BPS 2016: Hints and tips on making your application Version 5 This document provides hints and tips about how to make your BPS 2016 application. Visit our YouTube channel - Rural Payments Agency - BPS 2016 - to watch our videos.
Contents Introduction.3 Checking your information...6 Changing your information.16 Confirming the information in your application 23 Hints and tips on BPS rules 24 Versions Version Date Content 1 24/3/2016 First publication 2 7/4/2016 Added details on the link to use to log in to Rural Payments, how to create and update an Application Summary, the greening checker in the application summary, and how to add land parcels which should appear on a claim. 3 18/04/2016 Added information on: The best web browsers to view the Rural Payments service on What to do if land shows in the wrong region online How to filter the Land use screen so it is easier to make more than one change to a land parcel How to claim on common-land grazing rights What to do online when claiming land in dual use What the Business summary is and how to make sure it is up to date if you do want to check it. 4 26/04/2016 Added information on: Permission levels you need to apply, and submit a claim Dates for submitting RLE1s to tell us about changes to your land What to do if you have an exclamation mark next to a land parcel on the land viewer When to send us an RLE 1 form to tell us about changes to your land How to add an EFA buffer strip to an online claim How to make changes to C3 and C4 The young farmer criteria for 2016. V5.0
5 06/05/2016 Added information on: Problem logging into the Rural Payments service page 4 What to do if you have common-land parcels showing at Part C of your paper application page 8 Application summary generated before 1 May doesn t show all your land uses in Part C page 8 What to do if you have entitlements showing a 2016 use by year page 10 What to do if you sent an RLE1 or sketch map to change land but the change isn t on maps and there s no exclamation mark updated page 11 Land use change doesn t appear on your maps page 12 What to do if you have a small area of land at least 0.01 hectares in size that has been wrongly mapped as ineligible land page 12 Application summary (Part D) generated before 1 May shows that you haven t met the EFA rules even though you have declared enough EFA area page 13 Not sure if you met the EFA rules application summary shows N/A page 13 How to transfer or remove a land parcel online where you are classified as a tenant on the Rural Payments service page 20 What to do if a land parcel on the online land use table shows as 0.0000 page 21 Common land rights not showing in the application summary page 22 What to do to submit your BPS application online if you can t see the green Submit button in the application screens page 22 How to find out if your online application has submitted successfully - page 22 Clarification on eligibility of natural surface tracks page 24 Moved section on Clarifying the young farmer criteria for 2016 into a new section headed Hints and tips for BPS rules. 2
Introduction In 2016, you can apply for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) online, using the Rural Payments service. Or, if you need a paper BPS application form, they are available. To make sure there is time to apply on a paper form by the claim deadline, you need to call us to ask for one by 9 May. Guidance on how to apply online or on a paper BPS application form is available on GOV.UK at www.gov.uk/rpa/bps2016. Read How to claim BPS online to apply on the Rural Payments service and How to apply using a paper form if you are applying on a paper BPS application form. This guidance provides more information about applying in 2016 and answers some of the questions we have had from applicants on how to make their applications. We will update this document regularly to answer any new questions we get from applicants, so please make sure you are reading the latest version, which will be on GOV.UK at www.gov.uk/rpa/bps2016. You will also find all the other guidance about 2016 BPS claims on this page, including the scheme rules for 2016. A link to our YouTube page of How to videos is also on this page. Applying in 2016 If you think there is a difference between the amount you were expecting to be paid for BPS 2015 and what you have received, or that your entitlements balance is incorrect we recommend you: write or email us to let us know, then carry on with making your 2016 application, showing your land as at 16 May 2016 (or the land use for the crop that will be present for the majority of the cropping period where this is to be sown after 16 May read the The Basic Payment Scheme in England 2016 for more information). Remember, it s the responsibility of the person submitting an application to make sure that all the eligible land included in it is correct to the best of their ability to reflect the position on the ground on 16 May 2016, and that they meet the scheme rules. Remember to declare all of the agricultural land on your holding when you apply. You can apply for BPS on as much of your eligible land as you want to - you don't need to match the area you apply for with the number of entitlements you hold. There is no penalty if the eligible area you apply for is greater than the number of entitlements you actually hold. We will work out your payment based on the lower figure. However, you should not apply for more eligible land than you actually have. See Pages 13, 14 and 15 for information about making your application. 3
