Title, commencement and application

1.  These Regulations—

(a) may be cited as the Hill Farm Allowance Regulations 2007;

(b) come into force on 26th March 2007; and

(c) apply only in relation to holdings situated wholly or partly in England.

Interpretation

2.  In these Regulations—

“agriculture” includes horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming and livestock breeding and keeping, the use of land as grazing land, meadow land, osier land, market gardens and nursery grounds, and the use of land for woodlands where that use is ancillary to the use of land for other agricultural purposes;

“breeding cow” means a suckler cow or a heifer;

“claim” means a claim for hill farm allowance made in a single payment scheme application or a hill farm allowance declaration;

“claimant” means a person who has made a claim for hill farm allowance;

“claimant’s less favoured area land” means land in a less favoured area which is entered in the claimant’s single payment scheme application or hill farm allowance application;

“claimed forage area” means land in respect of which a claimant has claimed hill farm allowance or a related less favoured area allowance in a single payment scheme application, hill farm allowance application or related less favoured area allowance application;

“Commission Regulation 796/2004” means Commission Regulation (EC) No. 796/2004 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of cross-compliance, modulation and the integrated administration and control system provided for in Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003(3);

“common land” means land registered as common land with grazing rights under the Commons Registration Act 1965(4);

“Council Regulation 1257/1999” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending and repealing certain Regulations(5);

“Council Regulation 1698/2005” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 1698/2005 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)(6);

“Council Regulation 1782/2003” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 1782/2003 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers and amending certain Regulations(7);

“disadvantaged land” (except in the expression “severely disadvantaged land”) means any area of land shown coloured blue on the England LFA maps;

“eligible forage area” means such part of the qualifying forage area as lies within a less favoured area;

“the England LFA maps” means the three volumes of maps numbered 1 to 3, each volume being marked “Volume of maps of less‑favoured farming areas in England”, dated 20th May 1991, signed and sealed by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and deposited at the offices of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at Ergon House, Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2AL;

“ewe” means a female sheep which was at least one year old on 1st January 2007, or had lambed by that date;

“forage area” has the same meaning as in Article 131(2)(b) of Council Regulation 1782/2003;

“heifer” means a female bovine animal aged 8 months or over which has not yet calved;

“hill farm allowance” means the compensatory allowance payable in accordance with these Regulations, Article 36(a)(ii) of Council Regulation 1698/2005 and Chapter V of Title II of Council Regulation 1257/1999;

“hill farm allowance declaration” means a declaration made by a claimant that he wishes to claim hill farm allowance in respect of 2007, made in the form sent to him by the Secretary of State;

“holding” has the same meaning as in Article 2(b) of Council Regulation 1782/2003;

“individual reference quantity of milk” has the same meaning as in Article 117(2) of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1973/2004 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 as regards the support schemes provided for in Titles IV and IVa of that Regulation and the use of land set aside for the production of raw materials(8);

“less favoured area” means any area of land shown coloured blue or pink on the England LFA maps;

“livestock unit” means a unit of measurement of livestock numbers, and each of the following constitutes a single livestock unit—

“moorland” means all the land coloured pink in the three volumes of maps entitled “Moorland Map of England 2006”, each volume being marked with the number of the volume, dated 13th February 2006, signed on behalf of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and deposited at the offices of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at Ergon House, Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2AL;

“notional livestock density” means the number of livestock units per hectare of the claimant’s eligible forage area, calculated in accordance with Schedule 1;

“other competent authority” means the Scottish Ministers, the National Assembly for Wales or, in Northern Ireland, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development;

“permanent pasture” means non-rotational land used for grass production (sown or natural) on a permanent basis (five years or longer) excluding land set aside pursuant to Article 6 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1251/1999(9) and Article 54 of Council Regulation 1782/2003;

“qualifying forage area” means the relevant forage area or, in relation to a claimant to whom regulation 7 applies, such part of that area as remains following deductions made to it in accordance with that regulation;

“related less favoured area” means, in relation to a claimant, all that claimed forage area in respect of which the Secretary of State has been advised by any other competent authority that the claimant is eligible for a related less favoured area allowance;

“related less favoured area allowance” means a compensatory allowance payable in relation to land situated in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales in accordance with Chapter V of Title II of Council Regulation 1257/1999 or Article 36(a)(ii) of Council Regulation 1698/2005;

“relevant animals” means, in relation to a claimant, the breeding cows and ewes determined as relevant animals in accordance with Schedule 5;

“relevant forage area” means any claimed forage area situated in England;

“severely disadvantaged land” means any area of land shown coloured pink on the England LFA maps;

“single payment scheme” means the support scheme established under Title III of Council Regulation 1782/2003;

“single payment scheme application” means an application to the single payment scheme submitted in 2006 in accordance with Article 34 of Council Regulation 1782/2003 and Title II of Part II of Commission Regulation 796/2004;

“suckler cow” has the same meaning as in Article 122(d) of Council Regulation 1782/2003.

Payment of hill farm allowance

3.—(1) Subject to regulation 5, the Secretary of State must pay hill farm allowance in respect of 2007 to any claimant who is eligible under regulation 4.

(2) The Secretary of State must only pay hill farm allowance to a claimant in respect of eligible forage area not exceeding 700 hectares.

