The Hill Farm Allowance Regulations 2007

Regulation 2(1)

SCHEDULE 1 Notional Livestock Density

Notional livestock density shall be calculated as follows—

TLU = IRQ ÷ 5730

where—

“A” is the number, expressed in livestock units, of relevant animals on the claimant’s qualifying forage area;

“B” is the number of livestock units grazed on so much of the claimant’s qualifying forage area as does not fall within a less favoured area (“non-LFA land”). For this purpose, any non-LFA land other than common land shall be treated as being grazed by 1.8 livestock units per hectare and any non-LFA land which is common land shall be treated as being grazed by 1.0 livestock units per hectare;

“C” is the claimant’s eligible forage area expressed in hectares;

“NLD” is the notional livestock density on the claimant’s eligible forage area.

Regulation 6(1)

SCHEDULE 2 Payment Rates Per Hectare

Column 1	Column 2
1.  Severely disadvantaged land (other than moorland or common land)	£35.20
2.  Disadvantaged land (other than moorland or common land)	£19.03
3.  Moorland or common land	£13.32

Regulation 7

SCHEDULE 3 Deductions from Relevant Forage Area

1.  If, on 31st March 2006, a claimant had available to him an individual reference quantity of milk, the relevant forage area is subject to the deductions specified in paragraph 4.

2.  The deductions shall be calculated by reference to the number of livestock units deemed to constitute the dairy herd kept by the claimant on land in England (“ the notional dairy herd”), determined in accordance with paragraph 3.

3.  The notional dairy herd shall be calculated as follows—

TLU = IRQ ÷ 5730

where—

“IRQ” is the individual reference quantity of milk (expressed in litres) available to the claimant in relation to his land in England;

“TLU” is the number of livestock units in the notional dairy herd; and

“5730” is the number of litres of milk deemed to be equivalent to the annual production of one dairy cow.

4.  The deductions to relevant forage area shall be made as follows—

(a) X hectares shall be deducted from A, where X is equal to the lesser of—

(i) TLU ÷ 1.8; and

(ii) A;

(b) if TLU is greater than 1.8X, Y hectares shall be deducted from B, where Y is equal to the lesser of—

(i) (TLU – 1.8X) ÷ 1.4; and

(ii) B;

(c) if TLU is greater than 1.8X + 1.4Y, Z hectares shall be deducted from C, where Z is equal to the lesser of—

(i) TLU – (1.8X + 1.4Y); and

(ii) C;

where—

“A” is the number of hectares of relevant forage area not within a less favoured area;

“B” is the number of hectares of relevant forage area which is disadvantaged land or severely disadvantaged land, in each case other than moorland or common land;

“C” is the number of hectares of relevant forage area which is moorland or common land; and

“TLU” is the total number of livestock units in the notional dairy herd.

Regulation 8

SCHEDULE 4 Holdings situated partly outside England

Agency arrangements

1.  In relation to holdings situated partly in Scotland, the Secretary of State and the Scottish Ministers may, with the agreement of the other, arrange for—

(a) in the case of the Secretary of State, his functions under these Regulations to be exercised on his behalf by the Scottish Ministers; and

(b) in the case of the Scottish Ministers, their functions under any regulations made by them in implementation of Article 36(a)(i) of Council Regulation 1698/2005 or Chapter V of Title II of Council Regulation 1257/1999 to be exercised on their behalf by the Secretary of State.

2.  Any such arrangement must be in writing and be signed by or on behalf of the Secretary of State and the Scottish Ministers and any such arrangement may be subject to such conditions (including conditions as to costs) as may be agreed from time to time.

3.  In relation to holdings situated partly in Wales, the Secretary of State and the National Assembly for Wales may, with the agreement of the other, arrange for—

(a) in the case of the Secretary of State, his functions under these Regulations to be exercised on his behalf by the National Assembly for Wales; and

(b) in the case of the National Assembly for Wales, its functions under any regulations made by it in implementation of Article 36(a)(i) of Council Regulation 1698/2005 or Chapter V of Title II of Council Regulation 1257/1999 to be exercised on its behalf by the Secretary of State.

4.  Any such arrangement must be in writing and be signed by or on behalf of the Secretary of State and the National Assembly for Wales and any such arrangement may be subject to such conditions (including conditions as to costs) as may be agreed from time to time.

Set-off

5.  In relation to a holding situated partly outside England, the amount of any sum payable by the Secretary of State by way of hill farm allowance or related less favoured area allowance, whether as principal or on behalf of any other competent authority, may, without prejudice to the amount of any sum payable by the Secretary of State to any other competent authority, be set off against the amount of any sum recoverable by the Secretary of State, whether as principal or on behalf of such competent authority.

