The Rural Development Contracts (Land Managers Options) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2011

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Rural Development Contracts (Land Managers Options) (Scotland) Regulations 2008 (S.S.I. 2008/159) (“the 2008 Regulations”) which introduce measures to supplement Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) (O.J. L 277, 21.10.2005, p.1) (“the Council Regulation”) and the detailed rules for the application of the Council Regulation.

The 2008 Regulations provide for the payment of aid to be made available by the Scottish Ministers from the Scotland Rural Development Programme 2007-13 to any person who enters into an undertaking with the Scottish Ministers to carry out or, as the case may be, carry out and maintain activities relevant to at least one of the land managers options set out in Schedule 2.

Regulation 3, among other things, inserts definitions in regulation 2(1) of the 2008 Regulations following the repeal and replacement of Commission Regulations 796/2004 and 1975/2006.

Regulations 5(b) to 7 and 9 to 12 of these Regulations replace references to Commission Regulations 796/2004 and 1975/2006 in consequence of their repeal and replacement respectively by Commission Regulations 1122/2009 and 65/2011.

Regulation 8 of these Regulations amends regulation 10(5) and (6) of the 2008 Regulations by extending the list of options, to include the new option 23 (natural regeneration after cereals) and option 24 (maintenance of organic farming), under which any activity specified in an undertaking will require cross-compliance as indicated.

Regulations 13 to 26 of these Regulations include the following amendments to Schedule 2 to the 2008 Regulations:

• option 2 (business audit) and 3 (nutrient management plan) are omitted;

• option 9 (wild bird seed mixture/unharvested crop) is amended to permit the application of pesticides only with the consent of the Scottish Ministers and to allow field rotation;

• option 11 (summer cattle grazing) is amended to increase the payment rate from £1.30 to £1.95 per hectare (per scheme year);

• option 13 (management of linear features: hedgerows and hedgerow trees and dykes) is amended to provide for an additional requirement to cut hedges in rotation;

• option 14 (management of grass margins and beetlebanks) is amended to: provide for an additional payment rate for the management only (excluding establishment) of grass margins etc.; reduce the minimum width of grass margin to benefit certain bird species; add a requirement to plant a nectar-feeding plant species; clarify that the requirement to establish a strip applies only where none exists on the land; and permit the application of pesticides only with the consent of the Scottish Ministers;

• option 15 (biodiversity cropping on in-bye land), option 16 (management of conservation headlands) and option 17 (retention of winter stubbles) are amended to permit the application of pesticides only with the consent of the Scottish Ministers, and option 17 is also amended to restrict the application of pre-harvest desiccants;

• option 21 (active management to improve the condition of vernacular rural buildings, archaeological or historic sites and historic landscapes) is amended to: refer to certain management work being carried out in accordance with the scheme guidance; clarify the requirement to maintain photographic records; remove the ability of applicants to claim in respect of their own labour or machinery costs; specify additional ineligible management work; change the payment rate limit; and impose a requirement to maintain and retain funded items for at least five years following the final payment of aid;

• option 22 (animal welfare management programme) is amended to: make a minor change to Action Three (maintaining bodily condition); make a minor correction to Action Four (preventing lameness); clarify the requirements of Action Six (control and prevention of diarrhoea and pneumonia); change the requirements under Action Seven (liver fluke control); and clarify the rate of payment available under Action One (implementing biosecurity); and

• two new options relating to natural regeneration after cereals (option 23) and maintenance of organic farming (option 24) are added.

Regulation 27 amends Schedule 3 to the 2008 Regulations to insert a reference to the Action Programme for Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (Scotland) Regulations 2008.

Regulation 28 makes a saving provision.

No business and regulatory impact assessment has been prepared for these Regulations as no impact upon business, charities or voluntary bodies is foreseen.