Guidance

Agreement Holder's guide: Capital Grants (SFI pilot) 2023

Updated 26 October 2023

Applies to England

Applications for CS Capital Grants (SFI pilot) have closed. SFI pilot agreement holders can now access the CS Capital grants offer alongside their SFI pilot standards agreement.

If you’re an existing agreement holder, follow section 6 and 7 of this guide, and the CS Terms and Conditions. Your existing agreement will remain live until you submit your final claim. You will have until the end date of your capital agreement, or until the end of your SFI pilot standards agreement, whichever is first, to complete the works. You will have 3 months after this date to submit your claim.

6. Scheme requirements and procedures

You must read and meet the requirements detailed in this section as these are mandatory for all CS Capital Grants (SFI pilot) Agreement Holders.

A CS Capital Grants (SFI pilot) Agreement comprises:

• the CS Terms and Conditions
• your Agreement Document that sets out the Agreement Holders details
• any supplementary documents referred to in your Agreement Document

6.1 Entering into an Agreement

If your application is successful, we will send you an agreement offer. If you want to accept, you must return the signed acceptance declaration to us within 20 working days of the date on the offer. If you do not accept your offer in time, we will withdraw it. Once an agreement offer has been made, you cannot withdraw it, but you can reject it.

The agreement start date will be shown in the agreement offer.

Once you have accepted the offer and entered into an agreement, you can only modify, extend or amend the agreement with RPA’s consent.

6.2 Evidence: record keeping and site visits

You must obtain and keep evidence to show that you have carried out all the requirements of your agreement to support your claim or to support a site visit. You must also keep evidence that you are eligible for the scheme.

Your evidence must show that:

• you are eligible for the scheme
• the activities funded under your agreement are appropriate
• the funded activity is taking or has taken place

We need you to do this so that we can demonstrate that public money is being spent effectively and is delivering the intended results.

Record keeping is an important part of an effective farm, or woodland, management system. You can use some existing farm records to meet scheme requirements, but you may also need to keep other records specifically about the management being funded.

The record keeping requirements for each capital item are published in the Countryside Stewardship online grant finder. You should check these requirements before you start work because before and after photographs could be part of the requirement.

6.2.1 When evidence is required

Evidence to support your application

You must keep evidence to show that you, your business, your land or capital items are eligible as you may have to show this if you are chosen for a site visit.

During the agreement and durability periods

You may need to provide evidence to show that you have carried out the required actions. Evidence may be needed:

• to support a claim - more information is set out in the following sections and where relevant further information will be sent with the claim form covering letter
• during or after an administrative check, a site visit, or other checks as described in section 7.5

After the agreement has ended

The Terms and Conditions explain you must keep all invoices, receipts, accounts and any other relevant documentation relating to the expenditure of the grant for at least 7 years from the end of the agreement.

6.2.2 General evidence requirements for applicants and Agreement Holders, consents and permissions

It is your responsibility to get all consents, approvals or permissions that you may need due to your specific circumstances and to carry out the particular capital item. These consents and permissions must remain effective, and records kept, for the duration of the agreement and durability period.

6.3 Photographic evidence

For some capital items you need to keep dated photographic evidence. You must have this evidence available on request as we may ask to see it. You can use photographs with an automatic date stamp or write the date the photograph was taken on the reverse.

The need for dated photographic evidence depends on the particular capital item, but the following general principles apply. Check the capital item requirements using Countryside Stewardship grants (known as the grant finder) on GOV.UK. For photographic evidence the following general principles apply.

6.3.1 Before work stage

For some capital items you need to take dated photographs and keep them to show where work or management will be undertaken on a particular feature or site. Check the capital item requirements using Countryside Stewardship grants (known as the grant finder) to see if this is the case.

6.3.2 During work stage

For the capital works listed in Table 2, you will need to keep and submit contracts, invoices, or other documents, confirming the technical specification for the completed works have been met. If you are unable to provide this, you will need to keep and submit dated photographs of the site during the different stages of the construction or build to show that the minimum specification has been met.

