Moving from CS agreement to SFI .

[Vader]

I was told on the helpline about a week ago that i needed to email in saying i wanted to swap over from cs to sfi and they would unlock the sfi on my land parcels so i could do a application. When applied they would check that the sfi was of greater benefit, which he said was if the total was more money. If it was they would cancel my cs and let the sfi application carry on. Thats what i was told but i haven’t started to try and do anything about it yet, so dont know if its right…

I was advised to say I wanted to end my Cs and ask if would get penalty if did so.
So more of end Cs and start sfi than swap over.

 

[YorkshireAndrew]

I received this today ,they’ve still no idea .

 

[Princess Pooper]

View attachment 1157627 I received this today ,they’ve still no idea .

That's ridiculous, there would be plenty of others wanting to do this.

 

[spin cycle]

I've just been reading an email that (amongst other things ) states 'Cs holders will be able to exit their agreement to join sfi without penalty provided the new agreement is of equal or greater environmental value'

talk about the cart before the horse

 

[gone up the hill]

I've just been reading an email that (amongst other things ) states 'Cs holders will be able to exit their agreement to join sfi without penalty provided the new agreement is of equal or greater environmental value'

talk about the cart before the horse

I read today that the above will only apply to new CS agreements started on or after 1st Jan 2024 @spin cycle

Agreements started before that date will not be allowed to come out of CS and go into SFI but can apply for SFI for land parcels not covered by the CS agreement!

Complete mess

 

[onthehoof]

I read today that the above will only apply to new CS agreements started on or after 1st Jan 2024 @spin cycle

Agreements started before that date will not be allowed to come out of CS and go into SFI but can apply for SFI for land parcels not covered by the CS agreement!

Complete mess

I only signed up for a 5 year extension as I was told I could exit at anytime without penalty, were we lied to??

 

[spin cycle]

I only signed up for a 5 year extension as I was told I could exit at anytime without penalty, were we lied to??

me to

 

[gone up the hill]

I only signed up for a 5 year extension as I was told I could exit at anytime without penalty, were we lied to??

I only signed up as well as we were told we could exit the CS scheme and go into SFI if we wanted and i think Janet stated that on here more than once would be possible as well !

But yes looking at information they have sent out it seems currently you can only exit if the CS scheme starts on or after the 1st of Jan 2024.

No surprise if the above is correct thou as they did similar when the payment rates were increased for CS capital works for agreeements started in 2023 but would not increase them for schemes started in 2022 or earlier

 

[onthehoof]

I only signed up as well as we were told we could exit the CS scheme and go into SFI if we wanted and i think Janet stated that on here more than once would be possible as well !

But yes looking at information they have sent out it seems currently you can only exit if the CS scheme starts on or after the 1st of Jan 2024.

No surprise if the above is correct thou as they did similar when the payment rates were increased for CS capital works for agreeements started in 2023 but would not increase them for schemes started in 2022 or earlier

They’ve also said payment rates for HLS won’t be increased like the other schemes as it’s being phased out, so I’m going to miss out for 5 years!

 

[Stw88]

They’ve also said payment rates for HLS won’t be increased like the other schemes as it’s being phased out, so I’m going to miss out for 5 years!

We are going to have to pull out of our 5 year extension and negotiate a new agreement this summer. The gap between our existing payment rate and the new ones is too great now. Especially with the decrease in Sfp.

 

[spin cycle]

We are going to have to pull out of our 5 year extension and negotiate a new agreement this summer. The gap between our existing payment rate and the new ones is too great now. Especially with the decrease in Sfp.

feel your pain...don't know the gap but if penalties are applied

I feel they must sort it out soon...it's a scandal

 

[onthehoof]

We are going to have to pull out of our 5 year extension and negotiate a new agreement this summer. The gap between our existing payment rate and the new ones is too great now. Especially with the decrease in Sfp.

Will they let you though?

 

[onthehoof]

Think we all need to make our feelings clear at this webinar

 

[Stw88]

Will they let you though?