Logging in to Rural Payments If you have already registered for the Rural Payments Service (through calling the RPA or through GOV.UK Verify) you can use your existing details to log in. You don t need to register again. To log in, go to https://www.ruralpayments.service.gov.uk. If you are typing the address into your web browser, you need to use the whole address, including the https://www. You can also log in via the link on the RPA page on GOV.UK go to www.gov.uk/rpa and click on Sign in to the Rural Payments service. To open the service we recommend you use the latest version of Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox or Safari. The best screen resolution to view the service in is 1024 x 768. To view PDF files from the service (such as an application summary) we recommend you download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat. Permission levels needed to apply and submit a claim To create, update and submit a BPS application, you need to have any relationship other than employee, and you need to have BPS submit permission. If your relationship is set as employee, you may not be able to see the land use for a business or submit claims. You ll need to get someone else with full permissions for the business to change your relationship to helper instead of employee. If there is nobody else for the business who can do this on the service, call us and we will help you. Problem logging into the Rural Payments service You get 3 attempts to access your account in the service. If you make a mistake when logging into the service you ll see this message: 4
If you make a mistake 3 times then you won t be able to access your account, and you ll need to either change your password by following the If you ve forgotten you password link on the screen, or call 03000 200 301 as shown below. If someone else makes a mistake when logging into their account and accidentally uses your customer reference number they ll also see this message, but it will count towards failed attempts to access your account. If this happens, then the next time you try to log in to your account you may not get 3 attempts, and may need to follow the same instructions above to get access. 5
Checking your information Whether you are applying online or on paper, we will fill in your application with the information we hold about your business and your land. Guidance on how to check your information can be found in the How to documents. More details on how to check your land and entitlements information can be found below. Opening your application summary To check your claim, you need to look at your Application summary. Read page 4 of How to claim BPS online for more information. To access your online application summary you need to have BPS submit and land amend permissions If you have a relationship of employee you will not be able to access the application, even if you have the permissions shown above. You will need to get someone else with full permissions for the business to change your relationship to helper instead of employee. If there is nobody else for the business who can do this on the service, call us and we will help you over the phone. If you don t have the right permissions on the Rural Payments service you will need to get someone else with full permissions for the business to change your level of permission. The Business summary you find on your Business overview screen is different to your application summary. You don t have to check your business summary to apply. If you do want to look at it, make sure you are looking at the latest information see page 23 Permissions and relationships can be updated from the Give access to this business link on the Business Overview screen in the Rural Payments service. 6
Land If you Have land parcels missing from your claim /land use table (including where they don t show on the View land screen in Rural Payments) Have unknown cover in Part C of your application summary or overdeclared / undeclared areas on your Land use screen in Rural Payments You need to Add the land to your claim: If you are claiming online, read page 16 of this document. If you are claiming on a paper BPS application form, add the land parcel on a new line in Part C. If you are claiming online: On your Land use screen, you can update your land use to show the correct land use for the land as at 16 May 2016 (or the land use for the crop that will be present for the majority of the cropping period where this is to be sown after 16 May read the The Basic Payment Scheme in England 2016 for more information). Read page 12 of How to claim BPS online to see if you need to do this. Make sure that you tell us about all the land use for that parcel. If you are claiming on a paper BPS application form: On your application form, update Part C to the correct land use code(s) as at 16 May 2016* wherever you see unknown cover. *(or the land use for the crop that will be present for the majority of the cropping period where this is to be sown after 16 May read the The Basic Payment Scheme in England 2016 for more information). Had a greening reduction in 2015 Make sure that you are meeting the crop diversification and Ecological Focus Area (EFA) rules in 2016 and declare your land use and EFA (if you need to) correctly. If you apply online, your application summary will give you an indication of whether you are meeting the rules read page 13 of this guidance about situations where this may not show the correct position. This is just a guide and is based on your land use information. Read page 4 of How to claim BPS online for more information. If you are applying on a paper BPS application form, use the Greening workbook, which is available at www.gov.uk/rpa/bps2016. 7
If you Have land parcels on your online application summary which appear in the wrong region You need to We will be updating the service to correct these during April. In the meantime, you don t need to do anything. There is no penalty for land showing in the wrong region. Have common-land parcels at Part C of your paper application Paper you should remove the land from Part C adding a cross to the Cross to delete line box in column C9. Generated an application summary before 1 May which doesn t show all your land uses in Part C. Generate another copy to make sure that all your land uses are included. The Land use and View land screens If you update your land use on the Rural Payments service, it is important to know that this won t automatically update the maps you see in the View land screens. This is because the View land screens show the latest information we have mapped and cannot be updated through the Rural Payments service. If you transfer land online, you won t see this straight away in the View land screens (it can take up to 24 hours to appear). You should see it straight away in the Land use screen. 8
