Category: Policy & Business

The 2017 BPS application window is just round the corner (!) and it appears the process and the system will be very similar to last year.  There is no desire from DEFRA/RPA to significantly alter the system due to its possible short shelf-life in the wake of Brexit.  There is also no budget for major upgrades.  It is safe to say the system is far from perfect, but at least claimants/Agents are familiar with it and it works.

Applications

As from early March the 2017 the Rural Payments online service will be available to apply for the Basic Payment.  From this time it will also be possible to transfer land and entitlements and also to edit the land use online (the opening of land and entitlement transfers has slipped form the original dates of mid-Jan and mid-Feb respectively).  Paper applications will be posted out from mid-March.  These will only be sent to claimants who did not use an agent in 2016 and made a paper application last year.  Agents who applied on paper last year, will not receive hard copy applications this year; they will be expected to use the online service for their clients.  Those who receive a paper application, but would like to apply online this year, will need to phone the RPA on 03000 200 301 to ‘activate’ their online application.  Some Agents may need to do this if they take on new clients who made a paper application in 2016 and they want to make this year’s application online.  The deadline for applications reverts back to 15^th May this year.

Guidance

For those needing help to apply online, there will be telephone assistance rather than drop-in centres as these weren’t hugely successful last year.  This year there is also a dedicated BPS webpage www.gov.uk/rpa/bps2017 which has all the latest information and will be updated throughout the application window.  This will be where Agents will be able to find all the forms and guidance required including:

• 2017 Scheme rules and How to Apply guidance
• 2017 Cross Compliance guidance
• Continuation booklets
• 2017 Greening workbooks
• Young and New Farmer guidance and forms
• Accountants certificate for Active Farmer Readmission

There will also be a short 2017 overview video available and agents should also receive e-mail alerts.

The scheme rules are very similar to last year.  The Greening rules are the same as in 2016, but remember the Greening calculation needs to be done annually.  From this year, further penalties apply where claimants are found to be non-compliant with the Greening rules, this means payments can be reduced by more than just the 30% Greening amount.

National Reserve & Young Farmer Payment

The National Reserve, for young and new farmers, is available again, the rules are the same as in 2016.  Those who have already received an allocation of entitlements from the National Reserve cannot apply again.  A completed Accountants Certificate must be submitted by 15^th May 2017.  The Young Farmer Payment is also available.  Again, the rules are the same as in 2016.  But remember the payment is available for up to five years and must be claimed each year.  In addition, claimants need to supply evidence every year to show that they are still ‘head of the holding’ and that there haven’t been any changes to the business structure.  This evidence needs to be submitted by 15^th May.  A number of people failed to submit their evidence on timelast year and were caught out.

Applying

There are no major changes to the online system.  If you haven’t been onto the system for a while it is perhaps worth logging on and checking passwords work, permissions are correct etc.  Log on at https://www.ruralpayments.service.gov.uk   Similar to last year it is probably best to go straight to ‘Applications’, click on ‘Generate’ and you will be able to print off a pdf ‘working document’ to use when obtaining information from clients.

One of the main causes of the problems seen in 2015 and 2016 was the issue with ‘Land Cover’ and ‘Land Use’.  Problems arose when the Land Cover for a parcel, classified as either Arable, Permanent Grassland, Permanent Crops or Non-Agricultural Area, did not ‘tally’ with the Land Use; wheat, barley, permanent pasture, temporary grass etc.   An example would be where the Land Cover was Permanent Grassland and the Land Use was for an arable code.  In some of these cases the system failed to recognise the parcel and they were effectively ‘ignored’ leading to the wrong area being paid on, over declaration penalties, entitlements being clawed back and Greening penalties.  Some of these issues still exist.  Agents are advised to check that the Land Cover sits with the Land Use.  Currently it is not possible to change the Land Cover on the system, although the RPA is looking into ways round this, until then Agents should contact the RPA if they find discrepancies on the system.

The Land Use on the system will be pre-populated with last year’s crop.  As per last year, claimants can update the Land Use and areas in the ‘Land’ section of the system.  These should reflect the position on the ground as at 15^th May 2017.  It is not possible to alter the total area of a parcel on the system (this is taken from LPIS).  Different land uses within a parcel should add up to 100%; where this does not happen, the system will flag up either an ‘Undeclared’ or ‘Overdeclared’ area.  It is possible to submit a claim with undeclared or overdeclared parcels, but these need to be accounted for on a paper RLE1 i.e a new permanently ineligible feature (pif) or permanent boundary change.