They want people out of old HLS agreements, CS agreements maybe not so much.

 

[onthehoof]

They want people out of old HLS agreements, CS agreements maybe not so much.

OK, assumed HLS came under the CS umbrella

They want people out of old HLS agreements, CS agreements maybe not so much.

can you keep me updated of any conversations you have with them, thanks

 

[onthehoof]

May help some with HLS schemes although doesn’t mention SFI, note point 2 ‘the deadline for submitting the moving between land management schemes has now passed’

How to leave your Higher Level Stewardship agreement early to apply for Countryside Stewardship

www.gov.uk

 

[onthehoof]

Just a reminder as to what was stated earlier

 

[Ceri]

This situation is very very frustrating….. We signed a 5 year extension on our old HLS in spring 23 (which we were rushed into doing…..!!!!!) & I was very dubious of signing but at the time everything was totally up in the air & we continued loosing BPS so I couldn’t really see any other option but to sign on the dotted line………!!!! Now it seems we’d be far better off in SFI doing herbal leys, low input grassland & winter bird food that would fit in nicely but were bloody locked into a now poorly paid HLS scheme for another 4 years…… WHY ON EARTH DID DEFRA JUST NOT CONTINUE TO OFFER 12 MONTH ROLLING EXTENSIONS LIKE THEY USED TO……??????????! We could have recouped a lot of our BPS but are now at a massive disadvantage… This is something that really needs looking at and addressing as its a really poorly managed situation from defra imo and they wonder why they’ve got a 200 million underspend that Keir will say thankyou v much we’ll have that back when Labour get in…….

 

[Stw88]

This situation is very very frustrating….. We signed a 5 year extension on our old HLS in spring 23 (which we were rushed into doing…..!!!!!) & I was very dubious of signing but at the time everything was totally up in the air & we continued loosing BPS so I couldn’t really see any other option but to sign on the dotted line………!!!! Now it seems we’d be far better off in SFI doing herbal leys, low input grassland & winter bird food that would fit in nicely but were bloody locked into a now poorly paid HLS scheme for another 4 years…… WHY ON EARTH DID DEFRA JUST NOT CONTINUE TO OFFER 12 MONTH ROLLING EXTENSIONS LIKE THEY USED TO……??????????! We could have recouped a lot of our BPS but are now at a massive disadvantage… This is something that really needs looking at and addressing as its a really poorly managed situation from defra imo and they wonder why they’ve got a 200 million underspend that Keir will say thankyou v much we’ll have that back when Labour get in…….

Don’t worry you’re not alone! At the time it seamed the right thing to do as Sfi looked no good. If they had announced what all the options were going to be at the start with a rough value we would have been able to make a better decision.

 

[onthehoof]

This situation is very very frustrating….. We signed a 5 year extension on our old HLS in spring 23 (which we were rushed into doing…..!!!!!) & I was very dubious of signing but at the time everything was totally up in the air & we continued loosing BPS so I couldn’t really see any other option but to sign on the dotted line………!!!! Now it seems we’d be far better off in SFI doing herbal leys, low input grassland & winter bird food that would fit in nicely but were bloody locked into a now poorly paid HLS scheme for another 4 years…… WHY ON EARTH DID DEFRA JUST NOT CONTINUE TO OFFER 12 MONTH ROLLING EXTENSIONS LIKE THEY USED TO……??????????! We could have recouped a lot of our BPS but are now at a massive disadvantage… This is something that really needs looking at and addressing as its a really poorly managed situation from defra imo and they wonder why they’ve got a 200 million underspend that Keir will say thankyou v much we’ll have that back when Labour get in…….

Don’t worry you’re not alone! At the time it seamed the right thing to do as Sfi looked no good. If they had announced what all the options were going to be at the start with a rough value we would have been able to make a better decision.

We are in exactly the same situation, felt it was best/only option this time last year but now feel stitched up, HLS payments haven’t increased since we joined in 2010