Entitlements We will also include a summary of your latest entitlement position in Part H of your application summary or paper BPS application form. To see your latest entitlement balance, log in to the Rural Payments service and go to the View entitlements screen. Click the Help link on screen for more information about what the information on the screen means. Remember, you can apply for BPS on as much of your eligible land as you want to - you don't need to match the area you apply for with the number of entitlements you hold. There is no penalty if the eligible area you apply for is greater than the number of entitlements you actually hold. We will work out your payment based on the lower figure. However, you should not apply for more eligible land than you actually have. More details on checking your entitlements are shown in the table below. If you Should have had entitlements transferred to you in 2015, but they are not included on your application summary / Paper BPS application form Have entitlements on the Rural Payments service which show the wrong use by year Think your entitlements statement and/or Rural Payments screen shows the wrong number of entitlements You need to First check your entitlement balance on the Rural Payments service (if you have had an entitlements statement, check this as well). If the entitlements are definitely not in your balance call us and we will look into this. On your application, declare your land and BPS eligible area as you normally would. When we process your claim, we will update your entitlement balance if there is a transfer we still need to make and pay against the actual number of entitlements you hold. Click Help to read more information about the use by years shown on the screen. If you still think some of the use by years are wrong, check your claim statement (if you have one). If you still think the wrong use by year is shown, write to us. On Rural Payments, click Help to read more information about the information shown on the service about your entitlements in the View entitlements screen. If you think the information on Rural Payments and /or your entitlement statement is wrong, write or email us to let us know. On your application, declare your land and BPS eligible area as you normally would. When we process your claim, we will check your entitlement balance and make any updates we need to so we can pay you for the correct number of entitlements you hold (based on the eligible land you claim against). 9
If you Applied for new entitlements in 2015, but they are not included in your balance on your entitlements statement and/or Rural Payments screen Have entitlements showing a 2016 use by year You need to Call us on 03000 200 301 and we will look into this. Declare your land and BPS eligible area as you normally would on your application. When we process your claim, we will check your entitlement balance and make any updates we need to so we can pay you for the correct number of entitlements you hold (based on the eligible land you claim against). Avoid trying to transfer them to another business as this will be invalid. They will be removed if you: didn t submit a BPS 2015 application. used these entitlements to claim for BPS 2015 but didn t declare enough land to support them. For more information use by years read the onscreen Help in the Rural Payments service. 10
Checking your maps Applicants can now log in to the Rural Payments service to see digital maps of their land. The maps show the latest mapping information we hold if we are still working on a change you will see an exclamation mark. Read How to claim BPS online for more information. If you Sent us an RLE1 and sketch map to tell us about a change to your land but the change is not on your maps and you cannot see an exclamation mark Think we have mapped a permanent ineligible feature or land parcel boundary incorrectly Have land cover shown on your maps which is incorrect See a change to your maps and aren t sure why we have made it (for example it isn t a change you told us about) You need to Do one of the following: call us on 03000 200 301, giving your SBI email us at ruralpayments@defra.gsi.gov.uk; or write to us at Rural Payments Agency, PO Box 352, Worksop S80 9FG and we will look into this for you. You ll need to give your SBI and use Mapping Query as the subject heading of an email or letter. Send a letter or email us to let us know. If you have them, include a copy of any RLE1 forms and maps you have sent us about the permanent ineligible feature if you don t have permanent ineligible features (read the RLE guidance for more information). these, print a copy of the land parcel from the land viewer and sketch on the change required (include any measurements if you have them and if it is a feature, what the feature is). For 2016, make sure the feature has the correct area/land use code in your land use screen (if you are applying online) or Part C (if you are applying on a paper BPS application form). Update your land use for each land parcel (in your Land use screen if you are applying online or in Part C if you are applying on a Paper BPS application form). If you haven t done so already, you might need to send us an RLE1 form and sketch map to tell us about any changes to You don t need to do anything, unless you think your maps are incorrect and you need to tell us about a change. If you think they are incorrect, read Think we have mapped a permanent ineligible feature or land parcel boundary incorrectly (above). RPA will use all available data sources, including aerial photography and Ordnance Survey map updates, to keep our land information up-to-date, and to check any claims you make. We won t write to you anymore to tell you when we make a change to your maps based on these data sources. 11
