2016 Claims Update The RPA has confirmed that it has received 86,820 BPS 2016 claims. Of these, 69,905 (80.5%) were made via the Rural Payments online system with the remaining 16,915 (19.5%) via paper. There were 1,179 claims made between 17th May and the 10th June 2016. During this period, claims could still be submitted […]
2015 BPS Payments Scotland has now made full 2015 BPS payments to about 97% of claimants. According to Rural Economy Secretary, Fergus Ewing, significant progress hasbeen made since 23rd June, with £90m worth of final payments made since that date. In total almost £310m has been made to 17,700 claimants. 2016 Entitlement Transfers Scottish claimants […]
The RPA has announced how it will be dealing with the outstanding queries relating to the 2015 BPS. Many will have e-mailed or written to the RPA informing it of a discrepancy between what they received and what they were expecting to get paid. As of yet the RPA has not responded to these requests (apart from […]
The vote to leave the EU will have profound effects on UK farming sector and those that do business with it. It is important to point out that Brexit will not formally happen for at least two years (possibly longer – see previous article). Farmers, companies, government and the whole industry will have time to adapt. […]
Basic Payment Scheme By the end of April, all but a very small number of businesses with complex claims should have received their 2015 BPS balance payment. According to Deputy Farm Minister, Rebecca Evans, BPS entitlement values were established by 1st April (The European Commission’s deadline) which has allowed balance payments to be made. Although […]
2015 BPS As of 14th April, 76,500 (88%) claimants had been paid their 2015 BPS funds. Claims still to be processed include; 5,400 that were inspected 3,500 claimants with Common Land A further 1,000 complex claims which are in the final stages of their processing. The RPA has now announced that it will be making […]
It is now possible to complete and submit a 2016 BPS application on line in England. Farmers & agents can sign into the Rural Payments service at https://www.ruralpayments.service.gov.uk/. Customer Reference numbers (CRNs) and passwords from last year are still valid. If you can’t remember yourpassword it is possible to create a new one from the […]
The Scottish Government has announced it will use £200 million of national funds to make BPS and LFASS payments to struggling farmers and crofters. First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has confirmed any farmer or crofter who has not received an installment of their Basic Payment by the end of March will receive a payment in April. […]
Some may remember that, for the 2015 BPS, the RPA briefly asked for details of all the people involved in a business claiming under the scheme. This requirement was quickly dropped in the chaos of the 2015 application. However, the necessity to provide information for ‘accountable people’ has returned for 2016. EU rules mean that […]
England As at 12th February the RPA had paid 68,572 (78.7%) claimants their 2015 Basic Payment. In monetary terms this amounts to £1.043 billion, approximately 73%. Payments will continue to be made throughout February as they are processed. Those claims involving commons or cross borders or those that have been involved in an inspection should […]