Eligibility for hill farm allowance

4.—(1) Subject to Article 51 of Council Regulation 1698/2005, a claimant is eligible for hill farm allowance provided—

(a) his claim was received by the Secretary of State on or before 2nd March 2007;

(b) he made a hill farm allowance declaration, received by the Secretary of State on or before 2nd March 2007;

(c) the claimed forage area—

(i) complies with one of the conditions specified in paragraph (2);

(ii) was available to be grazed or have a forage crop taken from it for a continuous period of seven months, starting on any date from 1st January 2006 to 31st March 2006 inclusive; and

(iii) during that seven month period, was available to the claimant to be grazed or have a forage crop taken from it for a period, or periods in total, of four months or more; and

(d) subject to paragraph (3), the notional livestock density is not less than 0.15.

(2) The conditions referred to in paragraph (1)(c)(i) are—

(a) at least ten hectares of the claimed forage area are in England, within a less favoured area; or

(b) at least one hectare of the claimed forage area is in England, within a less favoured area, and the rest of the claimed forage area is in another part of the United Kingdom, in a related less favoured area.

(3) If he considers it appropriate, given the circumstances of a particular case, the Secretary of State may determine that a notional livestock density of less than 0.15 is sufficient for the purposes of paragraph (1)(d).

(4) A claimant must provide to the Secretary of State such information as the Secretary of State reasonably requires to enable him to make a determination under paragraph (3).

(5) The Secretary of State must notify the claimant of his determination in writing.

Condition as to continued use of land for the purposes of agriculture

5.—(1) The Secretary of State must not pay hill farm allowance to a claimant who has breached his undertaking as to continued agricultural use.

(2) But the Secretary of State may pay hill farm allowance if, having considered the reasons for such breach, he considers it reasonable to do so in all the circumstances of the case.

(3) A claimant is not in breach of his undertaking if he ceases to farm, provided that at least ten hectares of the land in respect of which the undertaking was given continue to be used for the purposes of agriculture.

(4) In this regulation—

(a) “undertaking as to continued agricultural use” means the undertaking given by a claimant in his hill farm allowance application or hill farm allowance declaration to continue to use at least ten hectares of land in a less favoured area or a related less favoured area for the purposes of agriculture for five years from the date of the first payment to him of a compensatory allowance; and

(b) “compensatory allowance” means any payment made under these Regulations or any of the Hill Farm Allowance Regulations 2001 to 2006(10).

Amount of payment

6.—(1) The Secretary of State must pay a claimant hill farm allowance in respect of the land specified in column 1 of Schedule 2—

(a) in relation to the first 350 hectares of qualifying forage area, at the rates specified in column 2 of Schedule 2;

(b) in relation to the next 350 hectares of qualifying forage area, at half the rates specified in column 2 of Schedule 2.

(2) The amount of the payment referred to in paragraph (1) must be increased by 5 per cent if one of the following criteria is met, and by 10 per cent if both are met—

(a) at least one hectare, or 5% (whichever is the smaller), of the claimant’s less favoured area land is—

(i) planted with arable crops in respect of which the claimant is not receiving any other financial support; and

(ii) was not converted from permanent pasture after 1998;

(b) at least one hectare, or 5% (whichever is the smaller), of the claimant’s less favoured area land is—

(i) planted with woodland in respect of which the claimant is not receiving any other financial support; and

(ii) was not converted from permanent pasture after 1998.

(3) The Secretary of State may increase by a percentage of up to and including 10% the amount to which a claimant is entitled under paragraphs (1) and (2) if—

(a) the condition set out in paragraph (5) is met; and

(b) the same percentage increase is applied in respect of each claimant’s payment.

(4) The Secretary of State may decrease by a percentage of up to and including 10% the amount to which a claimant is otherwise entitled under paragraphs (1) and (2) if—

(a) the condition set out in paragraph (6) is met; and

(b) the same percentage decrease is applied in respect of each claimant’s payment.

(5) The condition referred to in paragraph (3)(a) is that the fund available for hill farm allowance is greater than anticipated by the Secretary of State because—

(a) the amount of eligible forage area in respect of which hill farm allowance is payable is smaller than he anticipated; or

(b) the budget allocation for the Rural Development Programme for England 2007-2013 is or is likely to be greater than he anticipated.

(6) The condition referred to in paragraph (4)(a) is that the fund available for hill farm allowance is smaller than anticipated by the Secretary of State because—

(a) the amount of eligible forage area in respect of which hill farm allowance is payable is greater than he anticipated; or

(b) the budget allocation for the Rural Development Programme for England 2007-2013 is or is likely to be smaller than he anticipated.

(7) Paragraphs (1) to (3) are subject to any duty of the Secretary of State to reduce a sum payable under paragraphs (1) and (2) under Article 51 of Council Regulation 1698/2005.

(8) In paragraph (2), “other financial support” does not include financial support from the single payment scheme.

(9) “The Rural Development Programme for England 2007-2013” is the Programme for England which is the subject of the Rural Development National Strategy Plan for the United Kingdom, submitted to the European Commission on 21st December 2006 under Article 12 of Council Regulation 1698/2005(11).

Deductions from relevant forage area

7.  In relation to any claimant who has an individual reference quantity of milk available to him, the deductions specified in Schedule 3 apply to the relevant forage area for the purposes of determining the qualifying forage area.

Holdings situated partly outside England

8.  The provisions of Schedule 4 apply in relation to holdings situated partly outside England.