Forms still going out
This week sees the RPA continue to issue paper forms to a number of farmers, this is contrary to the earlier messages from the agency that all claim forms should be on farm by 30 April.
Up to this week, no claim forms had been issued to those with common land.We expect these to be issued by the end of the week. The RPA will be issuing a letter with the application form to explain a couple of issues with the pre-populated data. Frustratingly for all concerned, the pre-population on the BP5 form has not worked properly for the common land element.
No common right details have been pre-populated in Part E of the BP5 form.
Instead, all the common land areas have been pre-populated incorrectly at Part C as field parcels (from the recent RLR mapping exercise). As a result this means that all of the field data relating to common land in Part C will need to be deleted and the correct common right based data entered in Part E. There is therefore a need to have Part CA of the 2014 SP5 form to hand to help correctly complete this part of the form.
Please read the RPA guidance and letter carefully.
RPA contacting those that have not submitted a form
This week the RPA will be contacting those who it can see have not submitted their BP5 application form to date, to ensure they have received a form. This letter will not go to those they can see have submitted a form nor those that are just receiving a form as set out above.
Getting a claim form
If you believe you should have had a claim form by now and have not had one, then the RPA will soon be able to turnaround a request for a claim form within 48 hours.
However, before you call, a few things to check first:
- Remember if your agent is suitably empowered to receive the form, then they would get the form direct and not you.
- Emailed forms will go the email address used to register for Rural Payments Online, you may have more than one email address or be relying on someone else’s access to the internet.
- Remember to check junk or spam folders.
- Is your inbox full and not able to receive emails
RLR maps
With regards to RLR maps, anyone who has not yet received a pack, and has not had an up-to-date map of their land in the past six months, should receive them by early May. Again like the claim forms, if you do not have a set of maps you should call the Rural Payments helpline on 03000 200 301.
Checking your claim form land data
Please be careful checking your land data on the BP5 form as the pre-populated data may be different to that used for SPS 2014. Ensure all your land parcels are present and correct, make sure the areas claiming on and the eligible area for a field is right. There is no substitute to checking every line of field data carefully.
Keep a copy of the information submitted to the RPA
Please remember to take a copy of your entire application form and any supporting documents before submitting your claim.
Remember your BPS Claim Receipt
The RPA will issue a receipt at an RPA drop in centre, or post one to you if you have posted your form to the RPA. If you emailed your claim to the RPA then one will be presented to you online? Please make sure you have a receipt and contact the RPA if you believe you do not have one and should have one.
NFU help
More BPS information is available on our site here. Members can also call our NFU Callfirst helpline on 0370 8458458.
Don’t forget our NFU BPS Survey
Finally, the NFU is carrying out a survey of members about their experiences of BPS 2015. Find out how you can take part here.