Explanatory note

These regulations further amend the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations 1984 (“the principal regulations”), which implemented part of Council Directive No. 75/268/EEC (O.J. No. L128, 19.5.75, p.1) on mountain and hill farming and farming in certain less-favoured areas, and comply with articles 13 to 15 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 797/85 (O.J. No. L93, 30.3.85, p.1), as amended by Council Regulation (EEC) No. 1760/87 (O.J. No. L167, p.1), on improving the efficiency of agricultural structures. The principal regulations originally applied to the whole of the United Kingdom, but ceased to apply to Northern Ireland (where separate corresponding provisions now apply) following the coming into force of the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 (S.R. 1987 No. 92). The present regulations therefore apply only to Great Britain.

Amendments made by these regulations have the effect of providing that persons in receipt of a compensatory allowance who afforest land used as a basis for calculating the allowance can no longer from 1st January 1988 take that afforested land into account for the purposes of calculating the allowance (regulations 4, 5 and 8). (These changes do not apply in the case of persons who occupied and afforested land at any time between 31st December 1985 and 1st January 1988 (regulation 10)).

The rules relating to the effect of a temporary reduction in cow numbers on the calculation of the allowance are changed to provide that the Minister may disregard such a reduction where he is satisfied that it is due to the deaths of cows except deaths due to slaughter for food (regulations 6 and 7).

The maximum penalty for knowingly or recklessly making false statements is raised to £2,000 (regulation 9).