LU
Number of heifers 8 months and over		X 0.6 = _B_LU
Number of Breeding Ewes		X 0.15 = _ C_LU
Number of Breeding Female Goats		X 0.15 = _ D_LU
Number of Breeding Female Alpaca		X 0.3 = _ E_LU
Number of Breeding Female Deer (hinds over 27 months)		X 0.3 = _ F_LU
Number of Breeding Deer (over 6 months but less than 27 months)		X 0.2 = _ G_LU
Number of Breeding Llamas		X 0.3 = _H_LU
For dairy farmers maintaining a dairy herd in the area referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition of “eligible agricultural activity” in regulation 2(1).
Litres of Milk Quota		/ 5730 = I LU

PART II CALCULATION OF STOCKING DENSITY

Total LFASS Livestock Units (A = B = C = D = E = F = G = H = I)	=	_ J_LU
Total Forage Area	=	_ K_Ha
Stocking Density (to two decimal places)	=	J divided by K

Regulation 2(1)

SCHEDULE 2 USUAL GOOD FARMING PRACTICES

PART I ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION

Water pollution

1.  The Control of Pollution Act 1974(1).

2.  The Control of Pollution (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) (Scotland) Regulations 2001(2).

3.  The Groundwater Regulations 1998(3).

Air pollution

4.  The Clean Air Act 1993(4).

5.  The Hill Farming Act 1946(5).

Fertilisers and pesticides

6.  The Action Programme for Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (Scotland) Regulations 2003(6).

7.  Part III of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985(7) and the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986(8).

8.  The Plant Protection Products Regulations 1995(9).

Designated sites

9.  The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979(10).

10.  The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981(11).

11.  The Conservation (Natural Habitats etc.) Regulations 1994(12).

12.  The Ancient Monuments (Class Consents) (Scotland) Order 1996(13).

Forestry Management

13.  The Forestry Act 1967(14).

PART II VERIFIABLE STANDARDS

1.  Any farmer who constructs a new silage or storage facility must give notification to the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency prior to starting to use it. The farmer must keep records showing that this notification has been given.

2.  Where it is proposed to dispose of sheep dip on a holding, prior authorisation to do this must be obtained from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency. The farmer must keep documents and records showing that this authorisation has been obtained. The farmer must keep records detailing the manner of disposal of the sheep dip.

3.  Trimming of hedgerows must not be carried out between 1st March and 31st July.

4.  Removal or destruction of any hedges, stone walls or other boundary features shall not be allowed except with the prior written agreement of the Scottish Ministers.

5.  Any farmer who intends to undertake any operation which is likely to damage a Site of Special Scientific Interest designated pursuant to section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 must obtain the prior approval of Scottish Natural Heritage to the carrying out of that operation. The farmer shall maintain records showing that this authorisation has been obtained.

6.  Livestock shall be managed in such a way as to avoid overgrazing and undergrazing. Where the Scottish Ministers form the opinion that land was being overgrazed, a management regime including a maximum (and, where appropriate, a minimum) stocking rate to be observed on that site will be prescribed. Overgrazing is defined as grazing land with livestock in such numbers as to adversely affect the growth, quality or species composition of vegetation (other than vegetation normally grazed to destruction) on that land to a significant degree; and to ensure that livestock is managed in such a way as to prevent damage to sensitive habitats(15) that are important for biodiversity reasons. Undergrazing means not using land fully, or scrub or coarse becoming evident, where it is detrimental to the environmental interest of the land.

7.  Unsuitable supplementary feeding methods shall be avoided.

Regulation 4

SCHEDULE 3 ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROLS

1.  To ensure the protection of rough grazings and other semi-natural areas, new drainage works, ploughing, clearing, levelling, re-seeding or cultivating must not be undertaken. Livestock must be managed to avoid poaching to a level which would destroy the natural vegetation in respect of such rough grazings and other semi-natural areas.

2.  To ensure the protection of rough grazings and other semi-natural areas, pesticides, lime or fertiliser must not be applied to rough grazings and other semi-natural areas except-

(a) to control injurious weeds to which the Weeds Act 1959(16) applies;

(b) to control bracken with Asulam or other approved herbicides; or

(c) in exceptional circumstances where no conservation damage will result, lime or fertiliser may be applied.

3.  Muirburn may only be carried out in accordance with guidance approved by the Scottish Ministers.

4.  The damage to features of any historic or archaeological interest must be avoided and guidance approved by the Scottish Ministers must be followed for the protection of such areas.

5.  Guidance on the prevention of environmental pollution from agricultural activity approved by the Scottish Ministers must be followed for the avoidance of pollution or to minimise the risk of pollution through good management of nutrients and effluents.

6.  Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 to 5 above, any of the matters referred to therein which would otherwise be subject to the relevant control, may be carried out if approved in terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment (Uncultivated Land and Semi-Natural Areas) (Scotland) Regulations 2002(17).

Regulation 9

SCHEDULE 4 GRAZING CATEGORY: HECTARE VALUES

STOCKING DENSITY	GRAZING CATEGORY	HECTARE VALUE
Up to and including 0.19 LU/ha	A	0.167
0.2 to 0.39 LU/ha	B	0.333
0.4 to 0.59 LU/ha	C	0.667
0.6 or more LU/ha	D	0.8

Regulation 11

SCHEDULE 5 ENTERPRISE MIX

ENTERPRISE MIX	HECTARE MULTIPLIER
If 50% or more of livestock units are made up of cattle LU.	1.70
If 10% or more, but less than 50% of livestock units are made up of cattle LU.	1.35

Regulation 12

SCHEDULE 6 RATES OF PAYMENT FOR LESS FAVOURED AREA SUPPORT

Part I MORE DISADVANTAGED LAND

FRAGILITY CATEGORY	RATE
Very Fragile (Islands)	£47.00
Fragile (Mainland)	£45.00
Standard	£39.00

Part II LESS DISADVANTAGED LAND

CATEGORY	RATE
Very Fragile (Islands)	£41.50
Fragile (Mainland)	£39.50
Standard	£33.50

Regulation 12(4)

