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Basic Payment Scheme 2017 – Update

The Rural Payments Agency has today (15th November 2017) published on their website “An update on the Basic Payment scheme” – see the link below:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/bps-2017

The main area of interest is confirmation of both the Entitlement values and also Financial Discipline Mechanism reduction rate for payments over €2,000.  These are summarised below:

Entitlement values and the exchange rate for 2017
Payment Region Entitlement value* Greening payment rate*
Non-SDA (Severely Disadvantaged area) €180.46 €77.69
SDA €178.90 €76.92
SDA Moorland €49.63 €21.32
*The 2017 exchange rate is €1 + £0.89470.  The Financial Discipline Mechanism (FDM) reduction rate for payments over €2,000 is 1.388419%

 

What does this mean in reality?  Taking into account all of the various calculations required for a BPS claim in excess of 100 ha, the approximate payment rates for 2017 are outlined in the table below:

Approximate Payment Rates for 2017
Payment Region £/ha £/ac
Non-SDA (Severely Disadvantaged area) 228 92.00
SDA 226 91.50
SDA Moorland 63 25.50

 

This is on average a 7% increase on the 2016 Basic Payment Rate.

Other issues of note:

  • The RPA still intend to start making payments from 1st December 2017
  • You can track the progress of your claim on-line
  • There are changes to the greening requirements but the detailed rules have still to be announced and will be published in the “Basic Payment Scheme: rules for 2018”
  • From early 2018 the Rural Payments service will contain information about hedges that have been mapped using Ordnance Survey and other mapping information. You’ll see details about your hedges including their length and whether they’re eligible as an Ecological Focus Area (EFA). You can choose to see your hedges in the map or aerial photograph.”

GSC Grays have developed a BPS calculator for 2017, which can give clients a good indication of their likely payment, subject to no penalties being imposed by the RPA.

If you would like to discuss any of the points outlined above, please feel free to contact one of our team of Basic Payment Consultants  at the following GSC Grays offices:

Alnwick Office t: 01665 568 310

Chester-le-Street t: 0191 303 9540

Colburn t: 01748 897630

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