Countryside Stewardship (CS) agreements starting on or after 1st January 2023 are now eligible for the new revised higher capital payment rates. Readers will recall we wrote about amendments to CS Capital Grants earlier this month (see https://abcbooks.co.uk/countryside-stewardship-capital-grants-update/). This included a review of the payment rates, but the new rates were only to apply to applications made from 5th January 2023. This seemed to harshly discriminate against those whose CS Agreements commenced on 1st January 2023. Defra has said it has ‘listened’ to feedback from farmers and landowners and has amended the date from when the new rates apply from 5th to 1st January 2023. This means those whose agreements started from 1st January 2023 will receive the new capital rates (increases but no reductions) these include:
- CS Higher Tier and Mid Tier with capital grants
- CS Capital-only agreements
- SFI Pilot capital grants
For applications received from 1st January they will receive the new rates, including any reductions.
CS and SFI Pilot agreements starting in 2022 or earlier will receive the rates within their agreement. It is possible for these applicants to withdraw individual capital works from CS agreements or even whole agreements and re-apply, but only where capital works have not commenced and materials have not already been ordered. New applications would also require any endorsements, such as Catchment Sensitive Officer approval to be renewed.
Another point which has been mentioned is the £20,000 per group ceiling in CS Capital Standalone agreements. This has remained unchanged even though rates have increased and in the case of new hedges, doubled. Defra has said this is under ‘consideration’ along with how the new rates interact with Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) agreements as these use CS payment rates. An announcement on these is expected shortly.