26.This section deals with monitoring, evaluating and reporting on the support provided during the period of the relevant rural support plan (“the plan period”)(6).
27.As soon as practicable after the end of each plan period, the Scottish Ministers must prepare a report (subsection (1)) covering the matters set out in subsection (2). These include:
the total amount of support or other relevant assistance(7) provided during the plan period,
a breakdown of the amount of support provided under each scheme as well as under provided otherwise than under a scheme and to third party schemes,
how non-financial support has been provided,
the distribution of support. This information may relate, for example, to the geographic areas which support has been provided to, or to the sectors which have been supported. It may also described how the distribution of who has received support has changed, for example, it can cover how powers under the Act have been used to prioritise the available support toward particular types of recipients in line with the strategic objectives of the plan, and
assessments of efficacy of strategic priorities, whether outcomes have been achieved, and any progress in respect of the objectives in section 1 of the Act. An assessment is also required of the impact (if any) of the Scottish Ministers using their powers under section 11 to cap or progressively reduce the amount of support that recipients receive. This information may be relevant in assessing the distribution (and redistribution) of support.
28.The report may also include any other information that the Scottish Ministers consider appropriate (subsection (3)).
29.In addition to the report required at the end of each plan period, subsection (4) enables the Scottish Ministers to also prepare interim reports about the amount of support provided during any period within the plan period and other reports about the support that has been provided. For example, it may be appropriate to provide annual reports in respect of some or all of the support or relevant assistance provided, particularly if the total amount of support is going to be different from that initially expected in the rural support plan for the plan period.
30.Any report prepared under this section must be laid before the Scottish Parliament and published (see subsection (5)).
The rural support plan must set out the “plan period” to which it relates (section 2(2)(a)) which is determined under section 2(7).
“Relevant assistance” is defined in subsection (4) and means financial assistance provided under or by virtue of another enactment (including assimilated law). This means payments made under the legacy CAP system are also to be reported on.