SCHEDULE 7 FRAGILITY CATEGORIES

FRAGILITY MARKERS FOR PARISH CODE NUMBERS

Standard
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	28	30	31	32	35	36	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49
50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70
71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80	81	82	83	84	85	86	87	88	89	90	91
92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	100	101	102	103	104	105	106	107	108	109	110	111	112
113	114	115	116	117	118	119	120	121	122	123	124	125	126	127	128	129	130	131	132	133
134	135	136	176	177	178	179	180	181	182	183	184	185	186	187	188	189	190	191	192	193
194	195	196	197	198	199	200	201	202	203	204	205	206	207	208	209	210	211	212	213	214
215	216	217	218	219	220	221	242	243	244	245	246	247	248	249	250	251	252	253	254	255
256	257	258	259	260	261	262	263	264	265	266	267	268	269	270	271	272	273	290	291	292
293	294	295	296	297	298	299	300	301	302	303	304	305	306	307	308	309	310	311	312	313
314	315	316	317	318	319	320	321	322	323	324	325	326	327	328	329	330	331	332	333	334
335	336	337	338	339	340	341	342	343	344	345	346	347	348	349	350	351	352	353	354	355
356	357	358	359	360	361	362	363	364	365	366	367	368	369	370	371	372	373	374	375	376
377	378	379	380	381	382	383	384	385	386	387	388	389	390	391	392	393	394	395	396	397
398	399	400	401	402	403	404	405	406	407	408	409	410	411	412	413	414	415	416	417	418
419	420	421	422	423	424	425	426	427	428	429	430	431	432	445	449	451	466	467	468	469
470	471	472	473	474	475	476	477	478	479	480	481	482	483	484	485	486	487	488	489	490
491	492	493	494	495	496	497	498	499	500	501	502	503	504	505	506	507	508	509	510	511
512	513	514	515	516	517	518	519	520	521	522	523	524	525	526	527	528	529	530	531	532
533	534	535	536	537	538	539	540	541	542	543	544	545	546	547	548	549	550	551	552	553
554	555	556	557	558	559	560	561	562	563	564	565	566	567	568	569	570	571	572	573	574
575	576	577	578	579	580	581	582	583	584	585	598	600	601	606	609	635	636	637	638	639
640	641	642	643	644	645	646	647	648	649	650	651	652	653	654	655	656	657	658	659	660
661	662	663	664	665	666	667	668	669	670	671	672	673	674	675	676	677	678	679	680	681
682	683	684	685	686	687	688	689	690	691	692	693	694	695	696	697	698	699	700	701	702
703	704	705	706	707	708	709	710	711	712	713	714	715	716	717	718	719	720	721	722	723
724	725	726	727	728	729	730	731	732	733	734	735	769	770	771	772	773	774	775	776	777
778	779	780	781	782	783	784	785	786	787	788	789	790	791	792	793	794	795	796	797	798
799	800	801	802	803	804	805	806	807	808	809	810	811	812	813	814	815	816	817	818	819
820	821	822	823	824	825	826	827	841	842	843	844	845	846	847	848	849	850	851	853	854
855	856	859	860	861	863	864	865	866	868
Fragile
25	26	27	29	33	34	37	137	138	139	140	141	142	143	144	145	146	152	154	155	156
157	158	159	160	161	162	163	169	170	171	172	173	174	175	222	223	224	225	226	227	228
229	230	231	232	233	234	235	236	237	238	239	240	241	280	281	282	283	284	285	286	287
288	289	433	434	435	436	437	438	439	440	441	442	446	447	448	450	452	453	454	455	586
587	588	589	590	591	592	593	594	595	596	597	599	602	603	604	605	607	608	736	737	738
739	740	741	742	743	744	745	746	747	748	749	750	751	752	757	758	759	760	761	762	763
764	765	766	767	768	828	829	830	831	832	833	834	835	836	837	838	839	840	852	857	858
862	867
Very Fragile
147	148	149	150	151	153	164	165	166	167	168	274	275	276	277	278	279	443	444	456	457
458	459	460	461	462	463	464	465	610	611	612	613	614	615	616	617	618	619	620	621	622
623	624	625	626	627	628	629	630	631	632	633	634	753	754	755	756	869	870	871	872	873
874	875	876	877	878	879	880	881	882	883	884	885	886	887	888	889	890	891

Regulation 18

SCHEDULE 8 AGENCY AND CROSS BORDER HOLDINGS

Agency arrangements

1.  The Scottish Ministers may, with the agreement of any competent authority (as defined for the purposes of the Integrated Administration and Control System Regulations 1993), arrange for any of their functions under these Regulations in relation to any claim to be exercised on their behalf by that competent authority.

2.  The Scottish Ministers may also agree to exercise functions on behalf of another competent authority corresponding to those which are exercisable by the Scottish Ministers under these Regulations.

3.  Any such arrangement shall be in writing and be signed by or on behalf of the Scottish Ministers and the competent authority and any such arrangement may be subject to such conditions (including conditions as to the costs and charge for costs) as may be agreed from time to time.

Set off

4.  Without prejudice to the amount of any sum payable by the Scottish Ministers to any other competent authority, the amount of any sum payable by the Scottish Ministers, whether as principal or agent, by way of a specified payment may be set off against the amount of any sum recoverable by the Scottish Ministers, whether as principal or agent.

Calculation of payments in respect of cross border holdings

5.  Where any holding in respect of which a claim has been made is a cross border holding, the Scottish Ministers may pay, on such occasions as they consider fit, in respect of the Scheme Year in question to an applicant less favoured area support for carrying out eligible agricultural activity on eligible land, providing the applicant has declared the eligible land in an area aid application which has been treated as a valid application by the competent authority concerned.

