The Agriculture and Horticulture Grant Scheme 1980

• Citation: S.I. 1980/1072
• Sections: 14

Section 1

This scheme, which may be cited as the Agriculture and Horticulture Grant Scheme 1980, shall come into operation on 1st October 1980 and shall apply throughout the United Kingdom.

Section 2

(1) In this scheme, unless the context otherwise requires—

“ agriculture ” and cognate expressions shall be construed, except in relation to Scotland, in accordance with section 109 of the Agriculture Act 1947 and, in relation to Scotland, in accordance with section 86 of the Agriculture (Scotland) Act 1948;

“ agricultural business ” means a business consisting in, or such part of any business as consists in, the pursuit of agriculture, including the storage, the transport and the preparation for market of the produce of the business;

“ the appropriate Minister ” means —

in relation to England or Northern Ireland, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food;

in relation to any other part of the United Kingdom, the Secretary of State;

“ earned income ” in relation to an agricultural business, means the revenue of the business as assessed by the appropriate Minister, provided that in any such assessment the said revenue shall be taken to include net inventory changes and farmhouse consumption less remuneration of capital invested in the agricultural business and such charges and expenses as that Minister may consider reasonable;

“ ECU ” means the unit of account of the European Economic Community defined in Article 1 of Council Regulation ( EEC ) No. 3180/78 , and any reference in this scheme to a specified number of ECU in relation to any expenditure shall be taken to be a reference to the sterling equivalent of that number of ECU applicable on the 1st January of the calendar year in which the conditions for granting aid are fulfilled;

“ horticultural produce ” means —

fruit;

vegetables of a kind grown for human consumption, including fungi, but not including maincrop potatoes or peas grown for seed or for harvesting dry;

flowers, pot plants and decorative foliage;

herbs;

seeds (other than pea seeds), bulbs and other material, being seeds, bulbs or material for—

sowing or planting for the production of fruit, of the vegetables, flowers, plants or foliage mentioned in ( b ) and ( c ) above or of herbs, or

reproduction of the seeds, bulbs or other material planted; or

trees and shrubs, other than trees grown for the purpose of afforestation;

but does not include hops;

“ horticultural production business ” means an agricultural business consisting in, or such part of any agricultural business as consists in, the growing in the United Kingdom of horticultural produce for sale or the growing of such produce for sale and its storage, transport or preparation for market;

“ labour unit ” means the amount of work, other than work done by contractors, which would in the opinion of the appropriate Minister occupy the full time, not exceeding 2,300 hours per year, of a full-time worker;

“ less-favoured area ” means land—

which is situated in an area included in the list of less-favoured farming areas adopted by the Council or the Commission of the European Communities under Article 2 of Council Directive No. 75/268/EEC of 28th April 1975 and consists predominantly of mountains, hills or heath, and

which is, or by improvement could be made, suitable for use for the breeding, rearing and maintenance of sheep or cattle but not, in the opinion of the appropriate Minister, for the carrying on, to any material extent, of dairy farming, the production, to any material extent, of fat sheep or fat cattle or the production of crops in quantity materially greater than that necessary to feed the number of sheep or cattle capable of being maintained on the land;

“ preparation for market ”, in relation to produce, does not include canning, bottling, pulping or cooking, or preserving by sterilising, by freezing, by de-hydrating, by heat or by chemical process.

(2) Unless the context otherwise requires, any reference in this scheme—

(a) to a numbered paragraph shall be construed as a reference to the paragraph bearing that number in this scheme, or

(b) to “ the Schedule ” shall be construed as a reference to the Schedule to this scheme.

Section 3

(1) Subject to the provisions of this scheme the appropriate Minister may make to any person a grant towards expenditure incurred by him for the purposes of, or in connection with, the carrying on or establishment of an agricultural business, being expenditure which—

(a) has been incurred in respect of any work, facility or transaction of a kind specified in any of paragraphs 1 to 6, 7(i), 7(ii) and 8 to 17 of column 1 of the Schedule or, in relation to Scotland only, paragraph 7(iii) thereof;

(b) appears to that Minister to be of a capital nature, or incurred in connection with expenditure of a capital nature; and

(c) is approved by that Minister for the purposes of a grant under this scheme.

(2) Subject to the provisions of paragraphs 4 to 9, the appropriate Minister may make the payment of grant under sub-paragraph (1) subject to such conditions as that Minister thinks fit and any payment of such grant may be made at such time as that Minister may determine.

(3) Where it appears to the appropriate Minister that expenditure in respect of which a grant is claimed under sub-paragraph (1) has been incurred partly for the purposes of, or in connection with, the carrying on or establishment of an agricultural business and partly for non-agricultural purposes, that Minister may for the purposes of a grant under the said sub-paragraph treat as having been incurred for the purposes of, or in connection with, the carrying on or establishment of an agricultural business so much of that expenditure as appears to that Minister to be referable to the carrying on or establishment of that agricultural business.