If you Have an update made to your maps by the RPA after you have applied for BPS 2016 and need to update your claim Have an exclamation mark next to a land parcel on the online land viewer Want to know whether to send us an RLE 1 form to tell us about changes to your land Have submitted a land change that doesn t appear on your maps. You need to If you notice a mapping change after you have submitted your 2016 application, you can make some changes to your application up to midnight on 31 May without getting a penalty (as long as you submitted your claim by midnight on 16 May 2016 and haven t been told you will be inspected). Changes can be made with penalty from 1 June to 10 June some changes can also be made after 10 June. However, farmers can t make these changes if: they have already been told about any non-compliance affecting the agricultural parcel they want to amend 6 an inspection has revealed a non-compliance affecting the agricultural parcel they want to amend they have received advance warning of an inspection Read the BPS scheme rules for more information. Make your application and ensure that the information in your land use tables is up to date. The exclamation mark shows that we re still mapping changes but you don t need to wait for us to finish before you make your claim. Send us RLE 1 forms for: Registering new land parcels Transferring parcels Dividing or merging parcels Boundary changes Adding or deleting permanent ineligible features that are not already shown on your maps You don t need to send us an RLE 1 form if you ve already sent one telling us about a change, and an exclamation mark is showing against your land parcel on the land viewer. This may be because we re still mapping changes that you ve requested. You should keep checking online for updates to your maps. You should still submit your BPS 2016 application based on your best knowledge. And send a covering letter to us to explain what you ve done. Have a small area of land at least 0.01 of a hectare in size that has been wrongly mapped as ineligible land Change the land use to what is on the ground at 16 May 2016, and send us an RLE1 to ask us to change it to eligible land. 12
Using the greening checker in your application summary In parts C and D of your application summary, you ll see information about greening and whether you may be meeting the crop diversification or EFA rules. This is just a guide and is based on your land use and area information. These greening sections may be incorrect if you have: Undeclared areas in your land use screen organic land and have applied for an exemption in Part J of your application summary applied for crop diversification exemption 3 (read the BPS scheme rules for more information) used paper continuation sheets, or have land in another part of the UK. If none of the above apply to you, and your application summary (Part D) was generated before 1 May it may show that you haven t met the EFA rules even though you have declared enough EFA area. To make sure this is up to date we recommend you generate another application summary after 1 May. If your application summary shows N/A beside EFA rules met, this means that you don t need to declare EFAs, because you meet one of the exemptions (which are explained in the scheme rules). Nevertheless, if you want to check what areas or features on your application would count as EFA, go to the Use less EFA than available screen. You will see all the areas and features you ve declared which would count as EFA, should your circumstances change and you are no longer exempt. Read page 17 of the How to claim BPS online in 2016 for more information about this screen. Using the land use screen - updating individual parcels The easiest way to update a land parcel on your land use screen is to use Filters these will allow you to search for specific land parcels, land uses or areas which have declaration warnings on them. When you use a filter, you can update your land use and you ll return to the filtered view (rather than the top of the land use table). This means you can make a number of changes to a land parcel without having to search for it each time. To view the filters, click the plus symbol next to the Filters heading. You can filter by: Sheet reference (for example, 2435 or AB1234 ). The parcel ID (for example, 1145 ) A land use using this filter will show all the instances of a single land use (for example if you search for permanent grassland it will show you all the land uses for PG01 Permanent Grassland for each National Grid reference) 13
Undeclared or Overdeclared to see all the parcels and land use areas which have these warnings To filter, type the information you want to search for in one of the white boxes, then press the Search button. To filter for warnings, click the arrow next to All : To remove a filter: delete the text you ve typed into one of the white boxes, then press Search set the drop drown box to all (if you ve used it), then press Search If you use the filter to search by OS Sheet number you will rarely have more than 10 fields to look through and generally all are displayed on the screen. Or, if you have one complex land parcel you are working on with multiple land uses, you can use the filter to search and display the individual land parcel. Common land grazing rights The activate less commons screen on your online application has been populated with the grazing rights from your BPS 2015 application, and any additional changes that we ve already agreed with you. It shows the maximum number of rights you can use to activate payment entitlements for BPS 2016. Any further changes that we ve agreed with you but not yet entered, or changes that we may agree later, will show when we enter the updated information into the Rural Payments service. If you need to activate less grazing rights You can do this online from the activate less commons screen. 14
