Statutory Instrument 1996 No. 695

The Countryside Stewardship Regulations 1996

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© Crown Copyright 1996

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1996 No. 695

COUNTRYSIDE

The Countryside Stewardship Regulations 1996

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 98 of the Environment Act 1995^[1] and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, with the consent of the Treasury and after consulting the Secretary of State, the Countryside Commission, the Nature Conservancy Council for England and the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England in accordance with section 99 of that Act, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Title, commencement and extent
    1.—(1)  These Regulations may be cited as the Countryside Stewardship Regulations 1996 and shall come into force on 1st April 1996.

    (2)  These Regulations extend to England^[2].

Interpretation
    2.—(1)  In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—

"agreement land" means the land which is the subject of a stewardship agreement or a former scheme agreement;


"agreement year", in relation to any stewardship agreement or former scheme agreement, means a period of 12 months commencing with the date of, or any anniversary of the date of, the coming into effect of the agreement;


"Countryside Commission" means the body established by section 1 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949^[3];


"carrying out", in relation to an activity, includes ensuring that it is carried out, and "carry out" shall be construed accordingly.


"eligible person" means a stewardship agreement holder or a former scheme agreement holder who applies for a grant under these Regulations;


"former scheme" means the countryside stewardship scheme administered by the Countryside Commission under section 4 of the Countryside Act 1968^[4] from 25th June 1991 to 31st March, 1996;


"former scheme agreement" means an agreement made by any person with an interest in land under the former scheme with the Countryside Commission, the rights and obligations of the Countryside Commission under which have been assumed by the Minister;


"former scheme agreement holder" means—
 (a) a person (other than the Minister or the Countryside Commission) who is a party to a former scheme agreement; and
 (b) any person with an interest in the agreement land who is bound by the terms of a former scheme agreement as successor to a person falling within sub-paragraph (a) of this definition;


"interest", in relation to land, means a freehold or leasehold interest in it, or a licence to occupy it;


"the Minister" means the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food;


"special project agreement" has the meaning given to it in regulation 3(3);


"specified purposes" means—
 (a) the conservation or enhancement of the natural beauty or amenity of the countryside (including its flora and fauna and geological and physiographical features) or of any features of archaeological interest there; or
 (b) the promotion of the enjoyment of the countryside by the public;


"standard agreement" has the meaning given to it in regulation 3(3);


"stewardship agreement" has the meaning given to it in regulation 3(2); and


"stewardship agreement holder" means any person who has entered into a stewardship agreement.

    (2)  Any reference in these Regulations to a numbered regulation is a reference to the regulation in these Regulations so numbered and any reference to the Schedule is a reference to the Schedule to these Regulations.

Power to enter into agreements
    3.—(1)  Where the Minister is of the opinion that the carrying out by any person who has an interest in land of any activity in relation to that land would be conducive to the specified purposes, he may, subject to paragraph (4) below and regulations 5 and 6, enter into a stewardship agreement with that person.

    (2)  For the purposes of paragraph (1) above, a stewardship agreement means an agreement which remains in force for a term specified in the agreement, provides for that person to carry out that activity in relation to that land and requires the Minister to pay grant to that person in respect of the carrying out of that activity thereon.

    (3)  In these Regulations a standard agreement means a stewardship agreement which—
 (a) includes provision for that person to carry out on that land at least one activity specified in an entry of column 1 of Part I or II of the Schedule,
 (b) in relation to each such activity so provided for, and any activity specified in an entry of column 1 of Part III of the Schedule for which the agreement provides, requires or enables the Minister to pay grant at a rate no greater than the maximum payment rate specified in the corresponding entry in column 2 thereof, and
 (c) does not include provision for the Minister to pay grant otherwise than as specified in sub-paragraph (b) above,
and a special project agreement means a stewardship agreement other than a standard agreement.

    (4)  The Minister shall not enter into a special project agreement in relation to any activity except where he considers that—
 (a) the achievement of a particular purpose, within the scope of the specified purposes, is desirable in relation to particular land,
 (b) that particular purpose could not be achieved in relation to that land but for the carrying out of that activity, and
 (c) that activity is either—
 (i) outside the range of activities specified in Part I or II of the Schedule, or
 (ii) an activity specified in an entry of column 1 thereof but such that that person cannot reasonably be expected to carry it out in the absence of payment at a rate greater than the maximum rate specified in the corresponding entry in column 2 thereof.

    (5)  The definitions in Part IV of the Schedule shall have effect for the purposes of interpretation of Parts I, II, III thereof.

