The Agriculture (Financial Assistance) Regulations 2021

JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
CitationSI 2021/405
  • These Regulations may be cited as the Agriculture (Financial Assistance) Regulations 2021 and come into force on the day after the day on which they are made.
  • (1) In these Regulations—
    • the 2020 Act” means the Agriculture Act 2020;
    • F1agreement” means an agreement between the Secretary of State and an agreement holder establishing the conditions under which the Secretary of State agrees to give financial assistance to the agreement holder under a financial assistance scheme in accordance with scheme guidance;
    • F2agreement holder” means a person who has entered into an agreement or—
      • (a) a personal representative of that person in the event of that person’s incapacity or death; or
      • (b) where applicable for the purposes of complying with or enforcing any obligation under these Regulations, an employee or agent of that person in so far as that employee or agent is acting or has acted for or on behalf of that person in connection with that agreement;
    • F3animal health and welfare grants scheme” means the scheme comprising elements known as the “animal health and welfare small grants scheme” and the “animal health and welfare large grants scheme” pursuant to which the Secretary of State gives financial assistance under section 1(1) of the 2020 Act;
    • annual health and welfare review” means the scheme known as the “annual health and welfare review” pursuant to which the Secretary of State gives financial assistance under section 1(1) of the 2020 Act;
    • F4applicant” means a person who applies to the Secretary of State for financial assistance under a financial assistance scheme or, where applicable for the purposes of complying with or enforcing any obligation under these Regulations, an employee or agent of that person in so far as that employee or agent is acting or has acted for and on behalf of that person in connection with that agreement;
    • “authorised person” means a person authorised by the Secretary of State to carry out inspections and exercise powers of entry under these Regulations for enforcement purposes;
    • ...
    • “eligibility criteria” means the criteria specified in scheme guidance to determine the receipt of financial assistance, including any criteria allowing for selection of applicants on a competitive basis;
    • F6environmental land management scheme” means any scheme (including any pilot scheme) known as—
      • (a) the sustainable farming incentive scheme;
      • (b) the local nature recovery scheme; or
      • (c) the landscape recovery scheme,
      pursuant to which the Secretary of State gives financial assistance under section 1(1) of the 2020 Act;
    • “farming investment fund scheme” means the scheme comprising elements known as “the farming equipment and technology fund” and “the farming transformation fund” pursuant to which the Secretary of State gives financial assistance under section 1(2) of the 2020 Act;
    • “scheme guidance” means the forms, guidance, manuals and handbooks issued by the Secretary of State in relation to the financial assistance scheme in question
    • ;
    • “tree health pilot scheme” means the scheme known as “the tree health pilot scheme” pursuant to which the Secretary of State gives financial assistance under section 1(1) of the 2020 Act.
    (2) Where a provision in these Regulations is silent as to which financial assistance scheme it applies to, the provision applies to any financial assistance scheme made by the Secretary of State under section 1 of the 2020 Act.
  • Where an applicant applies to the Secretary of State for financial assistance under
  • (1) The Secretary of State may require the applicant to provide additional information, including evidence, in support of their application.(2) Where the Secretary of State has requested information or evidence under paragraph (1) , the applicant must provide that information or evidence within any deadlines specified by the Secretary of State.
  • Where an applicant has submitted an incomplete application or the application contains an obvious error, the Secretary of State must notify the applicant of the defect and permit the applicant to correct the defect within any deadlines specified by the Secretary of State.
  • the applicant has not met the eligibility criteria for receipt of financial assistance;the applicant has failed to provide information or evidence requested under regulation 4;the applicant has failed to correct a defect in accordance with regulation 5; orthere are reasonable grounds to suspect that the applicant has provided false or misleading information.notify the applicant, within a reasonable period, of that decision and the reasons for the decision; andinform the applicant of the right to request a reconsideration under regulation 30.(1) Where an agreement holder has incurred capital expenditure and submitted a request for payment under F10an environmental land management scheme, the Secretary of State may require the agreement holder to provide additional information or evidence in support of that payment request.(2) Where the Secretary of State has requested information or evidence under paragraph (1) , the agreement holder must provide that information or evidence within any deadlines specified by the Secretary of State.(3) Where the agreement holder has not provided the information or evidence requested under paragraph (1) , the Secretary of State may withhold financial assistance until such time as the Secretary of State is in receipt of that information or evidence.(4) Any payments made by the Secretary of State must be to a verified bank or building society account of the agreement holder.(5) The agreement holder must notify the Secretary of State, without delay, of any

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