03/21/2023 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/21/2023 04:05
What farmers, foresters and land managers need to know and do before applying for a Countryside Stewardship grant, and how to manage a grant agreement.
Countryside Stewardship (CS) provides financial incentives for farmers, foresters and land managers to look after and improve the environment.
CS protects and enhances the natural environment by:
CS supports Defra's 25 Year Environment Plan 'for our country to be the healthiest, most beautiful place in the world to live, work and bring up a family'. It also supports Defra's strategic objective of 'a cleaner, healthier environment, benefitting people and the economy'.
CS is made up of 8 grants (when they are all open). The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) manages CS agreements.
You can transfer land parcels and BPS entitlements for 2023 until 15 May 2023, using the Rural Payments service.
You can also add land by email.
Search the CS grant finder for a description and essential requirements for each capital item or revenue option.
The Capital Grants scheme is part of Mid Tier. It provides 3-year agreements offering capital items to achieve specific environmental benefits in 4 groups:
You can apply for CS Capital Grants 2023 at any time of the year from 5 January 2023.
Farmers can apply for CS Capital Grants on land which is in a Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) standards agreement.
SFI pilot participants can apply for the CS Capital Grants (SFI pilot) 2023 at any time of the year from 5 January 2023.
Some capital grants are part of Higher Tier. These grants provide 3-year agreements offering capital items to achieve additional environmental benefits alongside existing Higher Tier agreements.
You can apply for a Higher Tier Capital Grant 2023 at any time of the year from 5 January 2023.
Protection and Infrastructure grants are for capital items that support improving the management of woodland and to help manage the impact of beaver behaviours.
You can apply for a Protection and Infrastructure grant at any time of the year from 5 January 2023.
A WMP grant is a capital grant for a one-off payment to create a 10-year woodland management plan. It must be fully compliant with the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS).
You can apply for a WMP grant at any time of the year from 5 January 2023.
A WTH grant helps to restock or improve woodland after tree health problems.
You can apply for a WTH grant at any time of the year from 5 January 2023.
Implementation Plan and Feasibility Study grants provide funding for more complex agreements and projects. You must speak to a Natural England advisor before applying for one of these grants.
You can apply for an Implementation Plan grant (PA1) or Feasibility Study grant (PA2) at any time of the year.
Higher Tier grants are for multi-year management options and capital items for the most environmentally important sites, including commons and woodlands. These are usually in places that need complex management, such as creating or restoring habitats, and improving woodland.
You can apply for Higher Tier grants from 7 February 2023. We must receive your initial application before 11:59pm on 28 April 2023.
The aim of Mid Tier is to protect and enhance the natural environment through multi-year management grants and capital grants to improve:
Wildlife Offers are part of Mid Tier and provide a simpler set of options to help improve wildlife in 4 different farming types.
You can apply for Mid Tier or Wildlife Offers from 21 March 2023.
The Facilitation Fund supports individuals who act as facilitators to bring together groups of farmers, foresters and other land managers to improve environmental outcomes in their local area. The scheme closes for applicants at 11:59pm on 25 January 2023.
Defra has reviewed and updated CS payment rates based on current costs. See the rate changes for:
Existing CS agreement holders should follow the relevant scheme manual to manage their agreement effectively and meet all its requirements.
CS agreement holders should follow the guidance on how to make a capital or revenue claim to get paid under the terms of their CS agreement.
Your grant and subsidy payments are paid before tax is taken off. You may need to tell HMRC about these if you or your business pay UK tax. For more information, read HMRC's Business Income Manual BIM40451 - Specific receipts: grants and subsidies. If you have an accountant, you should also discuss this with them.
CS continues to offer Mid Tier and Higher Tier agreements starting in 2024, alongside rolling out further elements of our new scheme, the Sustainable Farm Incentive (SFI). Several SFI standards are already available, with more due to be introduced in future.
Signing up to a CS agreement now will put you in the best possible position to join future schemes. It will also give you a viable, long-term source of income for providing environmental benefits as the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments are reduced.
All new CS agreement holders will be able to terminate the agreement early without penalty (at agreed points) provided any new agreement delivers equivalent or greater levels of environmental outcomes.
Anyone with a CS agreement will be able to apply for SFI actions so long as we are not paying for the same action twice. Find out how the SFI interacts with other schemes.
The SFI pilot is currently running alongside SFI. Applications for the pilot are closed.
Land parcels already in an SFI pilot agreement are not eligible for CS Mid Tier, including the Wildlife Offers. There is a separate CS Capital Grants offer for SFI pilot participants to support delivery of the pilot standards.
We will develop an enhanced version of CS for future years, so we achieve the same ambitious outcomes that we intended to deliver through Local Nature Recovery, rather than building a whole new scheme. We will publish more information about the scheme, including how CS agreement holders can take part, later this year.
Customers with a CS Mid Tier or Wildlife Offer agreement can also apply for a Landscape Recovery agreement. Defra will work with Landscape Recovery applicants during the project development phase on how to transition CS Mid Tier (including Wildlife Offers) agreement holders fully into Landscape Recovery and avoid double funding. Our first round of projects have recently entered the development phase.
Before you apply for a CS grant, you need to register on the Rural Payments service. Follow the guidance on how to register and check your details.
For help, telephone RPA on 03000 200 301.
You can authorise an agent to fill in and submit your application for you. This also applies to payment claim forms for agreement holders.
For an agent to act for you, you must give them the appropriate permission levels in the Rural Payments service. This applies even if you have previously authorised the agent using the paper agent authorisation form.
Read the guidance on how to give someone else permission to act on your behalf for more information on the different levels of permission. You should also read the information on the 'Permission levels' screen in the Rural Payments service. This lists what is permitted at each level.
You are responsible for making sure that you assign permissions on the Rural Payments service correctly and that contact details are correct.
Use the mapping guidance to check all land parcels you intend to include on your CS application on your digital maps.
Under a CS agreement, you will get a site visit. Site visits will assess how the environmental aims are met under the options you have in your agreement. We will also check that you have not carried out any prohibited activities.
Where there is uncertainty about whether the environmental aims have been achieved, we will consider any records or evidence you may have kept demonstrating you have achieved the environmental aims.
This will include any steps you've taken to follow the recommended management, which you can find by using the Countryside Stewardship grant finder. It is your responsibility to keep records demonstrating that you have followed the recommended management if you want to rely on these to support your claim.
Find out what to expect from a site visit.
You should keep farm records as evidence you are meeting your scheme agreement. Read the guidance for agreement holders for the scheme you've applied for to find out what records you should keep.
We may reduce the amount we pay you. The reasons are included in the guidance for agreement holders under each CS scheme.
You need to be aware of financial fraud and take measures to prevent it if you're receiving large sums of grant money.
Defra is the data controller for personal data you give to the RPA. Read the RPApersonal information charter to find out how we handle your data.
Follow the complaints procedure if you're unhappy about a decision made by the RPA.
You can contact RPA by email, phone or post.
Rural Payments Agency (CS)
PO Box 324
Worksop
S95 1DF
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 03000 200 301
Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm, except bank holidays
Find out about call charges
Please quote your single business identifier (SBI) and agreement number in all enquiries.
Mid Tier and Wildlife Offers grants are now open to applicants.
Added section: How HMRC treat subsidy payments.
Added a link to what to expect from a site visit.
Scheme information and guidance published to support the opening of Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier grant applications.
Update guidance with information about transferring land and BPS entitlements, and adding land by email.
First published.