Section 4

The appropriate Minister shall not pay grant under paragraph 3(1) in relation to expenditure in respect of any work, facility or transaction which is of a kind specified in any of paragraphs 1 to 5, 14(ii) and 16 of column 1 of the Schedule unless that Minister is satisfied that the agricultural business is capable of providing the greater part of the employment of at least one person reasonably skilled in agriculture.

Section 5

(1) The appropriate Minister shall not pay grant under paragraph 3(1) in relation to any expenditure in connection with the breeding or keeping of poultry or the production of eggs.

(2) The appropriate Minister shall not pay grant under paragraph 3(1) in relation to any expenditure in connection with the breeding or keeping of pigs—

(a) unless it appears to that Minister that the aggregate of the amount of that expenditure and any other expenditure of that kind which has been incurred in respect of the same agricultural business amounts to not less than 13,158 ECU, and not more than 66,699 ECU, that other expenditure being expenditure in respect of which a claim for grant, under this scheme, the Farm Capital Grant Scheme 1973 , or any regulations made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 providing for the payment of grant to a person carrying on an agricultural business as therein defined in accordance with an approved development plan, has been received by that Minister during the period of 2 years ending with the day on which a claim for grant in relation to the first mentioned expenditure has been received, and

(b) unless it appears to that Minister that after completion of the works, facilities or transactions in respect of which the aforesaid aggregate expenditure has been incurred, the land on which there will be carried on the agricultural business for the purposes of which or in connection with which the expenditure has been incurred will be capable of producing not less than 35 per cent of the feeding stuffs required for the pigs kept on the land on which that business will be carried on.

(3) In this paragraph “ expenditure ” means expenditure other than expenditure incurred in respect of any work, facility or transaction of a kind specified in paragraph 7(iii) of column 1 of the Schedule.

Section 6

(1) Where at the date on which a claim for grant under paragraph 3(1) is received by the appropriate Minister—

(a) the amount of the expenditure which is included in the claim (hereinafter in this paragraph referred to as “ the present claim ”) and towards which grant is payable, or

(b) the aggregate of the amount of that expenditure and any other expenditure towards which grant is payable or has been paid in respect of the same agricultural business as the result of a claim received during the period of 2 years ending with the date of receipt of the present claim, being grant payable or paid either under this scheme, the Farm Capital Grant Scheme 1973, the Horticulture Capital Grant Scheme 1973 or any regulations made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 providing for the payment of grant to a person carrying on an agricultural business as therein defined in accordance with an approved development plan,

exceeds 52, 599 ECU for each labour unit appearing to that Minister to be required in the carrying on of the agricultural business to which the present claim relates, that Minister shall not pay grant towards so much of that expenditure or, as the case may be, so much of that aggregate as exceeds that figure.

(2) In this paragraph “ expenditure ” means expenditure other than expenditure incurred in respect of any work, facility or transaction of a kind specified in paragraph 7(iii) of column 1 of the Schedule.

Section 7

(1) Where at the date on which a claim for grant under paragraph 3(1) is received by the appropriate Minister—

(a) the amount of the expenditure which is included in the claim (hereinafter in this paragraph referred to as “ the present claim ”) and towards which grant is payable, or

(b) the aggregate of the amount of that expenditure and any other relevant expenditure towards which grant is payable or has been paid in respect of the same agricultural business, whether under this scheme or otherwise, as the result of a claim received during the period of 6 years ending with the date of receipt of the present claim.

exceeds 160.000 ECU, that Minister shall not pay grant towards so much of that expenditure or, as the case may be, that aggregate as exceeds that figure.

(2) In this paragraph—

“ expenditure ” means expenditure other than expenditure incurred in respect of any work, facility or transaction of a kind specified in paragraph 7(iii) of column 1 of the Schedule;

“ other relevant expenditure ” means expenditure as defined above—

towards which grant is payable or has been paid under this scheme, or

towards which grant is payable or has been paid under the Farm Capital Grant Scheme 1973, the Horticulture Capital Grant Scheme 1973 or any regulations made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 providing for the payment of grant to a person carrying on an agricultural business as therein defined in accordance with an approved development plan, and which was approved for the purposes of grant as the result of an application received by the appropriate Minister on or after 1st February 1980, and which was incurred on or after that date.

Section 8

Where a development plan for an agricultural business has been approved under any regulations made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 which provide for the payment of grant to a person carrying on an agricultural business as therein defined in accordance with an approved development plan, the appropriate Minister shall not pay grant under paragraph 3(1) in relation to any expenditure, other than any expenditure incurred in respect of any work, facility or transaction of a kind specified in paragraph 7(iii) of column 1 of the Schedule, for or in connection with that agricultural business unless at the time of receipt of the claim for grant the carrying out of the said development plan has come to its end, whether by completion, variation or withdrawal of approval, or otherwise.

