Section 24 - Power to modify financial provision in relevant CAP legislation
131.This section amends section 4 of ARELDS. This expands the existing provision such that the Scottish Ministers may make regulations in relation to financial provision for all relevant CAP legislation and removes the illustrative list of CAP legislation that may, in particular, be amended.
132.The kind of financial provision that may be modified relates to the setting or determining of ceilings on the amounts of any payments or expenditure for any purpose under the relevant CAP legislation, or to the reallocation or transfer of amounts or proportions of such ceilings between or among different purposes under the legislation.
133.Provision that might be made under this power will include reducing the sum available to be spent under a particular ceiling (also known as “capping”), or provision giving effect to flexibility between the CAP Pillars (also known as “Pillar to Pillar Transfer”). It might also include changing the ceiling on the total amount of a rural development programme that may be devoted to technical assistance.
134.The section is also amended to change the parliamentary procedure for regulations to what is referred to as ‘either way’ procedure by providing that regulations made under the section which have not been subject to the affirmative procedure, are subject to the negative procedure. The effect is that the Scottish Ministers can choose which procedure is to apply to any particular use of the power.