Table 2

Code	Capital item
LV3	Hard bases for livestock drinkers
LV5	Pasture pumps and associated pipework
LV6	Ram pumps and associated pipework
LV8	Pipework associated with livestock troughs

6.3.3 Claim stage

For a partial or full claim, you must take a dated photograph after the works have been completed and send it with your payment claim. This must show the ‘works completed condition’. The ‘before work’ and ‘works completed’ photographs must be taken from the same position.

You can post or email the information to us using the contact details at the end of this guide, we cannot accept USB or CDs for security reasons as stated in section 4.9.

6.3.4 Photographic evidence quality

All photographs must meet the following standards. Requirements apply equally to digital photographs or those supplied as paper photographs.

Quality – photographs must be in focus and clearly show the relevant capital item or environmental feature. If you send your images by email, please send as JPEG files. Digital images should not be smaller than 600 pixels by 400 pixels and ideally the image file size no larger than 400KB. Printed photographs must be no smaller than 15cm by 10cm. Photographs can be in either portrait or landscape.

Photograph to identify the environmental feature or capital item(s) concerned – it is your responsibility to have sufficient evidence that the investment or required management has taken place. For example, more than one photograph may be needed where the feature or capital item exceeds the frame or is not clearly evident from a single photograph.

Where possible, include a significant feature to provide authenticity, for example, ditch, fence, farm building, road, telegraph poles.

Where possible, mark the photographed feature location, and direction from which the photograph has been taken, with an ‘X’ and an arrow on a copy of a map (or map extract) of the agreement area.

Where scale or continuity is important, include a feature, or introduce one, for example a quad bike, vehicle or use a sighting pole (2m high with 50cm intervals marked in red and white). Take pictures consistently from the same spot for ‘before and after’ photographs of the capital item.

6.3.5 Clearly label photographs

Use the Ordnance Survey (OS) map sheet reference and National Grid reference for the field parcel, followed by the relevant proposed or implemented capital item code and, if more than one image is required, the image number.

The OS map sheet reference and National Grid reference should relate to the field parcel adjacent to the boundary and used in the application. For example, if we ask you to send ‘before and after’ photographs to show evidence that works have taken place for hedgerow gapping up (BN7) these images should be labelled as OS Ref Capital item code_Date_Name_SBI_Image number.

Save digital images under the label outlined above. Clearly write the label on the reverse of printed photographs detailing the OS map sheet reference and National Grid reference for the field parcel, the implemented capital item code, date, Agreement Holder name and SBI.

6.4 Publicity requirements

The Terms and Conditions require you to comply with all instructions and guidance relating to acknowledging and publicising the support provided. This includes using any materials or templates which are provided for this purpose.

7. Manage your Capital Grant (SFI pilot) Agreement

You must read and meet the requirements detailed in this section as these are mandatory for all CS Capital Grants (SFI pilot) Agreement Holders. These requirements are the same as Capital Grants 2023.

You must only start work (this includes ordering and paying for materials) on or after the CS Capital Grants (SFI pilot) agreement start date because we will not pay for materials and work before this date.

You must keep invoices, receipts, accounts and all other relevant financial documentation, so we can check them, for at least 7 years from the end date of the agreement. These must be dated on or after the CS Capital Grants (SFI pilot) agreement start date.

You must complete all capital works within 3 years of the Agreement start date.

We must receive all claims for payment no later than 3 months after the agreement end date. If we receive a claim more than 3 months, but less than 6 months after the agreement end date, a late claim reduction will be applied. If we receive a claim more than 6 months after the agreement end date, the claim will not be accepted, and no payment will be made.

When you have finished the works and you have been charged or invoiced by the contractor or supplier for the items or activities, you can submit your claim for payment.

You can only submit your claim after payment for all items or activities on which you are claiming has left your bank account and all works have been carried out.

7.1 Amendments

You should be able to carry out the capital items under your agreement without difficulty. However, should an exceptional situation arise where you need to change the items or their time schedule, you can ask us to amend your agreement. We will only agree to changes that are necessary to achieve the objectives of the scheme.

You need written permission from us before you can amend or reschedule approved capital items. You should contact us if you would like to discuss an amendment to your agreement, before the end of the original agreement period, to complete the capital items. We must agree to the request before you make any changes to the item, its location, or timing, and you may need to repay all or part of previous payments that you have received.

