Explanatory Note
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations, which come into force on 1st January 2002 and extend to England only, amend a number of Regulations adopted in implementation of the England Rural Development Programme, which was itself established in implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) (OJ No. L160, 26.6.1999, p.80).
The Regulations amend the Energy Crops Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/3042), the Rural Enterprise Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/3043) and the Vocational Training Grants (Agriculture and Forestry) Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/3045) by inserting new provisions which revise the existing procedures in those Regulations relating to the refusal of an application and the variation of approvals by removing the right of an applicant to make written representations in respect of a decision by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (“the Minister”) to refuse approval for the granting of financial assistance for a project or operation, and conferring such a right on a beneficiary in receipt of a proposed decision of the Minister to vary any condition of such an approval (regulations 3 to 5), rather than (as previously) in the event that the Minister has decided to vary the approval.
No Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared in respect of these Regulations.
Copies of the England Rural Development Programme are available for inspection during normal office hours at the offices of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR.