Introduction
Overview
Cross compliance rules apply to you if you receive direct payments under Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) support schemes or if you receive payments under certain Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) schemes. We may reduce your payments if you do not meet these rules.
There are 3 aspects to cross compliance:
- specific European legal requirements, known as Statutory Management Requirements (SMRs). These relate to the areas of public, animal and plant health, environment and animal welfare;
- standards, based on a European legal framework, which require you to keep your land in Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC). These relate to soil erosion, soil organic matter and soil structure, a minimum level of maintenance to avoid the deterioration of habitats and protection and management of water; and
- an obligation to maintain a level of permanent pasture not included in the crop rotation for 5 years or more. This is not a cross compliance obligation for individual farmers, but may become one in future years (read the Permanent Pasture section for more information).
Cross compliance rules apply in addition to your underlying obligations under European and UK legislation. Cross compliance reductions will be applied independently of any other sanctions you may face under this legislation.
Many agricultural activities are covered by cross compliance and you must meet the rules across the whole agricultural area of your holding, regardless of the amount of land you entered into the schemes. This includes common land which you exercise or hold rights of common over, including rights in gross. It also includes forestry land which is subject to support under the elements of the English Woodland Grant Scheme listed in the following paragraph.
Schemes which are covered by cross compliance
You must meet the cross compliance rules to receive your full payments under the following schemes. (For the rural development schemes listed below, cross compliance rules apply only to farmers who entered into new commitments under these schemes from 1 January 2007.)
- Single Payment Scheme (SPS)
- Entry Level Stewardship (including Organic Entry Level Stewardship and Uplands Entry Level Stewardship)
- Higher Level Stewardship (including Organic Higher Level Stewardship and Uplands Higher Level Stewardship)
- Uplands Transitional Payment
- Woodland Management Grant and Farm Woodland Payment elements of English Woodland Grant Scheme
Permanent Pasture
Permanent pasture is land that:
- is used to grow grasses or other herbaceous forage, either self-seeded or sown and has not been included in the crop rotation for 5 years or longer;
- has not been set-aside during this 5 year period under the SPS options; and
- has not been taken out of production under certain environmental schemes.
We are required under European legislation to maintain the level of permanent pasture in England and the European Commission has proposed that this requirement continues beyond the next CAP Reform. If permanent pasture reduces beyond a certain level in England, we may have to introduce new cross compliance rules to control the level of pasture. This could mean that in the future we may be obliged to require all farmers who ploughed up permanent pasture in the prior 24 months (from the latest SPS application) to reconvert land back to permanent pasture.
It is important that all of your land parcels that meet the definition of permanent pasture are declared on your SPS application using the appropriate permanent pasture land use code. This is because we use this information to show the European Commission how much pasture there is in England and this determines whether we are required to introduce the rules referred to above to stop or reverse any decline in pasture levels.
Payment Reductions
If you do not meet all of the cross compliance rules, we may reduce your payments for applications submitted in the calendar year the non-compliance was found.
If you break more than one rule within the same broad area (for example, animal welfare), we will treat this as one single case of non-compliance.
If you break the rules in different areas (for example, animal welfare and the environment), we will treat these as separate cases of non-compliance and will add the separate percentage reductions together.
We will not make a payment to anyone who artificially creates the conditions required to receive payment.
Negligent non-compliance
Negligent is defined for cross compliance purposes as failing to take reasonable care, or failing to exercise reasonable skill and/or foresight.
If you do not meet a cross compliance rule through negligence, we will generally reduce your payments by 3% for each non-compliance. This may be reduced to 1% or increased to 5% depending on the extent, severity and permanence of the non-compliance. In limited circumstances a warning letter may be issued. You can read guidance on how we decide upon the extent, severity and permanence of a non-compliance in the Cross Compliance Verifiable Standards For England document on our website at rpa.defra.gov.uk/crosscompliance/inspectionprocess.
As stated above, if you don’t meet the rules in different areas, we will make separate reductions for each non-compliance. We will add the percentage reductions together, but the maximum reduction will be 5% of your overall payment.
If you don’t meet the same rule more than once during a period of 3 consecutive calendar years, the reduction which applies to the repeated non-compliance will be 3 times that for a first time non-compliance. Reductions for further repetitions will continue to be multiplied by 3, up to a maximum of 15% of your overall payments.
If you continue not to meet the rules and the reduction has reached 15%, we will treat any further cases of non-compliance as intentional. We will multiply the earlier reduction by 3. We will work this out on the original amount and before we applied the 15% maximum.