Other changes to common land grazing rights If you need to make any other changes to your common land, for example add another common to your claim, and add or edit grazing rights information, you will be able to change the information we have for you on the Update rights for common land screen from later in April. We d still recommend you do as much of your application as you can now: check the rest of your information change anything that needs updating complete your declarations Your application will then be ready to submit when you complete your common land information. If you don t want to wait to complete your application online, you can check and change the rest of your information online and send us a paper continuation booklet for changes you need to make to your common land. You ll need to: check the rest of your online application, then print out a continuation booklet for common land grazing rights. add the details of your new common land grazing rights onto the booklet and send it to us by post submit the rest of your application online. If you do use a continuation booklet to tell us about changes to your common land grazing rights make sure you: fill in all the relevant information on the continuation booklet, and from the reduce commons screen, enter 0.000 in the applied for column of the table at the appropriate row. 15
Changing your information Read the How to guidance for more information on how to make changes to your online application or paper BPS application form. Some applicants may be unsure what to claim on if they have been inspected and are still waiting for the result or have not been paid for BPS 2015 yet. The table below explains what to do in these and other situations. If you Were inspected in 2015 and aren t sure what to declare on your 2016 application You need to If you have the results of your inspection, make sure you take these into account when you apply for example by updating your land use and making sure mapping changes have been made (or that we have received them). If you haven t had your inspection results yet, you can still make your application, showing your land as at 16 May (or the land use for the crop that will be present for the majority of the cropping period where this is to be sown after 16 May read the The Basic Payment Scheme in England 2016 for more information). If you receive a 2015 inspection report after you have submitted your 2016 application, you can make some changes to your application up to midnight on 31 May without getting a penalty (as long as you submitted your claim by midnight on 16 May 2016). Changes can be made with penalty from 1 June to 10 June some changes can also be made after 10 June. However, farmers can t make these changes if: they have already been told about any non-compliance affecting the agricultural parcel they want to amend an inspection has revealed a non-compliance affecting the agricultural parcel they want to amend they have received advance warning of an inspection Read the BPS scheme rules for more information. If you are unsure about whether you can make the change, you should request it and RPA will then decide if it is permitted. 16
If you Haven t received a 2015 BPS payment and/or claim statement yet and aren t sure what to claim on. You need to Make your application for 2016 showing your land as at 16 May 2016 (or the land use for the crop that will be present for the majority of the cropping period where this is to be sown after 16 May read the The Basic Payment Scheme in England 2016 for more information). If you receive a payment and claim statement after you have submitted your 2016 application, you can make some changes to your application up to midnight on 31 May without getting a penalty (as long as you submitted your claim by midnight on 16 May 2016). Changes can be made with penalty from 1 June to 10 June some changes can also be made after 10 June. However, farmers can t make these changes if: they have already been told about any non-compliance affecting the agricultural parcel they want to amend 6 an inspection has revealed a non-compliance affecting the agricultural parcel they want to amend they have received advance warning of an inspection Read the BPS scheme rules for more information. Have been paid for BPS 2015 and had a claim statement but believe there is a difference between what RPA have paid you and what you should have received You need to: write to the RPA to let them know you think there is a difference. More information on what to do is on your claim statement. make your 2016 application showing your land as at 16 May 2016 (or the land use for the crop that will be present for the majority of the cropping period where this is to be sown after 16 May read the The Basic Payment Scheme in England 2016 for more information). 17
