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Details of rural subsidy payments received by Scottish beneficiaries will be published on a new UK website from 30 September. The Scottish Government's Rural Payments and Inspections Directorate (RPID) will provide payments details for those claiming subsidy in Scotland for a UK website which will be hosted by Defra. The site, which includes details of those claiming in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, is required to comply with a new European Commission Regulation requiring Member States to annually publish information on those receiving subsidy payments. The first set of data will be published after September 30 and will cover payments made under the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) during the period January 1, 2007 to October 15, 2007. A second set of data will be published on April 30, 2009. This will cover rural grant subsidy payments made under the European Agriculture Guarantee Fund (EAGF) in the preceding European financial year October 16, 2007 to October 15, 2008 and EAFRD payments in respect of the year ended October 15, 2008. Information will be published annually thereafter and will remain on the DEFRA website for at least two years. After 30 September, the public can access the information via the Scottish Government website or directly via Defra's website Examples of payments made under the European Agriculture Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) are Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) and Forestry Woodland Premium Scheme (FWPS). Grant payments to projects under the Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP) 2007-13 will be disclosed in due course. The Data Protection Act 1998 requires data controllers to comply with certain "data protection principles" when holding or using personal data. These principles are set out in Schedule 1 to that Act, and include the principles that personal data must be processed fairly and lawfully, and must be accurate and kept up to date. Anyone who has queries on the DPA aspect should contact the RPID Business Services Assurance Team at Room 317, Pentland House, 47 Robb's Loan, Edinburgh, EH14 1TY or by emailing bsat@scotland.gsi.gov.uk http://www.scotland.gov.uk |