If you need to add parcels these can either be done by using a Continuation Booklet or it is possible to e-mail the RPA with ‘2017 Add Land’ in the subject title and giving details of the land parcel.  To delete a parcel you can either delete all the land uses on the system, transfer the land to a dummy SBI – 200116651 or there is now a new function to remove a parcel in the ‘Land Transfer’ section.  Paper RLE1 forms will still be required to register a new parcel, boundary changes, pifs and to transfer split/shared parcels.

Entitlements

The Entitlements ‘view’ section has been updated and should be more useful in time, although it is not that intuitive.  However there are guidance notes to go with it.  It is possible to see entitlements by scheme year.  For each year, it is possible to choose to see the Balance for each BPS payment region, Pending Entitlement Transfers, any Clawbacks or National Reserve Allocations and any transfers, in or out, that have been completed by the RPA.  But a note of caution; there are many glitches in the system at present and information in many cases has been found to be incorrect – the RPA are looking into these.  The process to transfer entitlements is the same as last year.  In the main, they take place in real time, but can be held in pending if the transferor has not been paid for the previous year or the transferee needs to be identified as an Active Farmer.

Hopefully these notes will get claimants started, we will endeavour to keep applicants up-to-date throughout the applications window.

The EU is proposing changes to the voting rules for approving products such as Genetically Modified (GM) crops and pesticides to make Member States more responsible for their actions.  Currently the rules do not incentivise Member States to vote in favour or against an approval and many just abstain, leading to the likelihood of ‘no opinion’ outcomes, delays in the process and shifting the decision to the Commission.  This allows National Governments to avoid making politically sensitive decisions. 

The new proposals being looked at include classifying those who abstain or who are absent at the Appeal Committee vote (2^nd stage in the voting process) being classified as ‘non-participating Member States’.  Such countries will then be discounted when the double majority of votes (55% of Member States representing 65% of the population) is calculated.  Other proposals include;

• making public Member States’ voting patterns
• where an initial vote has resulted in a ‘no opinion’, a second referral to the Appeal Committee where Member States are represented at Ministerial level will take place
• the introduction of a ‘quorum provision’ which would mean that a vote would not be valid if a simple majority of Member States are not participating members in the the Appeal Committee vote
• the right to refer the matter to Council to obtain a non-binding opinion, at least this would give the Commission a political steer.

Member States are unlikely to be happy with the proposed changes as many are content to allow the Commission to take the flak for the authorisation of sensitive products.  However, it is hardly good for European democracy if elected Governments pass responsibility to unelected bureaucrats simply because decision are contentious. 

Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has said she will ‘fight’ for the best possible deal for Scottish farmers in Brexit negotiations.  She made the announcement at the NFUS AGM, stating that ‘Brexit presents the biggest challenge to farming in Scotland in our generation’, whilst making the point that due to the landscape and climate in Scotland, agriculture is more important to its economy than to the wider UK’s.  The First Minister also announced the appointment of Professor Russel Griggs who will lead a group, representing farming and environmental interests, to review the Scottish Government’s approach to Greening and recommend how the current support measures can be redesigned to ensure a profitable, sustainable  and environmentally friendly future for the Scottish agriculture industry.

In addition Nicola Sturgeon has said that it is ‘vital’ that any powers, surrounding the agricultural sector, that are transferred from the European Union on Brexit, go to the Scottish Parliament rather than to Westminster.  This was echoed by the Rural Secretary, Fergus Ewing, who has said the devolved nations must speak with a ‘united voice’ to protect agriculture in the Brexit talks.  In a letter to the other devolved administrations he raises concerns that the UK Government is not listening to them on areas surrounding rural policy and makes it clear that repatriated powers in these areas should remain the responsibility of the devolved administrations.

The EU- Canada trade deal, which hit the headlines after the Wallonia region in Belgium nearly collapsed the agreement, is expected to take a step nearer completion.  The deal is expected to get approval by MEPs in a plenary vote in Strasbourg on February 15th.  The agreement includes a tariff rate quota (TRQ) of 18,500 tonnes of cheese for the EU and greater access for its wine, biscuits, pasta and chocolates, but the EU accepts a 50,000t TRQ for Canadian beef.

