Review and closure of the Scottish Forestry Grants Scheme (SFGS)
Closure of the Scottish Forestry Grants SchemeThe Scottish Forestry Grants Scheme closed on 31st August 2006. A new grants scheme based on Rural Development Contracts will be introduced during 2008 (see ‘review of the SFGS’, below). All SFGS applications had to be be approved prior to 31st December 2006. To allow Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) to meet this deadline, all applicants who received a contract offer had to sign and return it to the conservancy office dealing with the application no later than 1630 hours on Friday 29th December 2006. Contracts received in the appropriate office after this date were not and will not be approved. On 12 April 2006, FCS closed many of the SFGS grants earlier than anticipated, as we had already approved sufficient applications to use the funds available. In light of this, applications pending at the time were prioritised according to three categories. Full details of these categories are in the SFGS applications: approval priorities document (PDF 22k). £12 million has been added to the grants budget up to 2008 to help forestry targets in the Scottish Climate Change Programme. In addition, the Scottish Government provided an extra £6 million to the SFGS budget in 06-07 to help ease pressures being faced by parts of the forest industry following early closure of parts of the scheme. This funding will largely go towards funding approved contracts and restocking areas as part of long-term forest plans. This one-off allocation of £6 million brings grant levels for forestry to an all time high, with £32 million in 06-07. Visit the Scottish Forestry Grants Scheme pages Review of the Scottish Forestry Grants SchemeA review of the Scottish Forestry Grants Scheme was undertaken during 2005-06 to prepare proposals for the new Scotland Rural Development Plan. The review was overseen by a steering group, chaired by Bob McIntosh, Director, Forestry Commission Scotland. The group included representatives from the forest industry, FCS and the Scottish Executive (now Scottish Government). As part of the review of the SFGS, a Scotland-wide consultation on the proposed arrangements for the new scheme took place in 2006. Further informationThe SFGS Review - Questions and Answers (PDF 58k) document (July 2006) provides further details of the review and the closure of the grant scheme.
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