CAP reform Policy Questions

[DefraGov]

But we were originally going to be asked to join by the end of October, we are now nearly in December and still not invited. There is a lot for us all to do if we are to meet the 15th May deadline, or will the RPA allow a soft entry into the new scheme and not apply penultes for applications after the 15th May? Are your computer systems ready?

With this new online service we are both developing it and introducing it to customers in a controlled way, making sure that what customers can do on the service – and how they register for it – is working well, by asking a few customers to use it, making improvements, then inviting more customers.
We are inviting groups of agents and those customers who we know will need the most support now and will then open it up to all customers well in advance of the BPS claim window opening.

 

[Brisel]

If a newly planted hedge that is claimed for EFA is managed for weed control, is that ok? Our newly planted & laid hedges suffer from excessive weed competition & if left unmanaged they will fail. can we use selective or non selective herbicides on the soil around the hedge plants? Are there any date restrictions?

Is land coded as SA2 under SPS eligiblefor EFA? Does it carry an EFA requirement?

 

[DefraGov]

Can fallow land be mown or topped to prevent seed set or is it Land not in agricultural production?

Yes, fallow land can be mown or topped to prevent seed set

 

[DefraGov]

Trees planted under FWPS all schemes now ended and never claimed SPS on the area as they where early FWPS contracts and ineligible, can I claim anything under BPS ?. If so how would I go about it as I have no entitlements.

Generally speaking woodland is not eligible under BPS

 

[DefraGov]

Thanks for all of your questions today, we hope it’s been useful. This thread is now closing to questions and the Defra team will post replies to as many questions posted today as possible, over the next week. For more information, please follow our blog at http://www.capreform.blog.gov.uk/

 

[Northdowns Martin]

Thank you for your answers and TFF for organising the session.

 

[DefraGov]

Janet,
Thank you for your reply. I have seen the rehearsed line about 'making sure its me ' often, but no one has explained why it is different to the gov gateway service that already exists and is widely used. I am also informed that Gov verify needs more detail than a valid passport - so i can pay taxes, vat, receive SFP and travel across borders using the existing security systems / passport, but i need to jump through a new set of hurdles on a new database run by a commercial company to interact with DEFRA.

Can you give us a flavour of the feedback of the Gov.verify service?

Also, if CAP is paid to a business, why do i as an individual need to provide all these details - the inland revenue already has all the business details?

I would also be interested to know, the administration cost ( including relevant Capex) per £ of CAP payment made, and how this compares to previous years and the comparisons for Scotland/Wales and a few other European countries. Do we come out of such a comparison well?

" @janethughes has answered the first part of your question.
The new digital service works in relation to individual citizens or ‘beneficiaries’ we might say. This is a shift from previous approaches to administering the CAP, a move away from identifying payees as farm businesses (SBIs). Instead, in order to meet European Commission auditing requirements, we need to know who are the beneficiaries within a business to ensure we are paying the right people. GOV.UK Verify enables us to securely identify those individual beneficiaries.

Your questions about costs. There are various elements to administering the CAP, the new IT service is costing a third of the systems it is replacing.


edited to fix tag

 

[DefraGov]

Do you have any further info on the young farmer topup scheme yet?

Hi
We missed this question yesterday as we responded to the same query in the other thread on the digital service.

The leaflet we published in October, ‘The new Common Agricultural Policy schemes in England: October 2014 update’, included some information about the young farmer payment. It also included information abouthow young farmers can qualify for entitlements from the national reserve. Later in the year we will be providing more detailsabout the evidence that farmers will need to provide to show they meet the eligibility criteria.

 

[Dylis]

Where grass margins, nectar plots, floristic margins or any similar cover is used as fallow land for greening, can they be cut during the fallow period? Similarly, can they be cut and the arisings removed during the fallow period and is there any restriction what you can do with the arisings?