Apportionment of livestock units

6.  Where any holding in respect of which a claim has been made is situated partly outside England, the number of livestock units grazed on that part of the holding which is situated in England shall be calculated as follows—

N = TLU × X ÷ Y

where—

“X” is the claimed forage area in hectares of that part of the holding which is situated in England;

“Y” is the total claimed forage area in hectares of that holding;

“TLU” is the total number of livestock units grazed on that holding; and

“N” is the number of livestock units grazed on that part of the holding which is situated in England.

Apportionment of individual reference quantity of milk

7.  Where any holding in respect of which a claim has been made is situated partly outside England, the individual reference quantity of milk which shall be treated as available to a claimant in relation to his land in England shall be calculated as follows—

IRQ = TIRQ × X ÷ Y

where—

“X” is the claimed forage area in hectares of that part of the holding which is situated in England;

“Y” is the total claimed forage area in hectares of that holding;

“TIRQ” is the total individual reference quantity of milk available to the claimant in respect of that holding; and

“IRQ” is the individual reference quantity of milk which is treated as available in respect of that part of the holding which is situated in England.

Apportionment of hectarage of land used for the purposes of agriculture

8.  Where any holding in respect of which a claim has been made is situated partly outside England, the hectarage of land which must be used for the purposes of agriculture under regulation 5(3) shall be reduced by a percentage equal to the percentage of the land which is outside England.

Regulation 2(1)

SCHEDULE 5 Relevant animals

Breeding cows

1.—(1) Subject to paragraph 4, a breeding cow is a relevant animal for the purposes of these Regulations if—

(a) it is declared by the claimant in his single payment scheme application or hill farm allowance application;

(b) it is of a meat breed, or is a crossbreed, or the offspring of a crossbreed;

(c) it is entered by the claimant into the register referred to in regulation 29(3) of the Cattle Identification Regulations 1998(1), and the claimant complies with those Regulations in respect of that register;

(d) it was, throughout the relevant period, part of a herd used for rearing calves for meat production only;

(e) it was, throughout the relevant period, owned by the claimant, or leased to him under a leasing agreement in writing, and throughout that period the claimant had economic responsibility for it; and

(f) it was kept on the claimant’s holding throughout the relevant period.

(2) In this paragraph—

(a) “crossbreed” means a bovine animal with at least one parent of a meat breed;

(b) “meat breed” means any bovine breed which is not listed in Annex XV to Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1973/2004(2).

(3) In this paragraph and in paragraph 3, “the relevant period” means a period of six consecutive months, starting on any date from 1st July 2006 to 31st December 2006 inclusive.

2.—(1) For the purposes of paragraph 1(1)(e), a claimant had economic responsibility for a breeding cow if he—

(a) was the keeper of the breeding cow;

(b) made the final decisions regarding, and paid for, the feeding, bedding, housing and veterinary requirements of the breeding cow; and

(c) was in possession of the cattle passport relating to the breeding cow.

(2) In this paragraph, “cattle passport” and “keeper” have the same meaning as in regulation 2(1) of the Cattle Identification Regulations 1998.

3.  The condition in paragraph 1(1)(f) continues to be met if—

(a) the breeding cow was replaced during the relevant period by another breeding cow and the conditions in paragraph 1(1)(a) to (e) are met in respect of that breeding cow; and

(b) the replacement breeding cow was kept on the claimant’s holding for the remainder of the relevant period.

4.  Where—

(a) the claimant’s breeding cows which meet the conditions in paragraph 1(1) include heifers, and

(b) the number of such heifers, expressed in livestock units, is more than 40% of the total number of breeding cows which meet those conditions,

the number of heifers which are relevant animals shall be reduced so that no more than 40%, expressed in livestock units, of the claimant’s breeding cows which are relevant animals are heifers.

Ewes

5.  A ewe is a relevant animal for the purposes of these Regulations if—

(a) it is declared by the claimant in his single payment scheme application or hill farm allowance application;

(b) it is entered by the claimant into the documents and records referred to in articles 4 and 12 of the Sheep and Goats Identification and Movement (Interim Measures) (England) (No 2) Order 2002(3) and articles 14, 17 and 20 of the Sheep and Goats (Records, Identification and Movement) (England) Order 2005(4), and the claimant complies with those Orders in respect of those records;

(c) it formed part of a flock kept on the holding for a period of 100 consecutive days starting on any day from 1st January 2006 to 22nd September 2006 inclusive; and

(d) it was, throughout that period, owned by the claimant, or leased to him under a leasing agreement in writing.

(1)

S.I. 1998/871, as amended by S.I. 2006/1538. There are other amending instruments but none is relevant.

(2)

O.J. No. L345, 20.11.2004, p.1, as corrected by O.J. No. L34, 8.2.2005. Other amendments are not relevant to these Regulations.

(3)

S.I. 2002/2153, as amended by S.Is. 2003/29, 2003/502 and 2003/1728.

(4)

S.I. 2005/3100, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.