The REPS4 Scheme allows participants to apply for additional funding once they apply six weeks before the anniversary of the start date of the plan. In this case the farmer’s start date was 1 May 2008. The man submitted his new plan, with 5.15ha of additional land in March 2009, six weeks ahead of 1 May.

However, the Department refused to grant the additional year of funding to the farmer as it considered the anniversary of the farmer’s plan as 1 January.

The scheme closed in July 2009 so he couldn’t apply the following year and he appealed to the Ombudsman as he felt it was unfair.

However, upon reviewing the Department’s processing procedures for REPS 4 applications the Ombudsman found that the anniversary of a plan is not defined in the Terms and Conditions.

The Department said that “if someone joins REPS mid-year, they get a start date in that year and are due five full years after that, i.e. five full years commencing 1 January the following year.”

As the Department was consistent in this approach to all REPS 4 applicants and had told the man in question that 1 January would be the anniversary date, the Ombudsman ruled in the Department’s favour.

In his report Ombudsman Peter Tyndall stated that he was “satisfied that the man was told when his plan was approved and that his anniversary date was 1 January, and that the Department treated all applicants in the same way."

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