Section 9

(1) Subject to the provisions of paragraphs 11 and 13, the amount of grant payable under paragraph 3(1) towards expenditure in respect of any work, facility or transaction of a kind specified in column 1 of the Schedule shall be the percentage of that expenditure specified in relation to that work, facility or transaction in column 2 of the Schedule, except that—

(a) if the work, facility or transaction in question is specified in any of paragraphs 1 to 5, 7(iii), 12(i) and 13 to 16 of the said column 1, and if in the opinion of the appropriate Minister the expenditure in respect thereof is for the purposes of, or in connection with, the carrying on or establishment of an agricultural business, or that part thereof, situated in a less-favoured area, the amount of grant so payable shall be the percentage of that expenditure specified in relation to that work, facility or transaction in column 3 of the Schedule; or

(b) if the work, facility or transaction in question is specified in any of paragraphs 6, 7(i), 7(ii), 8 to 11, 12(ii) and 12(iii) of the said column 1, and if in the opinion of the appropriate Minister—

(i) the expenditure in respect of that work, facility or transaction is for the purposes of, or in connection with, the carrying on or establishment of an agricultural business, or that part thereof, situated in a less-favoured area, and

(ii) that business has an earned income per labour unit less than the comparable income determined in accordance with paragraph 12 in respect of the calendar year in which the grant is claimed,

the amount of grant so payable shall be the percentage of that expenditure specified in relation to that work, facility or transaction in column 3 of the Schedule; or

(c) if the work, facility or transaction in question is specified in any of the paragraphs of the said column 1 and if in the opinion of the appropriate Minister the expenditure in respect thereof is for the purposes of, or in connection with, the carrying on or establishment of a horticultural production business capable of providing the greater part of the employment of at least one person reasonably skilled in agriculture, the amount of grant so payable shall be the percentage of that expenditure specified in relation to that work, facility or transaction in column 4 of the Schedule.

(2) Where it appears to the appropriate Minister that expenditure towards which grant is payable under paragraph 3(1) has been incurred for the purposes of, or in connection with, the carrying on or establishment of an agricultural business situated partly in a less-favoured area the appropriate Minister may, for the purposes of determining the amount of grant so payable towards that expenditure treat as having been incurred for, or in connection with, that part of the business situated in a less-favoured area, so much of that expenditure as appears to that Minister to be referable to the carrying on or establishment of that part of the business.

(3) Where it appears to the appropriate Minister that expenditure towards which grant is payable under paragraph 3(1) has been incurred partly for the purposes of, or in connection with, the carrying on or establishment of a horticultural production business and partly for other agricultural purposes, the appropriate Minister may for the purposes of determining the amount of grant so payable towards that expenditure treat as having been incurred for, or in connection with, the carrying on or establishment of a horticultural production business, so much of that expenditure as appears to that Minister to be referable to the carrying on or establishment of that horticultural production business.

(4) The amount of any grant payable under paragraph 3(1) towards expenditure in respect of the carrying out or provision of any work, facility or transaction which is incidental to the carrying out or provision of another work, facility or transaction of a kind specified in any of paragraphs 1 to 16 of column 1 of the Schedule, or necessary or proper in the carrying out or provision of that other work, facility or transaction, or for securing the full benefit thereof, shall be calculated at the rate of grant appropriate to that other work, facility or transaction in accordance with the provisions of the Schedule.

Section 10

Any claim for a grant under this scheme shall be made in such form and manner and at such time as the appropriate Minister may from time to time require and the claimant for grant shall furnish all such particulars and information relating to the claim as that Minister may require.

Section 11

In such cases, and subject to such conditions, as the appropriate Minister may from time to time determine, the cost of any work, facility or transaction or the amount of any other cost or expenditure, shall, if the claimant so elects, be taken for the purpose of determining the amount of any grant payable under paragraph 3(1) as such standard cost or amount as that Minister may from time to time fix with the approval of the Treasury.

Section 12

For the purposes of this scheme the appropriate Minister shall determine in respect of each calendar year a comparable income per labour unit for Great Britain and Northern Ireland respectively, having regard to the average earnings of full-time workers in occupations other than agriculture.

Section 13

The appropriate Minister may reduce or withhold any grant payable under paragraph 3(1) in any case where—

(a) assistance in respect of expenditure towards which such grant is claimed has been or may be given otherwise than under this scheme, or

(b) the carrying out or provision of the work, facility or transaction towards the expenditure on which such grant is claimed appears to that Minister to frustrate the purposes served by assistance previously given out of money provided by Parliament or the European Economic Community.

Section 14

The appropriate Minister shall not pay any grant under paragraph 3(1) in respect of a claim received after 31st December 1985, or such later date, not later than 31st January 1986, as that Minister may in special circumstances permit.