Almost 97% of eligible farmers received their 2019 Basic
Payment Scheme (BPS) money by 20 January,
significantly ahead of the June 2020 deadline.
The latest figures from the Rural Payments Agency
(RPA) show that
payments worth £1.69 billion were made to farmers by 20
January. This builds on a record December for
the RPA where 95.7%
of BPS claims were paid,
worth a total of £1.64 billion, improving on last year’s
position.
Additionally, those who claimed in 2019 on their
Countryside Stewardship (CS) and Environmental
Stewardship (ES) agreements are
receiving one full revenue payment this year, as part of a
wider improvement plan to deliver a better service to
farmers and land managers.
This means that ES and CS final
payments have started to arrive with customers four months
earlier than last year, with approximately £109 million
paid out to customers under both agri-environment schemes
so far. This is more than double the total amount paid out
this time last year.
Eligible BPS, CS and ES customers
should expect to receive their full payment by the end of
the payment window in June 2020.
RPA Chief
Executive, Paul Caldwell, said:
We fully appreciate how important prompt payments are to
farmers and land managers and I’m pleased that we have
continued to deliver ahead of the deadline thanks to the
efforts of our staff.
We remain focused on continuously improving the delivery
and performance of our schemes and ensuring remaining
payments are made as quickly as possible.
Just under 90% of CS and ES customers
who received a bridging payment on
their outstanding stewardship claims in July last
year have now had their full payment processed. Where an
adjustment has been made, those customers have been
notified.
For 2020, the application window for BPS and the claim window
for CS and ES will
open in March. The RPA encourages all
farmers and land managers to submit their applications and
claims as soon as they are able to. The level of funding
available for Direct Payments for 2020 will be the same as
for 2019, with the rates for BPS payments to be
confirmed later this year.
Farmers and land managers with an ES or CS agreement
expiring this year can sign up for a new CS agreement to start
in 2021, when the application window opens in February.
With the government’s post-Brexit Environmental Land
Management scheme a few years away, farmers entering into a
new CSagreement can continue
delivering benefits on their land, making a difference to
the environment now by joining an improving and expanding
scheme.
Payments are made direct to bank accounts via BACS transfer
so farmers should make sure the RPA has the most
up-to-date account details on the Rural Payments service.
