Agriculture Act 1967

65 Grants for keeping farm business records.

(1) With a view to encouraging the keeping of records which will enable persons carrying on any farm business to reach sound decisions on the management of the business, the appropriate Minister may with the approval of the Treasury make to any such person grants out of money provided by Parliament for the keeping to the satisfaction of the appropriate Minister of records of the business containing such information provided in such form as the appropriate Minister may specify, and subject to compliance with conditions laid down by the appropriate Minister.

(2) Grants under this section shall be in respect of periods of twelve months, or approximately twelve months, and not more than three grants shall be paid to any one person; and for the purposes of this subsection a partnership, a body of trustees or the personal representatives of a deceased person shall be treated as being a single and continuing body of persons distinct from the persons who may from time to time be partners, trustees or personal representatives.

(3) The appropriate Minister may select the cases for payment of grant under this section in such manner as he thinks fit, and—

(a) may operate this section within a selected area in England or Wales or Scotland or Northern Ireland as the case may be,

(b) may restrict its operation to selected classes or descriptions of farm business, and

(c) may require the records to be kept by persons of such descriptions as he may determine.

(4) An application for grant under this section shall be made before the beginning of the period for which grant is to be made, and no such application shall be made more than five years after the coming into force of this section, but the appropriate Minister may from time to time by order contained in a statutory instrument, of which a draft has been laid before and approved by the Commons House of Parliament, extend or further extend the said period of five years by such additional period, not exceeding five years, as may be specified in the order.

(5) Grants made under this section shall be treated as production grants for the purposes of section 3 of the [1957 c. 57.] Agriculture Act 1957.

(6) In this section " farm business " means a trade or business consisting in, or such part of any trade or business as consists in, the carrying out of agricultural operations on land comprised in the business.

(7) Where before the coming into force of this section the appropriate Minister, with a view to making a grant out of money provided by Parliament for purposes corresponding to the purposes of this section, has approved any arrangements which might have been the subject of an application under this section if then in force, any grant payable in accordance with the arrangements after the coming into force of this section shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament.

(8) This section extends to Northern Ireland.