Funding under this scheme

Introduction

Funding under the scheme falls into two categories:

annual payments for management options
payments for capital costs

(Payments are also available for Farm Environment Assessments and Collaborative Management
Plans - for more details please refer to the “Claims and Payments” webpage)

Annual payments

You will get annual payments for management options in your contract. If your application is successful these payments will be set at a standard cost in your contract as per the standard rates detailed in the management options.

Capital items

Capital items are one-off activities that can be claimed for and paid once they have been satisfactorily completed. Virtually all capital items are considered on the basis of a standard cost, as shown within the rules for each individual capital item.

Any capital expenditure incurred before your application to the scheme has been submitted is not eligible.

Actual costs capital items

There are three exceptions to standard costs, where actual costs may be used instead.

1. Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Natura sites (Special Protection Areas and Special Areas of Conservation)

2. Scheduled Monuments located on designated sites (Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Natura sites)

3. Other capital items where there are no standard costs available

For actual cost capital items the guidance on quotes must be followed.

1. Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Natura sites

The Scottish Government is committed to bringing designated sites (Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Natura sites) into favourable condition. In certain circumstances the standard payment rates for capital items are unlikely to cover the real costs of the works for these sites.

These circumstances include:

remoteness of the area of land on which the work will be undertaken or awkward / rough terrain getting to site – for example island location, lack of local contractors resulting in travel and subsistence for contractors during the works, longer time to access work site, difficult to deliver materials
awkward, rough or fragile terrain on site making it necessary to, for example, use specialist contractors, work at a slower rate, avoid disturbance to neighbouring areas, use matting to protect ground
other conditions – for example vegetation removal from a large area of cliff which has very small area on a map

In such exceptional circumstances we will consider supporting higher, actual capital costs, where all of the following conditions apply:

these activities support action on, or adjacent to, Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Natura sites (designated sites) aimed at bringing the special features of interest into favourable condition, or maintaining favourable condition of features. Your case officer will confirm this with relevant staff in Scottish Natural Heritage
you provide an adequate demonstration of the circumstances which justify why the standard payments rates are not sufficient. For larger projects, where there are different distinguishable elements, you may have to use standard costs for those elements for which you cannot provide an appropriate justification for the use of standard costs
you provide a detailed breakdown of the work required, the associated costs and supporting quotes in line with the guidance on quotes
you provide a comparison with the standard payment rate for the same activity, which demonstrates that the cost of undertaking the required activity is significantly higher than this

You should discuss any such proposals with your local Scottish Natural Heritage office at an early stage before submitting your application, to ensure that what you are proposing is appropriate for the designated site features so that you can confidently proceed to getting quotes for the work

A specification for each activity is provided below:

2. Scheduled Monuments located on designated sites (Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Natura sites)

In certain circumstances we will consider supporting higher, actual capital costs where the method of work required to avoid damaging a Scheduled Monument site is complex and can be justified as incurring a higher financial burden.

For higher actual costs to be considered under such circumstances, all of the following conditions apply:

these activities, in the form of one of the capital items listed below, support action on, or adjacent to, Scheduled Monuments on designated sites which aim to have a long term positive benefit /impact on the environment and the condition / management of scheduled monuments
you should include a letter of support from Historic Environment Scotland as certain works require scheduled monument consent Your case officer will confirm this with relevant staff in Historic Environment Scotland
you provide an adequate demonstration of the circumstances which justify why the standard payments rates are not sufficient. For larger projects, where there are different distinguishable elements, you may have to use standard costs for those elements for which you cannot provide an appropriate justification for the use of standard costs
you provide a detailed breakdown of the work required, the associated costs and supporting quotes in line with the guidance on quotes
you provide a comparison with the standard payment rate for the same activity, which demonstrates that the cost of undertaking the required activity is significantly higher than this

You should discuss any such proposals with Historic Environment Scotland at an early stage before submitting your application, to ensure that what you are proposing is appropriate for the site so that you can confidently proceed to getting quotes for the work.

A specification for each activity is provided below: