04 Mar 2009 - Ref 14/09
2009 Hill Farm allowance payments begin
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has begun making Hill Farm Allowance (HFA) partial payments to hill farmers. Figures published today show that the Agency has made partial payments totalling approximately £11.65 million to over 5100 claimants.
Defra has set the payment rates for HFA 2009 as follows:
Area
(hectares) | Severely Disadvantaged Land (other than moorland or common land)
(£/ha) | Severely Disadvantaged Land (moorland or common land)
(£/ha) |
| 0 – 350 ha | £37.34 | £14.14 |
| 351 – 700 ha | £18.67 | £7.07 |
European rural development regulations mean that RPA can only pay up to 75% of the full value of each HFA claim until the compliance inspection programme is completed. Claimants will receive the remaining 25% of their claim once the inspection programme for England has been completed.
Remaining claimants will receive partial or full HFA payments when all the administrative checks have been completed, provided their Single Payment Scheme (SPS) claim is also fully validated.
RPA is in the process of reviewing previous payments made under the HFA scheme, as checks have shown that some farmers have been paid too much in recent years. Under European Union regulations, this money has to be recovered but RPA is giving all farmers a choice of ways to repay, including making monthly payments. Affected farmers are encouraged to contact the RPA to discuss repayment options.
Notes to Editors
1. The HFA provides dedicated support to beef and sheep farmers in England’s upland areas. It recognises the difficulties that farmers face in these regions and the vital role they play in maintaining the landscape and rural communities of the hills. The Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, announced in December 2008 that the HFA would be extended for one further year so that farmers receive their last HFA payment in 2010 – rather than 2009, as previously announced. It will be replaced by a new uplands strand of the Environmental Stewardship scheme (Uplands ELS), which will be available from July 2010. Uplands ELS will be administered by Natural England.
2. The HFA was first introduced in 2001 as one of the ten schemes in England’s Rural Development Programme.
3. HFA will continue to be available until the end of 2010 under the new Rural Development Programme for England (which will operate until 2013).
4. The HFA 2009 rates were set in the Hill Farm Allowance Regulations 2009
(SI 2009 / 138) which came into force on 24 February 2009.
5. RPA is an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It is the single paying agency responsible for CAP schemes in England and is responsible for administering the Single Payment Scheme (SPS). Other key services include carrying out rural inspections and livestock tracing.
Media only contact
Caroline Forcer, RPA Press Office, 0118 968 7680, caroline.forcer@rpa.gsi.gov.uk
Page published: 4 March 2009