The Act Part 2: Support for agriculture, rural development and related matters
31.This Part of the Act provides for a power to provide support, typically in the form of payments, for a wide variety of purposes connected with agriculture, forestry, rural economies and the environment.
32.The intention is to create a new framework for supporting agricultural and rural development which will comprise schemes made under this Part. The detail of the individual schemes (such as the particular activities that are supported, what eligibility criteria apply, the specific conditions etc.) will largely be contained in regulations to be made under section 15.(8) Those regulations will be supplemented by a variety of guidance as to their application.
33.Though not referred to in the Act, the intention is to use the powers in a manner that effectively creates a framework enabling conditional payments to be made under 4 tiers—
	Tier 1 – Base Level Direct Payments
	Tier 2 – Enhanced Level Direct Payments
	Tier 3 – Elective Payments
	Tier 4 – Complementary Support
34.Tiers 1 and 2 are intended to be a form of direct payments, while tiers 3 and 4 will be indirect payments. A full explanation of what is intended by the tiers may be found in the policy memorandum that accompanied the Bill at introduction.