If you Think we have included the wrong land uses or areas in your 2016 claim Have land parcels missing from your 2016 online claim You need to If you are applying online: Update the information on your Land use screen in the Rural Payments service so that it is accurate as at 16 May 2016. If you are applying on a paper BPS application form: Update Part C of your application form to show the correct land use as at 16 May 2016 (or the land use for the crop that will be present for the majority of the cropping period where this is to be sown after 16 May read the The Basic Payment Scheme in England 2016 for more information). You can either: complete a Continuation Booklet (available on GOV.UK) or send us an email to let us know. If you send an email, the subject line of the email must be 2016 add land. You ll need to include the following information in the body of the email the SBI and name of the business the land should be linked to (so it appears in their online claim) your name and contact number in case of any issues, the land parcel reference numbers for the parcels you want to add, including Sheet reference numbers and parcel IDs. The email should be sent to ruralpayments@defra.gsi.gov.uk. We will look at and reply to any additional queries separately. You will receive an automatic email reply telling you we ll get back within 10 working days. As long as you include all the information we need, we will aim to get back to you within 3 working days. Please email us by 6 May to make sure we can get back to you in time for you to complete your application by the deadline. Don t forget, you have until 31 May to update a submitted application without getting a penalty. We will send you an email (to the email address you send the request from) once the change has been made. In some cases we may not be able to link your parcel to your holding - if this happens we will email you to let you know and provide you with a link to the continuation sheets that you would need. Please note: The person requesting this will need a minimum of Amend permissions for Land and /or BPS Amend permissions. 18
If you Have a land parcel in your Land use screen on Rural Payments and a single land use is shown over a number of lines (for example, permanent grassland is shown 3 times in one land parcel) Want to claim land that is in dual use Claiming online and you want to add a buffer strip to your EFA Want to make changes to total field size (C3) and Maximum area eligible for BPS (C4) using Rural Payments You need to You can: leave it so it shows as more than one line in the Land use screen, or delete and edit the information so the land use only shows on one line for that land parcel Information on what to do is on page X of How to claim BPS online. Since we published this guidance, we ve found that the person who isn t claiming BPS on the land should delete the land use for the area they are not claiming on and leave it as undeclared rather than edit it. To declare a buffer strip as an EFA, you only need to declare the length of the buffer strip in 2016 - this is different from 2015 when you also had to declare the area. In 2016, you should include the area of the buffer strip within the main land use of the parcel you don t need to declare the area of an EFA buffer strip separately from the main land use unless: the buffer strip is permanent grassland, or the remaining area over the first 1m width is being used as fallow for EFA. In these cases, the area of the buffer strip should be declared in Part C using the land use code for permanent grassland or fallow land, as appropriate. You can t update this information using Rural Payments. You ll need to fill in and send us an RLE 1 form. Information on Rural Payments will then be updated using the information from your RLE1 form. 19
If you Date for submitting RLE1s to tell us about changes to your land You need to If you need to fill in an RLE 1 to tell us about changes to your land for BPS 2016, you should submit it to us before the claim deadline of 16 May. If we receive RLE1s after this deadline, it could lead to delays in processing your claim. When submitting an RLE1 for land changes, make sure that the changes are also shown in your BP5 or online claim. If land changes occur later in the year and these affect your 2016 claim (for example, some of your land has become ineligible for BPS), tell us about the change using an RLE1 form and write to us explaining the changes needed to your claim. You can find more information about making changes to your claim in the Basic Payment Scheme: rules for 2016, which is available on GOV.UK. Want to transfer or remove a land parcel using the Rural Payments service where you are classified as a tenant You can t transfer a land parcel to another business on the Rural Payments service where you are classified as a tenant. You need to fill in and send us an RLE1 form. If you want to remove the land parcel from your holding: - you should delete the land use for the area you are not claiming on and leave it as undeclared rather than edit it. - this will then remove the land from your application and leave columns C6, C7 and C8 blank in the application summary. - you should also submit an RLE1 form and include the following information: at part B1 - use the option Sale/gift. at part B2 - transfer it to the SBI we have set up to remove land parcels from your claim SBI 200116651. The business name you re transferring the land to should be Land removed from your holding. at part B3b enter the Effective date of transfer as 01/01/2016. at part D enter land parcel details. 20
If you Have a land parcel in the land use table showing an area of 0.0000 and an undeclared flag next to it You need to You ll see the following in the land use table, where you have a land parcel with 0.0000 in total field size and BPS area. You ll need to do one of the following: 1. If you shouldn t be linked to the parcel and want to remove it from your holding: a. transfer it to the SBI we have set up on the service to remove land parcels from your claim - SBI 200116651 - the business name you re transferring to should appear as Land removed from your holding. b. If you can t do this, leave the area as undeclared, and send us an RLE 1 form and include the following information: at part B1 - use the option Sale/gift. at part B2 - transfer it to the SBI we have set up to remove land parcels from your claim SBI 200116651. The business name you re transferring the land to should be Land removed from your holding. at part B3b enter the Effective date of transfer as 01/01/2016. At part D enter land parcel details. 2. If you want to claim on it, add the land uses to the land use table using the information you have. Note that the land use table will still show as an undeclared area and flag against the 0.0000 and reference number. However it will not be included in the list of undeclared areas at the top of the table (as shown below). You should also explain what you ve done in a supporting email make sure you include the SBI and land parcel reference number(s). 21
