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STATUTORY
INSTRUMENTS
1995No.
2202
AGRICULTURE
The
Rural Development Grants (Agriculture) (No. 2) Regulations 1995
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Laid before Parliament
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24th August 1995
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Coming into force
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14th September 1995
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The Minister of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food, being a Minister designated[1]
for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972[2] as regards measures relating to promotion of
rural development, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by the said
section 2(2) and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby
makes the following Regulations:
Title,
extent and commencement
1. These Regulations may be cited
as the Rural Development Grants (Agriculture) (No.2) Regulations 1995, shall
extend to England
and shall come into force on 14th
September 1995.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the
context requires otherwise—
"approved operation"
means an operation which the Minister has approved in writing for the receipt
of financial assistance, and "approve" and "approval" shall
be construed accordingly;
"authorised person"
means a person authorised by the Minister for the purpose of these
Regulations, and includes any duly appointed official of the Commission who
accompanies such an authorised person;
"beneficiary" means a
person who has applied for and has been granted approval for an operation;
"the Commission"
means the Commission of the European Communities;
"Community
assistance" means assistance from the Guidance Section of the European
Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, granted pursuant to the Community
legislation;
"the Community
legislation" means the instruments listed in the Schedule;
"the Council
Regulation" means the Council Regulation (EEC) No. 4253/88 of 19th
December 1988[3], laying down provisions for implementing
Regulation (EEC) No. 2052/88 as regards coordination of the activities of the
different Structural Funds between themselves and with the operation of the
European Investment Bank and the other existing financial instruments, as
amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2082/93 of 20th July 1993[4];
"financial
assistance" means an amount paid or payable under these Regulations;
"LIBOR", in relation
to any particular day of any month, means the rate of interest per centum per
annum notified to the Minister by the Bank of England on the first working
day of that month, rounded if necessary to two decimal places;
"the Minister" means
the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food;
"sub-programme"
means a sub-programme set out in a Single Programming Document approved by
one of the Commission Decisions appearing in the Schedule.
(2) In these Regulations—
(a) any reference to a
numbered regulation or to "the Schedule" shall be construed as a
reference to the regulation so numbered in these Regulations or to the
Schedule to these Regulations respectively;
(b) any
reference in a regulation to a numbered paragraph shall be construed as a
reference to the paragraph so numbered in that regulation.
Assistance
for rural development
3. The Minister may pay financial
assistance to a beneficiary towards expenditure incurred in connection with
an approved operation.
Applications
4. An application for the
approval of an operation shall be made in such form and shall contain such
information as the Minister reasonably may require.
Approval
of operations
5.—(1) The Minister may, provided that he is
satisfied that an operation to which the application relates falls within a
sub-programme and is eligible for Community assistance, approve the operation
for the receipt of financial assistance, and any such approval may be given
subject to such conditions as the Minister reasonably may determine.
(2) The Minister may,
with the written consent of the beneficiary, vary any condition attached to
the approval of an operation pursuant to paragraph (1).
Payment
6. The Minister may make payments
of financial assistance at such a time, or by such instalments at such
intervals or times as he thinks fit, and may make the payment of financial assistance
subject to such conditions relating to payment as he reasonably may
determine.
Claims
7. Any claim for payment of
financial assistance shall be made at such time and in such form and be
accompanied by such information as the Minister reasonably may require.
Information
8.—(1) A beneficiary
shall supply to the Minister such information about an approved operation as
the Minister reasonably may require.
(2) Where the Minister
requires information under paragraph (1), the beneficiary shall supply that
information within such period as the Minister reasonably may determine.
Entry and
inspection
9.—(1) An authorised person, at all
reasonable times and on production of his authority on demand, may enter upon
any land to which an approved operation relates or on which documents
relating to an approved operation are retained, other than land which is used
solely for the purposes of a dwelling, for the purpose of—
(a) verifying the
accuracy of any information contained in an application under regulation 4 or
a claim under regulation 7, or any other information provided by the
beneficiary relating to the operation;
(b) ascertaining whether
any financial assistance is payable or recoverable or the amount of such
financial assistance that is payable or recoverable;
(c) ascertaining
whether an offence under these Regulations has been or is being committed.
(2) An authorised person who has entered any land by
virtue of this regulation may inspect the land and any document, record or
equipment thereon which that person reasonably believes relates to the
operation.
(3) An authorised
person who has entered any land by virtue of this regulation may—
(a) require the
beneficiary, or any employee, servant or agent of the beneficiary, to produce
any document or supply any additional information in that person's possession
or under his control relating to the operation;
(b) where any document or
record relating to the operation is kept by means of computer, have access to
and inspect any computer and any associated apparatus or material which is or
has been used in connection with that document or record;
(c) require that copies
of, or extracts from any document or record relating to the operation be
produced;
(d) remove and retain for
a reasonable period any document or record relating to the operation which he
has reason to believe may be required as evidence in proceedings under these
Regulations and, where any such document is kept by means of a computer,
require it to be produced in a form in which it may be taken away and in
which it is visible and legible.
