Countryside Stewardship Payment Period

[Richard84]

Does anyone know when the countryside stewardship mid-tier, arable offer or higher tier schemes payout for their annual works? Not capital works.

Under ELS and the old stewardship schemes there was always a set payment schedule like BPS is from 1st December until 1st June.

I spoke to Natural England when setting up and joining the scheme but no one would commit to when you would get paid. Great for cash flow planning.

 

[Hay Farmer]

If and when they want to, I’m afraid. Best not to budget for it.

Edit - Also, even if they do pay you, don't expect to receive what you've claimed for.

 

[Brisel]

18 months into a Higher Tier scheme here. Gove tried to buy votes by making the RPA pay out a % of claims back in June/July but that was just a guess, not what they have worked out nor what I've actually claimed for. Don't hold your breath. They simply don't have the budget to administer existing schemes properly & Brussels keeps adding checks that foul up the automated IT systems. I don't budget for it in cash flow planning but I put the full amount in the last month of my annual P/L budget anyway so my bosses think we're getting paid at some point.

Basically, don't hold you breath.

Payment timings for Mid/Higher Tier

Just drawing up next year's budget/cash flows. Assuming all goes well, I'll start a Higher Tier CS agreement 1st Jan 2018. When are we supposed to start receiving payments for CS? For those of you who had 2016 start dates, have you had anything yet?

thefarmingforum.co.uk

 

[Richard84]

I don’t really get what the problem is. It’s not like BPS where the figures change every year, all the details are agreed when signing and they get an annual works claim form confirming this. You would have thought it would be a case of pull 10% of claimants and go and check the work and pay up.

There was never any problems back with the old countryside stewardship scheme or ESA. Plus the budget must be allocated before the scheme is started at a national level, if take up is to high they just get more picky about the offers they make to balance the budget. This was the only thing that made me nervous about the scheme having nothing in writing about when they will pay.

The carpet will probably get pulled from under our feet when Brexit eventually happens as another excuse not to pay us half way through the scheme due to it not providing cost effect return to the tax payer or some bulls**t.

 

[Richard84]

Love the auto moderating on bulls**t!

 

[yellow belly]

Does anyone know when the countryside stewardship mid-tier, arable offer or higher tier schemes payout for their annual works? Not capital works.

Under ELS and the old stewardship schemes there was always a set payment schedule like BPS is from 1st December until 1st June.

I spoke to Natural England when setting up and joining the scheme but no one would commit to when you would get paid. Great for cash flow planning.

Before harvest they said stewardship was to be a single payment paid between nov 2019 and June 2020 for 2019 year
For 2018 we had an interim payment on account in March and a top up in June
Payment to be finalised when they have worked it out

 

[Richard84]

Who told you this RPA or some NFU press release? 9 month payment window is one hell of a payment window.

 

[worker]

Before harvest they said stewardship was to be a single payment paid between nov 2019 and June 2020 for 2019 year
For 2018 we had an interim payment on account in March and a top up in June
Payment to be finalised when they have worked it out

I am still awaiting some of my 2018 mid tier payment. But they have told me that as they have announced it has all been paid out by now if u want any more I have to write to RPA appeals dept. But don't do it by email! Bloody useless

 

[Hay Farmer]

I am still awaiting some of my 2018 mid tier payment. But they have told me that as they have announced it has all been paid out by now if u want any more I have to write to RPA appeals dept. But don't do it by email! Bloody useless

That's interesting - I'm also waiting for some of my 2018 mid tier money. So far, since July, I've been told:

1. "Thats all you're getting, you've been fined £xxxx for non compliance" - even though i'm fully compliant with my agreement.
2. "Just checking through your files - I'm sorry but we've missed out a continuation sheet, we will shortly pay you the outstanding amount"
3. "I can see how much you're owed - you should have it by the end of August"
4. "Sorry, there's nothing I can do - I'll get the relevant dept to call you. Is there anything else I can help you with?" x 3
5. and today: "The July payment was only a bridging payment, we haven't processed your claim yet but I estimate you should receive £xxxx. I'm sorry but I can't tell you when you will be paid."

Apart from the first conversation - everyone has been very polite (if they call back), but no one seems to know what is going on. They don't even have access to the correct phone numbers for regional offices and so it's impossible to directly contact anyone. You just end up spending hours on the phone or waiting for someone to call you back.

I've even been given 2 phone numbers to phone for help, the chap wouldn't say who they were for, they turned out to be for farming charities staffed by volunteers.

Anyway, on the direct advice of someone I know within the RPA, its now in the hands of my MP, who's staff seem to spend a lot of time dealing with the RPA.

One day I'll write a comedy about it.......

 

[Martyn]

That's interesting - I'm also waiting for some of my 2018 mid tier money. So far, since July, I've been told:

1. "Thats all you're getting, you've been fined £xxxx for non compliance" - even though i'm fully compliant with my agreement.
2. "Just checking through your files - I'm sorry but we've missed out a continuation sheet, we will shortly pay you the outstanding amount"
3. "I can see how much you're owed - you should have it by the end of August"
4. "Sorry, there's nothing I can do - I'll get the relevant dept to call you. Is there anything else I can help you with?" x 3
5. and today: "The July payment was only a bridging payment, we haven't processed your claim yet but I estimate you should receive £xxxx. I'm sorry but I can't tell you when you will be paid."

Apart from the first conversation - everyone has been very polite (if they call back), but no one seems to know what is going on. They don't even have access to the correct phone numbers for regional offices and so it's impossible to directly contact anyone. You just end up spending hours on the phone or waiting for someone to call you back.