Example 1
If in 2012 you did not meet the cattle identification rules (SMR 7) as you did not report movements of your cattle, this would have resulted in a 3% reduction to your 2012 payments. If in 2013 you again did not report movements of your cattle, but not as many as in 2012, this would normally have resulted in a 1% reduction. However, as this is a repeat non-compliance, we multiply the 1% reduction by 3. We would then make a 3% reduction to your 2013 payments.
Example 2
If in 2012 you did not meet the protection of hedgerows and watercourses rules (GAEC 14) as you did not maintain a green cover within 2 metres of a number of your hedgerows, we would have reduced your 2012 payment by 3%. If in 2013 you again did not maintain a green cover within 2 metres of even more of your hedgerows, we would normally have reduced your payments by 5%. However, as this is a repeat non-compliance, we multiply the 5% reduction by 3. We would then reduce your 2013 payments by 15%.
Example 3
If in 2010 you did not meet the cattle identification rules (SMR 7) as you did not report the deaths of your cattle and then in 2011, 2012 and 2013 you also did not meet the rules for reporting the deaths of your cattle, we would reduce your payments as follows:
Scheme year | Reduction | Reason for reductions |
2010 | 3% |  |
2011 | 9% | This is a repeat non-compliance and we multiply the result of the 2010 inspection (3%) by 3. |
2012 | 15% | This is a repeat non-compliance and we multiply the previous 9% reduction by 3 to give a 27% reduction. However, this is capped at 15%. Any future non-compliances are considered to be intentional. |
2013 | 81% | This would be deemed an intentional non-compliance. Also,this is a repeat non-compliance and we multiply the previous pre‑capped 27% reduction by 3. |
Intentional non-compliance
Intentional non-compliance for cross compliance has been defined as being the same as its legal meaning within criminal and civil law. Very broadly, an intentional non-compliance would be considered as occurring in cases where you have knowingly committed an act which breached the relevant measures imposed and should have had an understanding of what you were doing and the likely consequences of your actions.
If you intentionally do not meet a cross compliance rule, we will generally reduce your payments by 20%. This may be reduced down to 15% or increased up to 100% depending on the extent, severity and permanence of the non-compliance. More information can be found in the Cross Compliance Verifiable Standards for England document which is available on our website at rpa.defra.gov.uk/crosscompliance/inspectionprocess.
Refused inspections
We will not pay your claim and we may have to take action restricting the movement of animals on your holding if you:
- refuse to give access;
- intentionally obstruct; or
- refuse to give reasonable assistance to the inspector.
Our people are here to help, and are committed to providing good customer service. We will treat you with respect, and expect you to do the same.
We will not tolerate threatening or abusive behaviour towards our people, either:
- verbally;
- physically; or
- in writing.
We will take whatever action is necessary (including legal action) against any person who is involved in threatening or abusive behaviour.
Liability
Although land used to activate entitlements needs only to be at a claimant’s disposal on a single day which is the SPS application deadline (in 2013 this will be 15 May), you must meet the cross compliance rules for the whole calendar year. This applies even if you do not occupy the land for the whole year. There is one exception to this rule which is when land is transferred from or to someone who has also submitted an SPS application in that calendar year.
The same rules apply to rural development schemes also.
Example 1
You take on some agricultural land on 10 April 2013 and it is part of your holding on the SPS application deadline as declared on your SPS application. The person you took the land from does not submit an SPS application in 2013 for the rest of their agricultural land. You would be liable for cross compliance on the transferred land for the whole of the calendar year, including the period between 1 January 2013 and 9 April 2013 when you did not occupy the land.
However, if the person you took the land from submits an SPS application in 2013 for the rest of their agricultural land, they would be liable for cross compliance on the transferred land from 1 January 2013 until 9 April 2013. You would be liable for cross compliance on the transferred land from 10 April 2013 for the remainder of the calendar year.
Example 2
You give up some agricultural land on 14 July 2013 which was part of your holding on the SPS application deadline. The person you transferred the land to has not submitted an SPS application in 2013 for the rest of their agricultural land. You would be liable for cross compliance on the transferred land for the whole of the calendar year, including the period between 14 July 2013 and 31 December 2013 when you did not occupy the land.
However, if the person you transferred the land to has submitted an SPS application in 2013 for the rest of their agricultural land, they would be liable for cross compliance on the transferred land from 14 July 2013 until 31 December 2013. You would be liable for cross compliance on the transferred land from 1 January 2013 until 13 July 2013.