(4) A beneficiary or any employee, servant or agent
of a beneficiary shall render all reasonable assistance to an authorised
person in relation to the matters mentioned in paragraphs (1), (2) and (3).
(5) An authorised
person entering any land by virtue of this regulation may take with him such
other persons as he considers necessary and paragraphs (2), (3) and (4) shall
apply to such persons, when acting under the instructions of an authorised
person, as if they were an authorised person.
(6) An authorised
person shall not be liable in any proceedings for anything done in purported
exercise of the powers conferred on him by virtue of this regulation if the
court is satisfied that the act was done in good faith, that there were
reasonable grounds for doing it and that it was done with reasonable skill
and care.
(7) In this
regulation, unless the context otherwise requires, "the operation"
means the approved operation in relation to which entry onto land has been
sought pursuant to paragraph (1).
Record
keeping
10.—(1) Save as
provided in paragraphs (2) and (3), a beneficiary shall retain any invoice,
account or other document relating to an approved operation until the end of
six years after the last payment of financial assistance made to him pursuant
to regulation 3 in relation to that approved operation.
(2) Paragraph (1)
shall not apply where an authorised person has removed any document pursuant
to regulation 9(3)(d).
(3) Where, in the
normal course of business, a beneficiary transfers the original of any
document referred to in paragraph (1) to another person, he shall retain a
copy of that document until the end of the period specified in paragraph (1).
Recovery
of grant
11.—(1) Where the Minister is satisfied, as
regards an approved operation, that—
(a) any condition
referred to in regulation 5 or 6 above has not been satisfied;
(b) any information
provided pursuant to regulations 4, 7, 8 or 9(3)(a) is false or misleading in
a material respect;
(c) the beneficiary has
failed, within the required period, to supply any information requested by
the Minister pursuant to regulation 8 above;
(d) the beneficiary has
failed to comply with the requirements of regulation 9(4) or regulation 10
above;
(e) there is a material
change in the nature, scale, costs or timing of the operation;
(f) the operation has not
been or is not being properly carried out; or
(g) the operation has
been or is being unreasonably delayed or is unlikely to be completed;
the
Minister may revoke the approval of that operation and, where any payment of
financial assistance has been made, may recover on demand an amount equal to
the whole or any part of such payment.
(2) Where the
Commission has decided, pursuant to Article 24.3 of the Council Regulation,
to reduce or suspend assistance, the Minister may exercise the powers of
revocation and recovery referred to in paragraph (1).
(3) Where the Minister
decides, pursuant to this regulation, to recover any amount then the Minister
may also recover, on demand, interest on that amount at the rate of 1
percentage point above LIBOR for the period from the day on which the
financial assistance was granted until the day on which the Minister recovers
the amount.
Offences
and penalties
12.—(1) Any person who, for the purposes of
obtaining assistance for himself or any other person, knowingly or recklessly
makes a statement which is false or misleading in a material particular,
shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine
not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.
(2) Any person who—
(a) fails, without
reasonable excuse, to comply with a requirement imposed by or under
regulation 9 or by regulation 10;
(b) intentionally
obstructs an authorised officer (or a person accompanying and acting under
his instructions) in the exercise of his powers under regulation 9,
shall
be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not
exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
(3) Proceedings for an
offence under paragraph (1) or (2) may, subject to paragraph (4), be commenced within the period of six months from the date
on which evidence sufficient in the opinion of the prosecutor to justify the
proceedings comes to his knowledge.
(4) No proceedings for
an offence under paragraph (1) or (2) shall be commenced more than three
years after the commission of the offence.
(5) For the purposes
of this regulation, where the proceedings are instituted by the Minister—
(a) a certificate signed
by or on behalf of the prosecutor and stating the date on which evidence
sufficient in his opinion to warrant the proceedings came to his knowledge shall
be conclusive evidence of that fact;
(b) a
certificate stating that matter and purporting to be so signed shall be
deemed to be so signed unless the contrary is proved.
(6) Where an offence under this regulation which has
been committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the
consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part
of, a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of that body
corporate, or any person who was purporting to act in such capacity, he as
well as that body corporate shall be guilty of that offence and be liable to
be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
(7) Where the affairs
of a body corporate are managed by its members, paragraph (6) shall apply in
relation to acts and defaults of a member in connection with his management
functions as if he were a director of that body corporate.
13. The Rural Development Grants (Agriculture)
Regulations 1995[5] are hereby revoked.
Tim Boswell
Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
17th August 1995
Notes:
[1] S.I. 1995/751. back
[2] 1972 c. 68. back
[3] OJ L374, 31.12.88, p.1.
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[4] OJ L193, 31.7.93, p.20.
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[5] S.I. 1995/2096. back
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