Agriculture Act 2020

5 Annual and other reports on amount of financial assistance given

(1) For each financial year the Secretary of State must prepare a report (“the annual report”) about the financial assistance given during the year.

(2) The first year to which subsection (1) applies is financial year 2021-22.

(3) The annual report must include the following information—

(a) the total amount of financial assistance given;

(b) the total amount of financial assistance given under the financial assistance schemes in operation during the year (taken together);

(c) the required information about each financial assistance scheme in operation during the year (see subsection (4));

and the report may include any other information the Secretary of State considers appropriate.

(4) The required information about a financial assistance scheme is—

(a) the total amount of financial assistance given under the scheme, and

(b) the extent to which that assistance met any obligation or commitment under the terms of the scheme as to the timing and amounts of financial assistance to be given during the year.

(5) For the purposes of subsections (3) and (4), information about amounts of financial assistance given otherwise than by way of grant may be included in the report in such manner as the Secretary of State considers most appropriate.

(6) The Secretary of State may also prepare—

(a) interim reports about the amount of financial assistance given during any period within a financial year;

(b) other reports about the amount of financial assistance that has been given.

(7) The Secretary of State must, after preparing a report under this section—

(a) lay a copy of the report before Parliament, and

(b) publish the report.

(8) In the case of an annual report, the Secretary of State must comply with subsection (7) before 1 October in the financial year following the year to which the report relates.