Therefore, if you are transferring land (either in or out) during the year, you should carefully consider the terms of any contractual arrangements between you and the other person(s). This is so you can make sure that your interests are protected if any cross compliance rules are not met, or access to inspectors is refused, before or after the land transfer. Also, you should bear in mind the risks of not having contractual arrangements agreed and in place. You may want to get professional or legal advice.
General
For cross compliance, you will be held responsible for actions or omissions which do not meet the cross compliance rules, whether they were committed by you or someone acting for you or under your control or, where they were caused by someone with access to your holding under the terms of any agreement you have in place. This means that you will be held responsible not only for your own actions and omissions, but also for those of other people who have access to your holding including, for example, contractors, employees, agents and family members.
Responsibility for making sure that the rules relating to the identification and traceability of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs are met lies with the keeper – the person with day to day responsibility for the animals. This applies regardless of who owns the animals and whose land they are grazing. Responsibility for welfare of all farmed animals lies with both the keeper, again, the person who has day to day responsibility for the animals, and the owner of the animals.
Relationship between GAEC and other environmental schemes
The GAEC standards give a baseline of environmental protection for soils, habitats and landscape features, and protection and management of water. If your obligations under the rural development schemes conflict with GAEC standards, the rural development scheme rules will generally take precedence. If you are unsure, you should contact the RPA’s Customer Service Centre.
We’ve given guidance on GAEC standards in a separate booklet, Guidance for Cross Compliance in England: Management of Habitats and Landscape Features. It should help you identify habitats and landscape features on your land, and it recommends areas of best practice, and gives more information and advice. It is available only on our website at rpa.defra.gov.uk/crosscompliance/ farmerguidance.
Exemptions and derogations
In exceptional circumstances, you may be able to apply for an exemption from certain cross compliance standards. Examples include:
- issues of human or animal health or safety;
- when you need to control or treat serious causes of harm to plant health; or
- serious pest or weed infestations.
Ideally, you should not go ahead with the activity until you have received written permission but in emergency situations, where it may not be possible for you to make an advance request, we would not expect you to do so. If, however, you find the work conflicts with a standard, we would advise you to write to RPA as soon as possible to safeguard your position.
You may also be exempt from a cross compliance standard in relation to, or in connection with, any power or authorisation conferred by, or under, any enactment provided that following the completion of the action the agricultural land will be in GAEC. This would include where, for example, the laying, construction or maintenance of a pipeline, cable or pylon, or the carrying out of railway or highway works, under statutory authority conflicts with meeting a standard. If you think this applies to you, ideally you should request an exemption from RPA in advance of the work being carried out. This should safeguard your position. Again, however, in emergency situations, where it may not be possible for you to make an advance request, we would not expect you to do so. If, however, you find the work conflicts with a standard, we would advise you to write to RPA as soon as possible to safeguard your position.
We would not expect statutory bodies to have to carry out the process of using their statutory powers to get the permission needed for access, or to carry out work, where voluntary consent exists and where statutory consent would be given if needed.
We can also give derogations from certain GAEC standards in limited circumstances. These can be granted for the following reasons:
- where the environment would benefit;
- for livestock or crop production; or
- improving public or agricultural access.
We have highlighted within the text of the individual standards where derogations may be available. You must apply to RPA in writing for this derogation and wait for written permission before carrying out any work.
You can apply for an exemption or derogation by writing to RPA’s Customer Service Centre. Please make sure that any application is supported by adequate evidence, such as advice from an agronomist. Give all of the land parcel numbers for any affected fields for which you want an exemption or derogation. You can support your application with photographic evidence or explanatory diagrams. All letters and e-mails requesting exemptions and derogations should be clearly headed ‘Cross Compliance Derogation’.
Force majeure and exceptional circumstances
In limited circumstances, we may accept that you are prevented from meeting the cross compliance rules due to force majeure or exceptional circumstances. In such cases, we may not have to reduce your payment. Force majeure is defined as ‘unusual circumstances, outside your control, the consequences of which, in spite of all due care, could not be avoided except at the cost of excessive sacrifice on your part’. All cases will be considered individually.
For further information on force majeure and exceptional circumstances and how to apply, please read the current SPS Handbook.
Common failures under cross compliance rules
 | Throughout this guide we have highlighted key areas of non-compliance with a warning sign.
For more information about failures to meet cross compliance rules, please read the cross compliance section of our website at rpa.defra.gov.uk/crosscompliance/inspectionstatistics. |
Complaints and Appeals
We are committed to giving good customer service and we welcome your feedback because it helps us to improve.