The NFU has appointed Philip Hambling as its new head of food and farming.  Mr Hambling who starts in mid-April replaces Phil Bicknell who left in December to join the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).  Mr Hambling is currently senior agriculture manager at Sainsbury’s; he has also worked within DEFRA.  Other posts include group agriculture and procurement manager at Randall Parker Foods and food policy manager at the British Meat Processors Association.

A new round of Glastir Advanced will open on the 28^th February.  The Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, has announced that the window for submissions of Expressions of Interest (EoI)will run until the 31^st March 2017.  There will be a total of £18.36m worth of funds available for this latest round, which is forecast to deliver up to 340 agreements.  Glastir Advanced is targeted towards landscapes or catchment areas that require a high level of environmental management aimed at combating climate change, improving water management and maintaining and enhancing biodiversity.  Accepted agreements will commence on 1^st January 2018.  More information and guidance should be available shortly.

Rural Economy Secretary, Fergus Ewing, has announced planned changes to the Greening rules in Scotland.  The aim is to introduce the changes from 2018 which include revisions to the Ecological Focus Area (EFA) rules and EFA features:

• hedges will count as a separate EFA feature
• agro-forestry planted under the Forestry Grant Scheme and located on temporary grass will be a new EFA feature
• the Government will try to get the period during which maintenance of field drains is not allowed on EFA fallow shortened.

In addition, as previously reported, the European Commission is undertaking its own Simplification Review of Greening and further changes to the Scottish Greening rules make take place after the Review has been completed.  Readers will recall this includes the proposal to ban the use of pesticides on EFA areas; hardly a simplification.

The Government has formally published its plan for Brexit.  Snappily entitled ‘The United Kingdom’s Exit From And New Partnership With the European Union’, the white paper runs to over 70 pages.  However, it adds little of note to what Theresa May set out in her speech last month.  Agriculture gets a specific mention (page 40), but other than outlining statistics on trade, it provides no further detail on the Government’s plans for the sector.  The full paper can be found at – https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/589191/The_United_Kingdoms_exit_from_and_partnership_with_the_EU_Web.pdf

Following the consultation held in December the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board has agreed that there will be a single minimum level of pay for agricultural workers in Scotland.  In addition there have been a number of other amendments.  The following changes will come into effect as from 1st April 2017:

• a single minimum wage of £7.50 per hour, equal to the UK’s National Living Wage and is irrespective of age
• the overtime rate of 1.5 times the agreed hourly rate starts after 48 hours have been worked in the week for workers during their first 26 weeks of employment and after 39 hours have been worked in a week  for those who have been employed for more than 26 continuous weeks
• level 2 Modern Apprenticeships will receive an hourly rate of £4.40
• the working dog allowance increases by 11p to £5.60 per dog, up to a maximum of 4 dogs, and
• the accommodation offset increases to £6.00 per day

EU Farm Commissioner, Phil Hogan has launched a consultation on the future of  the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).  The public consultation will run online for twelve weeks closing on May 2^nd and will give farmers, stakeholders and other interested parties the chance to have their say.  The consultation is divided into four topics

• Agriculture, rural areas and the CAP
• Objectives and governance
• Agriculture, rural areas and the CAP tomorrow
• Modernisation and simplification

The results of the questionnaire will be made public in July 2017 and will be used by the Commission to help draft a Communication by the end of 2017 to include conclusions on the current performance of the CAP and potential policy options going forward.

At the same time, it appears the Commission is discussing five options for future reform of farm policy.  They cover the complete spectrum, from the status quo, to support just being focused on small-holdings, local food and environmentally-friendly farms.  It is likely that future policy will fall somewhere in between option 3; removal of area based payments with support only for rural development and risk management tools and option 4; remaining with area based payments but linked to delivering economic and environmental benefits.  It is understood that the options will feed into an impact assessment, which is due to be published in the summer and also a report, due out in November, on the simplification and modernisation of the CAP.

As we have said previously, although CAP reform is no longer the big thing for the UK farming sector as a result of Brexit, we can’t just ignore the process.  It is important we understand what our neighbours are doing as Europe is likely to remain our largest trading partner and our farming lobbyists will be keen to make sure we are not at too much of a disadvantage.