6.  Whether the eligible agricultural activity undertaken on the eligible land is an integral part of the management of the whole holding or independently managed, Scottish Ministers shall only pay less favoured area support in respect of the eligible agricultural activity actually undertaken on eligible land defined as a less favoured area for the purposes of this instrument.

7.  For cross-border holdings where the applicant has submitted a declaration of eligible land to another competent authority, the Scottish Ministers shall apply the standard rate of payment.

8.  Applicants in respect of cross border holdings are required to supply such information as authorised persons may reasonably require to assess the eligible agricultural activity actually undertaken on eligible land defined as a less favoured area for the purposes of this instrument.

9.  All conditions applying to applicants in respect of holdings lying wholly within the less favoured areas shall apply equally to applicants in respect of cross border holdings.

Regulation 2(1)

SCHEDULE 9 COWAL PENINSULA

The areas of land within Argyll and Bute District comprising those parts of the parishes of Dunoon and Kilmun and Inverchaolain bounded as follows:-

• Starting in the North on the shore of Loch Striven at point national grid reference NS/095708; then in an easterly direction along the MOD boundary to point national grid reference NS/097708; then in a northerly direction along the MOD boundary to point national grid reference NS/097710; then in a north easterly direction along the MOD boundary to point national grid reference NS/098710; then in a northerly direction along the MOD boundary to point national grid reference NS/098711; then in a north-north easterly direction along the MOD boundary to point national grid reference NS/098712; then in a north easterly direction to point national grid reference NS/102714; then in a south westerly direction to point national grid reference NS/107712; then in a easterly direction along the forestry fence to point national grid reference NS/111711; then in a southerly direction along the forestry fence to point national grid reference NS/110707; then in a south-easterly direction along the forestry fence to point national grid reference NS/111707; then in a south south-easterly direction along the forestry fence to point national grid reference NS/113703; then in a southerly direction along the forestry fence to point national grid reference NS/114699; then in a south-westerly direction along the forestry fence to point national grid reference NS/112699; then in a south south-westerly direction along the forestry fence to point national grid reference NS/111693 where the forestry fence meets the A815; then in a southerly direction along the A815 to point national grid reference NS/112689; then in a north-easterly direction along the forestry fence to point national grid reference NS/114690; then in an east south-easterly direction along the forestry fence to point national grid reference NS/117688; then in a southerly direction along the forestry fence to point national grid reference NS/116685; then in a westerly direction to point national grid reference NS/114685 where the fence meets a track; then in a southerly direction down the track to point national grid reference NS/114682 (21); then in a westerly direction down a burn to point national grid reference NS/112682 where the burn meets the A815; then in a southerly direction down the A815 to point national grid reference NS/111679; then in a westerly direction to point national grid reference NS/110679 at the high water mark; then in a westerly direction for approximately 1200 metres which then turns in a northerly direction all along the shore back to the starting point of national grid reference NS/095708.

(1)

1974 c. 40.

(2)

S.S.I. 2001/206, amended by S.S.I. 2001/248.

(3)

S.I. 1998/2746, amended by S.S.I. 2000/323.

(4)

1993 c. 11.

(5)

1946 c. 73.

(6)

S.S.I. 2003/51.

(7)

1985 c. 48.

(8)

S.I. 1986/1510, amended by S.I. 1990/2487, 1994/3142 and 1997/188.

(9)

S.I. 1995/887, amended by S.I. 1996/1940, 1997/7 and 2499, 1998/2760, 1999/1228, S.S.I. 2001/161, 202 and 454 and 2002/279.

(10)

1979 c. 46.

(11)

1981 c. 69.

(12)

S.I. 1994/2716, amended by S.I. 1997/3055 and S.S.I. 2000/323.

(13)

S.I. 1996/1507.

(14)

1967 c. 10.

(15)

Sensitive habitants, important for biodiversity reasons, may include juniper and montone scrub, herb-rich swords, already coded areas and wetland habitants as well as other natural and semi-natural habitats.

(16)

1959 c. 54.

(17)

S.S.I. 2002/6.