If you are not satisfied with the service you have received or a decision we have made and you would like to complain, you can:
- call us on 0845 603 7777:
- e-mail us at csc@rpa.gsi.gov.uk: or
- write to us at:
Rural Payments Agency
PO Box 300
Sheffield
S95 1AA
You can also complain face to face with anyone representing RPA.
Complaints about our service
If you are not satisfied with the service you have received because of something we have, or have not done and you would like to complain, please let us know as soon as possible.
You should set out the facts as fully as possible including:
- what went wrong;
- when it happened;
- who you dealt with; and
- what you would like to happen next.
The more details we have, the better equipped we are to deal with your complaint.
Always remember to tell us your unique customer reference number which could be one of the following:
- Single Business Identifier (SBI);
- Personal Identifier (PI); or
- County/Parish/Holding number (CPH).
Also make sure you put it on all documents you send to us.
You also need to tell us:
- your daytime telephone number; and
- your preferred method of contact.
We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint by telephone. If we are not able to contact you we will send you an e-mail or letter. We will aim to resolve your complaint within 15 working days. If this is not possible, the person dealing with your complaint will contact you.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you can ask your Member of Parliament (MP) to refer your complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
Complaints about our decisions
If you are not happy with a decision we have made or you think a decision is wrong, you can ask us to review it.
You should set out the facts as fully as possible including:
- what decision you want to be explained or re-considered;
- the date of the decision;
- what you do not understand or why you disagree with a decision; and
- what outcome you are seeking.
If you want us to review a decision, you need to submit all the evidence you want to be considered so that we are equipped with all the facts. But you can still introduce new evidence at any point in the process.
Always remember to tell us your unique customer reference number which could be one of the following:
- Single Business Identifier (SBI);
- Personal Identifier (PI); or
- County/Parish/Holding number (CPH).
Also make sure you put it on all documents you send to us.
You also need to tell us:
- your daytime telephone number; and
- your preferred method of contact.
We will acknowledge receipt of your request by telephone. If we are not able to contact you we will send an e-mail or letter. We will aim to give you an explanation of the decision or the outcome of our review within 15 working days. If this is not possible, the person dealing with your request will contact you to agree a proposed plan to resolve your complaint, which may include passing it on for further consideration.
Appeals against a review decision
You can appeal against any decision we make that affects your entitlement to, or liability for, payments or your ability to participate in a particular scheme.
After the decision review process outlined above, if you are still not satisfied with the outcome and you want to appeal, you will need to fill in an Appeal Form (CA1). You can request one from our Customer Service Centre by calling us on 0845 603 7777 or e-mail us at csc@rpa.gsi.gov.uk. You can fill one in electronically at our website at rpa.defra.gov.uk or print one and send it to us by post to:
Complaints and Appeals
Rural Payments Agency
Alverton Court
Crosby Road
Northallerton
DL6 1AD
You need to enclose a cheque payable to the Rural Payments Agency for £100 when you send your appeal form to us. We will refund this money if your appeal is fully or partly successful.
For more information read the Complaints and Appeals Guidance on our website at rpa.defra.gov.uk or request a copy from our Customer Service Centre by calling us on 0845 603 7777.
Farming Advice Service
The new Farming Advice Service (FAS) includes and replaces the former Cross Compliance Advice Programme and provides advice on other subjects to help you improve the economic and environmental performance of your farm.
FAS provides advice on the following subjects:
- Cross Compliance;
- Nutrient Management;
- Competitiveness; and
- Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation.
Free expert advice on cross compliance is provided through events such as farm workshops, farm walks, drop in clinics, newsletters and text messages. A helpline number is also available, where cross compliance experts will answer technical questions and offer advice, on 0845 345 1302.
Further details on the FAS can be found at defra.gov.uk/farming-advice.
RPA Customer Service Centre and other useful contact details
You can contact our Customer Service Centre, which is open from 8.30am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday (closed weekends and public holidays). We will ask you for your SBI when you call. If you write to us please give us your SBI, the name of your business and the scheme year relating to your query.
Customer Service Centre: 0845 603 7777
E-mail address: csc@rpa.gsi.gov.uk
Address:
Rural Payments Agency
PO Box 300
Sheffield
S95 1AA
Defra helpline: 08459 33 55 77
Farming Advice Service : 0845 345 1302
You can find more contact details in the useful contacts appendix of this booklet, on our website at rpa.defra.gov.uk/crosscompliance/appendices.
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Page published: 11 January 2013