New guidance for those on commons or shared grazing land wanting to get into the Uplands Entry Level Scheme
February the 9th saw the national launch of Defra’s new Uplands strand of Entry Level Stewardship (UELS) which replaces the old Hill Farming Allowance. This has been accompanied by the publication of some key guidance to specifically help commons where there are two or more active graziers understand how the scheme applies to them and how to go about submitting an application. This new guidance has been put together by Defra following the NFU’s requests to plug the gap in clear information currently available to those applying for an Uplands ELS agreement on common land or shared grazing. Importantly, this has flagged up a number of existing inconsistencies in the new Upland ELS handbook so this new guidance takes precedence over any discrepancies you may find elsewhere.
There are a number of key stages you will need to complete in the application process to enter into an Uplands ELS agreement on common land or shared grazing where there are two or more graziers. The key stages you’ll need to consider are:
· Set up a commoners‘ or graziers‘ association to represent all of those who actively manage the common in the context of Uplands ELS. The group will need its own bank account.
· Get your commoners‘ or graziers‘ association registered as a customer with the RPA. You’ll need to do this to get a Single Business Identifier (or SBI) for the commoners‘ association or graziers‘ association, to set up a unique vendor number to ensure payments can be made to the association‘s bank account and to authorise a main business contact to act on the association‘s behalf.
· Get your common or shared grazing mapped onto the Rural Land Register. You can’t apply for Uplands ELS until this stage has been completed
· Apply to Natural England for an application pack and don’t forget that you can also now apply online using the improved online application system.
· Once you’ve considered the land management options that are best suited your particular common, you’ll need to negotiate an internal agreement between your fellow commoners who actively manage the common or shared grazing or will contribute to the management required under the Uplands ELS agreement.
· Finally, you’ll need to register all those who have agreed to participate in the Uplands ELS agreement against the SBI, and complete your application. Valid applications received by Natural England by 1 May will be guaranteed a 1 July start date.
Remember, not everyone will have to take all of these steps if, for example, you already have a functioning commoners‘ association in place. However, the full detailed guidance, which can be downloaded from Natural England’s website (or by clicking the document on the right of this page), will take you through the whole process and things you need to consider step by step.
The NFU has worked closely with Natural England and Defra to ensure that Uplands ELS is compatible with farmers delivering both food and environmental management, however we will be watching take-up the scheme closely over the coming months as it must benefit those who actively manage the uplands, especially by maintaining grazing
- a e peart - 03/06/2011
There are situations where agreements can not be made. On some commons one party may be carrying out damaging activities without reference to other rights holders. Where illegal activities are carried out, or where parties are not trusted, it is impossible to have agreements. Payments should be made to individual farmers and those who damage the common should be precluded from receiving payments altogether.