Chapter 1: New Financial Assistance Powers Section 5: Annual and other reports on amount of financial assistance given
This section places a duty on the Secretary of State to prepare a report each financial year, detailing the financial assistance given under section 1 of the Act.
	Subsection (1) places a duty on the Secretary of State to prepare an annual report about the financial assistance given under section 1 of the Act during the preceding year.
	Subsection (2) specifies that the first year for which this duty will apply is 2021-22. This is the first year of the agricultural transition period.
	Subsection (3) specifies information which the annual report must include, in addition to any other information which the Secretary of State considers appropriate. This includes the total amount of financial assistance given, the total amount of financial assistance given under financial assistance schemes in operation during the year and required information about those schemes as specified in subsection (4).
	Subsection (4) specifies required information about financial assistance schemes to be included in annual reports. This includes the total amount of financial assistance given under a scheme and the extent to which this financial assistance met any obligations or commitments under the terms of the scheme, which may include, for example, the extent to which any financial assistance was given on time.
	Subsection (5) enables the Secretary of State to include information in an annual report about amounts of financial assistance given by means other than by way of financial grants and to do so in a way that they consider to be most appropriate. For example, this could include information on financial assistance given by way of loans, guarantees or in any other form.
	Subsection (6) enables the Secretary of State to prepare interim or other reports about the amounts of financial assistance given, in addition to the annual reports. For example, it may be necessary to produce interim reports covering financial assistance given during a set period of time within a financial year. There may also be occasions where it is appropriate for the Secretary of State to publish an additional report covering the financial assistance given over a period of several years. For example, the Secretary of State may publish a report covering three years’ worth of expenditure on a particular scheme, to make it more convenient for the public to interrogate expenditure on that scheme.
	Subsection (7) requires the Secretary of State to publish and lay before Parliament any report published under this section. This includes both annual reports, and any additional interim or other reports.
	Subsection (8) sets a deadline for the laying of annual reports. Reports must be laid on or before 1 October in the year following the financial year to which they relate.