GovWire

Guidance: What to do before you apply for an SFI standards agreement

Rural Payments Agency

July 5
13:45 2022

This information explains when youll be able to apply for an SFI standards agreement, how to apply and what you need to do before starting your application.

Applying for an agreement

SFI applications opened for BPS eligible farmers from 30 June 2022.

Applications will remain open, so you can apply at a time that works best for you. If its necessary to close applications, this date will be publicised, including on GOV.UK, giving you 6 weeks notice.

Our new SFI application service is designed to be quicker and more straightforward for farmers. The service includes some new functionality that allows us to automate the checks we need to do and process applications to offer agreements much more quickly than weve previously been able to do. This means you should usually receive your agreement offer within 2 months of submitting your application and in many cases more quickly than that.

Were rolling out the new functionality during July in a controlled way, so we can make sure were able to offer everyone the right level of service and support during this initial phase. This includes carrying out some extra checks and monitoring in the background to make sure everything runs smoothly for every farmer as we bring more people into the service. This means that while all BPS eligible farmers can apply for SFI, during the first few weeks of rollout there will be different ways into the application service for different groups of farmers.

BPS eligible farmers who do not have an existing agri-environment agreement can sign into the Rural Payments service now to apply for SFI on eligible land outside a common.

During the first few weeks of rollout, BPS eligible farmers who have an existing agri-environment agreement, or who want to apply on common land, need to contact us. Well then arrange for them to start their online application in the Rural Payments service as soon as possible. We will be allowing farmers access to the service in a controlled way over this initial period, so we may ask you to wait for a couple of weeks before progressing your online application.

In this case, you can either email us at ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk (using Apply early for SFI as the email subject and including your SBI) or call us on 03000 200 301 (Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5pm, except bank holidays). We will respond to these requests as quickly as possible, and in most cases within 2 weeks.

We expect that most BPS eligible farmers should be able to apply directly online in the Rural Payments service by the end of August, without needing RPA assistance or intervention.

For more information, read the guidance about how to apply online for an SFI standards agreement on land outside a common.

If you cannot apply online because you do not have access to the internet or a computer, call us on 03000 200 301 (Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm, except bank holidays).

What to do before you apply

There are some things you can do before you apply for SFI, to make your application easier.

Check your registered contact details and permissions

You should sign into the Rural Payments service and check your business and personal details are up to date.

You should also check your permissions. You can do this from your Business overview screen in Give people permission to act for this business.

To create an SFI application, youll need one of the following permissions:

  • Business Details Full
  • Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) Submit
  • BPS Amend

To submit an SFI application, youll need either:

  • Business Details Full permission
  • BPS Submit permission

If you dont have the relevant permission, someone with Business Details: Full permission for the business can update the permissions. You can give someone else the relevant permission to apply on your behalf. Read the BPS 2022 how to apply online guidance for information about how to do this.

Register on the Rural Payments service if youre setting up a single entity for common land

If you are setting up a new single entity on behalf of a group of commoners, youll need to register on the Rural Payments service to obtain a new Single Business Identifier (SBI). Read more information about setting up a single entity.

Check that you and your land are eligible

You should check that:

  • you are eligible to apply for SFI
  • you will have management control of the land for the 3-year duration of your SFI standards agreement

Read the information about eligibility.

Check your land details

When you apply online for SFI in the Rural Payments service, youll see:

  • the land parcels currently linked to your SBI
  • the available area for SFI in those land parcels, based on the land covers currently registered that are eligible for each standard

If these details are not up to date, this will affect which land parcels you can select to include in your SFI application.

Before you apply for SFI, you need to check your digital maps are up to date. To view your digital maps, sign into the Rural Payments service. From your Business overview screen select Land and View land.

Read about checking your land details and how land cover affects your SFI application.

Published 30 March 2022
Last updated 5 July 2022 +show all updates
  1. Updated information on how to apply

  2. Updated information on how to apply through the Rural Payments service

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