Forestry inspections overview
Date published: 11 March, 2016
To see recent changes to this guidance, check the bottom of this page.
As part of our claims administration processes, Forestry Commission Scotland conservancy staff will inspect a proportion of sites that have had a claim for a forestry grant submitted.
This is required by European Commission law.
How we will inspect
Inspections are based on a combination of:
- random selection
- risk selection to ensure we inspect the more complex or high value costs
- targeted selection to ensure we carry out inspections on all the grants we offer
Forestry Grant Scheme capital inspections can take place at any time of year once your forestry capital claim has been submitted.
For all claims for capital grants, such as Woodland Creation Initial Planting or Woodland Improvement Grant (WIG), we will carry out a capital inspection for which the result will either be a payment to you or feedback about what is required, and when it is required, to meet the minimum standards.
For claims for annual recurrent grants such as Woodland Creation Maintenance or Sustainable Management of Forests (SMF), you will have submitted your claims on the Single Application Form (SAF) during the March to May window.
These annual claims will be inspected between July and December.
Forestry inspections will be carried out alongside Cross Compliance checks depending on what other funding you may have applied for or your other business activity.
You can find out more about Cross Compliance below.
Inspection outcomes
As soon as we have completed the inspection, we will feedback the results of our findings to you.
This could include the feedback that you have not met the minimum standards in which case we will tell you of the implications and future processes.
- if your annual payment has been approved, your payment will be made at the start of the following calendar year
- if your capital payment has been approved, we will make your payment immediately following approval
For more detail on the two types of Forestry Grant Scheme inspections, please see:
Further information
The minimum standards you must comply with are set out in the Forestry Grant Scheme option guidance and in the Forestry Grant Scheme capital item specifications, which can be accessed using the link below.
Recent changes
| Section | Change | Previous text | New text |
|---|---|---|---|
| How will we inspect | Guidance amendment. | For all claims for capital grants, such as Woodland Creation Initial Planting or Woodland Improvement Grant (WIG), we aim to carry out the inspection and process the result as part of the Forestry Commission Scotland claims payment Customer Charter. The result will either be a payment to you or feedback about what is required, and when it is required, to meet the minimum standards. For claims for annual recurrent grants such as Woodland Creation Maintenance or Sustainable Management of Forests (SMF), you will have submitted your claims on the Single Application Form (SAF) during the March to May window. These annual claims will be inspected between July and November in line with our claims payment Customer Charter. | For all claims for capital grants, such as Woodland Creation Initial Planting or Woodland Improvement Grant (WIG), we will carry out a capital inspection for which the result will either be a payment to you or feedback about what is required, and when it is required, to meet the minimum standards. For claims for annual recurrent grants such as Woodland Creation Maintenance or Sustainable Management of Forests (SMF), you will have submitted your claims on the Single Application Form (SAF) during the March to May window. These annual claims will be inspected between July and December. |
Previous versions
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