The England Rural Development Programme (Enforcement) (Amendment) Regulations 2001

Amendment of the principal Regulations

3.  The principal Regulations shall be amended as follows—

(a) in regulation 3(3)(e), by the deletion of “and”;

(b) in regulation 3(3)(f), by adding at the end “; and”;

(c) after regulation 3(3)(f), by the insertion of—

“(g) in so far as may be necessary for the purposes of paragraph (2)(b) or (c), inspect and count livestock on the land and may, for this purpose, require the applicant or beneficiary, or any employee, servant or agent of such beneficiary, to arrange for the collection, penning and securing of such livestock.”;

(d) for regulations 4 to 6 there shall be substituted—

“Breaches of commitments etc.

4.— (1) Subject to paragraph (2), where—

(a) any information furnished to the Minister by the beneficiary is false or misleading,

(b) the beneficiary is in breach of any of the terms of a commitment,

(c) the beneficiary is in breach of any requirement to which he is subject under any relevant enactment or under the Council Regulation or the Commission Regulation, or

(d) the whole or any part of the sum paid or payable under a commitment duplicates assistance provided or to be provided out of monies made available by—

(i) the European Communities,

(ii) Parliament, or

(iii) a body exercising public functions within the United Kingdom,

the Minister may exercise any of the powers specified in regulation 6(1).

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(d), a sum duplicates such assistance if it is, or would be, paid for any of the same purposes.

(3) Where—

(a) a beneficiary has transferred all or part of the land to which a commitment relates to another person (“the transferee”),

(b) the transferee has, within three months of the date of the transfer, given an undertaking to the Minister to assume the commitment in place of the beneficiary, and

(c) the Minister has accepted that undertaking,

the beneficiary shall be released from his commitment, other than in respect of any breach or other matter occurring before the acceptance by the Minister of the transferee’s undertaking.

Other cases in which recovery etc. powers apply

5.   The Minister may exercise the powers specified in paragraph (1)(a) and (b) of regulation 6 where—

(a) there has been a material change in the nature, scale, costs or timing of the operation or project in relation to which a commitment has been made; or

(b) the operation or project in relation to which a commitment has been made has been or is being delayed, or is unlikely to be completed.

Minister’s powers of recovery etc.

6.— (1) The powers conferred by regulations 4(1) and 5 are—

(a) to withhold the whole or any part of the sums payable to the beneficiary; and

(b) to recover on demand the whole or any part of the sums already paid to the beneficiary.

(2) Where all the circumstances in which the powers conferred by regulation 4(1) and specified in paragraph (1) have become exercisable are such as were intended by the beneficiary or as to which the beneficiary was reckless, the Minister may also require the beneficiary to pay to the Minister an additional sum equal to no more than 10% of the sums paid or payable to him.

(3) Where the Minister takes any step specified in paragraph (1), he may also suspend or terminate the commitment, and thereupon any entitlement of the beneficiary to payment in respect of the unexpired period of the commitment shall likewise be suspended or terminated, as the case may be.

(4) Where the Minister terminates a commitment under paragraph (3), he may also prohibit the beneficiary from entering into any new commitment for such period (not exceeding two years) from the date of the termination as he may specify.

(5) The powers conferred on the Minister by paragraphs (2), (3) and (4) shall be exercisable by a notice served on the beneficiary by post at his last known address, and in paragraph (4) “specify” means specify in such notice.

(6) Before taking any step specified in paragraph (1), (2), (3) or (4) the Minister shall—

(a) give to the beneficiary a written explanation of the reasons for the step proposed to be taken;

(b) afford the beneficiary the opportunity of making written representations within such time as the Minister considers reasonable; and

(c) consider any such representations.

(7) This regulation applies without prejudice to any dispute procedure contained in a commitment made under any enactment specified in Part I of the Schedule.

(8) In this regulation, “dispute procedure” means a mechanism for resolving disputes between the Minister and the beneficiary.”;

(e) in regulations 9(1)(a) and (b), by substituting “Part II, III or IV” for “Part II or III”;

(f) in regulation 9(2)(a), by the insertion of “or Part III” after “Part II”;

(g) in regulation 9(2)(b), by substituting “Part IV” for “Part III”; and

(h) by substituting the Schedule to these Regulations for the Schedule to the principal Regulations.