10 Feb 2009 - Ref 09/09
RPA updates Cross Compliance guidance and Single Payment Scheme policy
RPA is posting new guidance for the Single Payment Scheme together with updated pages for The Guide to Cross Compliance in England, in response to the CAP Health check and other legislative changes.
In response to feedback from previous years, the mailing is only being sent to the primary business contact - in some cases this will be the farmer’s agent. RPA is urging agents to ensure they make their clients aware of the updates.
There have been a number of updates to the requirements and standards for cross compliance for the 2009 scheme year and details of the changes are documented in the ‘What’s New’ section of The Guide to Cross Compliance in England. Farmers are advised to read the new pages carefully and place them into their copy of the Guide. Farmers may wish to keep the earlier versions of the pages for their reference.
The guidance, together with the policy update ‘SPS Information for farmers and growers in England, January 2009’ and a 2009 continuation page for the Soil Protection Review (SPR), is being sent out to all Single Payment Scheme (SPS) applicants
The policy update gives applicants further information about legislative changes for the 2009 and future scheme years, cross compliance reductions and details of the Uplands Entry Level Stewardship Scheme/Hill Farm Allowance 2010.
RPA’s Head of Policy Sharon Ellis, said: “The Guide to Cross Compliance in England reflects what farmers said they wanted and has been developed in close consultation with stakeholders. It has removable pages, which can be used as fact sheets. Farmers will no longer be issued with a full version on a yearly basis and instead they will be issued with updated, individual pages”
“The policy update outlines the key changes resulting from the CAP Health Check and is essential reading for any agent or farmer wishing to claim SPS or HFA in 2009/10.”
Further information about cross compliance is available at www.rpa.gov.uk/crosscompliance or call Momenta’s cross compliance helpline on: 0845 345 1302
Any farmer or agent who does not receive the mailing by the end of February and would like a hard copy of the updates is advised to call RPA’s Customer Service Centre on 0845 603 7777. CSC is open from 8.30am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday. Callers will be asked for their business name and Single Business Identifier (SBI) when they call.
Notes to Editors
1. The Rural Payments Agency (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. Other key services include carrying out rural inspections and livestock tracing.
2. The updated sections of The Guide to Cross Compliance in England include the latest versions of the following pages.
- Introduction
- What’s new
- Contents
- General information
- Key dates
- Sites of Special Scientific interest – SSSIs (GAEC 6)
- Agricultural land which is not in agricultural production (GAEC 12)
- Protection of hedgerows and watercourses (GAEC 14)
- Wild birds (SMR 1)
- Nitrate Vulnerable Zones – NVZs (SMR 4)
- Habitats and species (SMR 5)
- Prevention and control of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies – TSEs (SMR 12)
- Inspection criteria
3. RPA have also added a new section of the Guide called ‘The Whole Farm Approach (WFA) and the online Cross Compliance Self Assessment Tool’.
Media Enquiries: Caroline Forcer, RPA Press Office, 0118 968 7680; e-mail: caroline.forcer@rpa.gsi.gov.uk
Page published: 10 February 2009