Single Farm Payment and Less Favoured Area Support Scheme Payments at Risk
Posted: Monday 20 September 2010
If you receive a Single Farm Payment (“SFP”) or Less Favoured Area Support (“LFASS”) you must act now. All of your SFP and LFASS receipts may be at risk, not just for the 2010 scheme year but for previous years as well. If you submitted a Single Application Form (“SAF”) by 17 May 2010 but did not make deductions for clearly ineligible ‘hard’ features such as roads, houses, new buildings, ponds, watercourses etc then the error will automatically be deemed as intentional. In addition, claiming for permanent, impenetrable vegetation like gorse or bracken could also be deemed an intentional error. This is a new enforcement approach – driven by Europe – and could mean your SFP and/or LFASS is lost in its entirety. Worse still, the penalties could be applied retrospectively for years 2007, 2008 and 2009.
What should you do?
- Read the ‘Dear Producer’ letter from SGRPID that will be sent to you on this subject.
- Look at your farm maps – are there any ineligible areas?
- Look at the claimed area of your SAF, column I - have you deducted the ineligible area from your claim?
- If not, contact your Area Office in writing or by email/fax with the land parcel to be changed and the area to be adjusted.
If you fail to do this and are subsequently selected for inspection and the inspector finds ineligible areas above one hectare or 0.5 percent of the total claimed land, the entire SFP and/or LFASS payment could be lost. If this ineligible area is found at inspection, but you have made an effort proactively to correct the situation with your area office, it will not be viewed as intentional over-declaration.
For more information contact your local SGRPID area office.