If you Have common land rights not showing in the application summary You need to Make sure your common land appears in your online application: Go to your application, from the Business Overview screen, click Applications, Apply for BPS, then Open. Click Make changes to your application, then activate less commons. Make sure the rights you want to claim on in the column Do you want to activate entitlements have the Yes ( Y ) box filled in. You can fill in all the Yes boxes by clicking Activate all. Click Save then close the activate less commons screen. When you generate a new application summary your commonland rights should show on it. Want to submit your BPS application online but can t see a Submit button in the application screens. The green Submit button shows at the bottom of the list of options when your BPS application is open on the Apply for BPS screen (from Business Overview, click Applications, Apply for BPS, then Open ). If the button doesn t show then you mustn t have the correct permission level to submit the application. To find out more about this permission level read page 4 of this document. Want to find out if your online application has submitted successfully Do any of the following: save a screenshot of the screen message that appears after you ve submitted your application go to the Apply for BPS screen which will show the status of the application as submitted and the date and time that it was submitted. We recommend you save a copy. generate a copy of your application summary after you ve submitted your application and save it. This application summary shows the time and date you submitted your application. 22
Confirming the information in your application Before you submit your application, we recommend you check your application summary and make sure all the information in it (including any changes you ve made) is correct. Make sure you check the latest version of your application summary. It won t update automatically when you make changes on the Rural Payments service, you ll need to update it yourself. To update your summary to contain the latest information, click the Generate button in the View and print application summary section of your Apply for BPS screen. When your application summary has been created, click Download. How to check your application summary is up to date Check you are looking at the latest information in your application summary the date and time on screen will tell you when your summary was last updated. When the summary is up to date, the date and time will be green. If it is red, this means something has changed and you need to generate a new summary to view the latest information. The Business summary screen works in the same way. 23
Hints and tips on BPS rules Clarifying the young farmer criteria for 2016 To apply for either the young farmer payment and / or for new entitlements in 2016, you need to show that you: are at least 18 years old but not more than 40 years old in the scheme (calendar) year when you make (or made) your first successful BPS application are in control of the farm business that is applying for BPS set up or took control of your business for the first time on 1 January 2011 or later. As a young farmer, you can apply for the young farmer payment each year, for a maximum of 5 years after the year you started, or took control of, your business. You only have to meet the age criteria the first time you successfully apply for BPS. You only need to send evidence to prove your age in the first year you apply for the young farmer payment and/or new entitlements. However, you have to complete the evidence form in 2016. Or, if there have been no changes to the farm business structure since your 2015 application, you can send us: a copy of the previous year s accountants/solicitors certificate, and a covering letter (signed by a person with permission to make legal changes for the business) confirming that there have been no farm business structure changes since your 2015 application. You have to apply every year if you want to continue to receive the young farmer payment (assuming you are still eligible). Young farmers can only receive new entitlements once. Clarifying eligibility of the natural surface track Any track with a permanent, man-made, surface is ineligible for BPS. Any track with a natural surface that forms part of the holding s transport network is ineligible for BPS. This covers: o tracks providing direct access from public roads to houses, farmyards or buildings; o tracks directly linking houses, yards and buildings in different parts of the holding. Any natural surface track that has been used regularly by vehicles for 3 or more years and has a surface of bare, compacted, earth, is ineligible. If it provides the only access to an agricultural area of the holding and supports the agricultural activity taking place there it is eligible. (Tracks with parallel ruts of bare, compacted, soil are included under this heading, together with the area between the ruts.) Any natural surface track created/used exclusively by livestock or pedestrians is eligible for by BPS, regardless of how long it is in place. 24
https://www.ruralpayments.service.gov.uk www.gov.uk/rpa/bps2016 Crown copyright 2016 You may re-use this document (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0. To view this licence visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/ opengovernment-licence; or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk This document is also available on our website at www.gov.uk/rpa/bps2016 Any enquiries regarding this document should be sent to us at: Webmaster.rpa@rpa.gsi.gov.uk www.gov.uk/rpa Produced by the Rural Payments Agency VERSION 5 - May 2016