I've even been given 2 phone numbers to phone for help, the chap wouldn't say who they were for, they turned out to be for farming charities staffed by volunteers.

Anyway, on the direct advice of someone I know within the RPA, its now in the hands of my MP, who's staff seem to spend a lot of time dealing with the RPA.

One day I'll write a comedy about it.......

We have had identical excuses, but have never been told an amout over the phone as they cant for data protection or some bullocks!

 

[Richard84]

This all sounds promising then for 2019 agreements!

 

[Brisel]

We have had identical excuses, but have never been told an amout over the phone as they cant for data protection or some bullocks!

They don't know because they simply don't have the resources to process their workload. Never mind the "data protection" or other excuses, they haven't worked it out so can't tell you.

 

[worker]

That's interesting - I'm also waiting for some of my 2018 mid tier money. So far, since July, I've been told:

1. "Thats all you're getting, you've been fined £xxxx for non compliance" - even though i'm fully compliant with my agreement.
2. "Just checking through your files - I'm sorry but we've missed out a continuation sheet, we will shortly pay you the outstanding amount"
3. "I can see how much you're owed - you should have it by the end of August"
4. "Sorry, there's nothing I can do - I'll get the relevant dept to call you. Is there anything else I can help you with?" x 3
5. and today: "The July payment was only a bridging payment, we haven't processed your claim yet but I estimate you should receive £xxxx. I'm sorry but I can't tell you when you will be paid."

Apart from the first conversation - everyone has been very polite (if they call back), but no one seems to know what is going on. They don't even have access to the correct phone numbers for regional offices and so it's impossible to directly contact anyone. You just end up spending hours on the phone or waiting for someone to call you back.

I've even been given 2 phone numbers to phone for help, the chap wouldn't say who they were for, they turned out to be for farming charities staffed by volunteers.

Anyway, on the direct advice of someone I know within the RPA, its now in the hands of my MP, who's staff seem to spend a lot of time dealing with the RPA.

One day I'll write a comedy about it.......

I think it funny when they ask if there is anything else they can help you with!!!! As if they actually helped in the first place

 

[Richard84]

They don't know because they simply don't have the resources to process their workload. Never mind the "data protection" or other excuses, they haven't worked it out so can't tell you.

But they don’t need to work anything out for as the payments already calculated at the beginning of the agreement, and if you’ve got capital works they had to approve this at the beginning of the agreement. All your doing with the annual claim is agreeing you have done the work you said you would and now pay me the money we already agreed.

It’s not like BPS where every year is different.

 

[Brisel]

That's not how it works. There are checks that have to be done. Every year you have to declare that you've done what you signed up to, especially rotational options. These have to be checked and manually inputted, just as they are for BPS.

 

[Richard84]

I’m not saying they don

That's not how it works. There are checks that have to be done. Every year you have to declare that you've done what you signed up to, especially rotational options. These have to be checked and manually inputted, just as they are for BPS.

I’m not saying they don’t have to do spot checks but even rotational options money wise are still the same as it has to be approved during your original application. If you don’t do something on your annual claim you have to say why, but you can’t just add a few acres on here or there.

BPS on the other hand is a one year agreement which all starts again every year with a fresh application.

My point was most of the work is done by the time you are accepted in to the scheme.

All this “we don’t know how much your owed” is a joke, there isn’t even a currency adjustment to be done like BPS, it’s a fixed amount like ELS was.

 

[Dairyfarmerswife]

I've even been given 2 phone numbers to phone for help, the chap wouldn't say who they were for, they turned out to be for farming charities staffed by volunteers.

As ridiculous as that sounds, the charities are able to advocate to the RPA on your behalf and help to get the claim to the top of the pile, so to speak. For anyone in dire financial straits because they are owed a payment from the Rpa it is definitely worth considering. It's not about getting a handout from the charity, it's about help and support and while it shouldn't be needed if the Rpa did their job efficiently it is very useful given the current situation at the Rpa

 

[Wombat]

I’m not saying they don

I’m not saying they don’t have to do spot checks but even rotational options money wise are still the same as it has to be approved during your original application. If you don’t do something on your annual claim you have to say why, but you can’t just add a few acres on here or there.

BPS on the other hand is a one year agreement which all starts again every year with a fresh application.

My point was most of the work is done by the time you are accepted in to the scheme.

All this “we don’t know how much your owed” is a joke, there isn’t even a currency adjustment to be done like BPS, it’s a fixed amount like ELS was.

Our BPS hasn’t changed since it started and they haven’t managed to pay one of those in Dec yet, so one reason we have decided not to join any of these schemes

 

[yellow belly]

we now need a differ strategy as ther are hundreds of farmers owed money

we need to get together and individually write to the our mps and meps with a copy letter sent to the national news papers
if 10 farmers per week wrote so that over the next 20 weeks every news paper and mp got letters every week
if we include in the letter one picture of a nectar mix with bees or hares or small birds and then state that if we had grown a crop we would have harvested it and had cash in the bank but the environment bees hares ect would have suffered
we will then show that farmers are doing something effective to improve the environment and alleviate climate change

if it was late payment any other suppliers in any other industry it would be publisised we are not talking about a month or 2 late but years
in the construction industry for long term contracts staged payments are the norm
we cannot down tools

 

[Richard84]

Thing is they don’t want to pay for any of it, it’s only because EU policy has forced them to be part of the CAP. Hence the vagueness of the now dead but to be reincarnated agriculture bill.

The government expects us to grow wheat for £100/t or less to the highest standards in the world without any subsidies or tax breaks, and if we can’t do it they will get it from somewhere else that can. They just won’t ask any questions about how it’s grown so cheap. And the public won’t care, look how well Primark does with sweat shop clothes.