Grants for purposes conducive to conservation etc.
    4.    Subject to regulation 6, the Minister may make a grant—
 (a) in accordance with a stewardship agreement, to any eligible person, and
 (b) in accordance with a former scheme agreement, to any eligible person who does or undertakes to the Minister to do anything the doing of which in the opinion of the Minister is conducive to the specified purposes.

Conditions
    5.    Any requirement in a stewardship agreement to make a grant under these Regulations to an eligible person shall be subject to the following conditions—
 (a) that he is not in breach of any of the terms of the stewardship agreement by which he is bound,
 (b) that he complies with the requirements of regulations 7 and 8 below, and
 (c) that he maintains an interest in the agreement land.

Limits on payment of grant
    6.—(1)  No payment of grant under a stewardship agreement shall be made—
 (a) in relation to any activity specified in Part I of the Schedule carried on during an agreement year until after the end of that agreement year, and
 (b) in full in relation to any activity specified in Part II or Part III of the Schedule until after the activity has been completed.

    (2)  In relation to a special project agreement—
 (a) the grant payable in relation to any activity specified therein shall not exceed the cost of carrying out that activity, and
 (b) no payment of grant shall be made in full in relation to any activity specified therein until after the activity has been completed.

Applications for grant
    7.    An application by a stewardship agreement holder for grant under these Regulations shall be made at such time and in such form and shall contain or be accompanied by such information as the Minister reasonably may require.

Notification of change of occupation
    8.—(1)  A stewardship agreement holder (or, if he has died, his personal representative) shall notify the Minister in writing of any change in the occupation of the agreement land or any part of the agreement land where the change occurs while the stewardship agreement is in force.

    (2)  Notification under this regulation shall be given within three months after the change of occupation concerned, or, where the stewardship agreement holder has died and no personal representative has been appointed within three months, as soon as is practicable after the appointment of a personal representative.

    (3)  Where there has been a change of occupation of all or part of any agreement land (whether subject to a stewardship agreement or a former scheme agreement), and the Minister enters into a stewardship agreement for the remainder of the term of the original agreement with the new occupier in relation to the land occupation of which has changed, then that stewardship agreement shall, for the purposes of calculating agreement years, be deemed to have commenced on the date on which the original agreement commenced.

Withholding and recovery of grant
    9.—(1)  Subject to paragraph (2) below where any applicant for a grant under these Regulations—
 (a) in making the application, or in furnishing any information in connection with the application, has made a statement which is false or misleading in a material respect,
 (b) has failed to do something which he undertook to do if the grant was made, or
 (c) is in breach of any condition subject to which the grant was made,
the Minister may recover the whole or part of any sums paid by way of grant thereunder to him and withhold the whole or part of any further payments of grant payable thereunder to him.

    (2)  Powers contained in a former scheme agreement to withhold or recover grant shall not be exercised by the Minister in circumstances where it would exceed the powers in paragraph (1) above to exercise them, but subject to that nothing in paragraph (1) above shall be taken to alter the terms of any former scheme agreement.

    (3)  Where the Minister withholds or recovers grant made in connection with a stewardship agreement under paragraph (1) above, he may also terminate that stewardship agreement by giving notice of such termination to the agreement holder.

    (4)  Any dispute in any particular case as to the withholding or recovery of grant by reference to paragraph (1) above shall be referred to and determined by a single arbitrator to be agreed between the parties or in default of agreement to be appointed by the President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and in accordance with the provisions of the Arbitration Act 1950^[5] or any statutory modification or re-enactment thereof for the time being in force.

    (5)  Nothing in the preceding provisions of these Regulations shall be taken to preclude information provided by any person who is or becomes a stewardship agreement holder in connection with entry into his stewardship agreement from being treated as included among information provided by him in connection with an application for grant pursuant to that stewardship agreement.

Tim Boswell

Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

8th March 1996
We consent

Derek Conway

Simon Burns

Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury

7th March 1996

[1] 1995 c. 25; section 98(5) contains a definition of the Minister. back

[2] For application to the Isles of Scilly see section 117 of the Environment Act 1995 (c. 25). back

[3] 1949 c. 97 (12, 13 & 14 Geo 6); section 1 was amended by the Countryside Act 1968 (c. 41), section 1(5), and substituted by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (c. 43), section 130 and Schedule 8, paragraph 1. back

[4] 1968 c. 41; section 4 was amended by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (c. 69), section 40, the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (c. 43), section 130 and Schedule 8, paragraph 2 and the Environment Act 1995, section 78 and Schedule 10, paragraph 8. back

[5] 1950 c. 27. back

Explanatory Note