We will write to confirm if your request is successful. The amendment will not be valid until you have received written confirmation from us agreeing to the amendment and advising you of the date from which it will take effect.

7.1.1. Early termination of a CS Capital Grants (SFI pilot) agreement

If your SFI pilot standards agreement is terminated meaning you are no longer an SFI pilot participant, your CS Capital Grants (SFI pilot) agreement will also be terminated. You may need to repay all or part of previous payments that you have received.

7.1.2. Amendments to an SFI pilot standards agreement and the impact on a CS Capital Grants (SFI pilot) agreement

If your SFI pilot standards agreement is amended to remove a land parcel or standard this may impact your CS Capital Grants (SFI pilot) agreement.

Your CS Capital Grants (SFI pilot) agreement claim for payment may be rejected if you remove a:

• land parcel from your SFI pilot standards agreement which you have included in your CS Capital Grants (SFI pilot) agreement
• standard from your SFI pilot standards agreement and the capital items in your CS Capital Grants (SFI pilot) agreement are only available on a land parcel used for that standard

You may also need to repay all or part of previous payments that you have already received.

7.2 Using your own labour to undertake capital works

You can use your own labour or a farm employee’s labour to carry out capital works. If you do so, you will need to prepare time sheets signed by the employee and employer showing all of the following:

• the hourly rate for your labour or a farm employee’s labour
• what work was carried out
• the date the work was done

You must tell the employee(s) about the agreement and its requirements. It is your responsibility to make sure that work carried out using your own labour or a farm employee’s labour, does not breach the terms of your agreement. If the employee commits any breaches, you will be responsible for any payment reductions.

7.3 Using contractors to carry out capital works

You can employ contractors to carry out the work needed for the capital items.

You must tell the contractor about the agreement and its requirements. It is your responsibility to make sure that work carried out by contractors does not breach the terms of your agreement. If the contractor commits any breaches, you will be responsible for any payment reductions.

7.4 Making a claim for payment

When you have finished the works and you have been charged or invoiced by the contractor or supplier for the items or activities, you can submit your claim for payment. The minimum claim value is £500. You can submit a claim for payment at any time of the year. We will aim to pay valid claims within 2 months of receiving them.

If you are making interim (multiple) claims, the minimum claim value of £500 does not apply to your final claim.

7.4.1 Submitting claims

Once the capital works are finished and you have been charged or invoiced by the contractor or supplier, you can sign into the Rural Payments service and submit a claim online.

You can read more about How to submit a capital claim online.

You must send any required evidence by email or post.

If you cannot make a claim online, contact us for help.

Email: ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk

Call us: 03000 200 301
(Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5pm, except bank holidays)

You must keep evidence to show that the work is finished. Section 6.3 explains the photographic evidence you need and what evidence is needed for individual capital items.

You, as the Agreement Holder, must keep the completed items to the condition and specification for which the aid was granted, for 5 years from the start date of the agreement. This is a requirement of the agreement.

This also applies to landlords where management of the agreement land reverts from the tenant Agreement Holder to the countersigning landlord during the durability period.

7.5 Scheme checks and site visits

We are required to make sure that SFI is properly controlled, to protect public money. Site visits are carried out to monitor Agreement Holder compliance with the rules governing their agreements and the success of SFI overall. They focus on assessing how the environmental aims are being delivered.

We will check the advice and guidance have been followed and if we think there is an issue that can be resolved, we will offer further advice and guidance, or we may deal with any agreement breaches or non-compliances we find in line with section 7.6 of this manual and the CS Terms and Conditions.

We carry out a number of checks on claims:

• administrative record checks
• rapid field visits
• agreement monitoring visits
• physical or virtual site visits

You must allow any UK public authority (or their authorised representatives or auditors) to access your land or premises to carry out site visits.

We will seek to agree a date and time for a site visit where possible. If not, you will be notified at least 48 hours in advance of the site visit unless we have reasons to suspect that you are in breach of your agreement.

You must help and co-operate with any person authorised to carry out any site visits (including controls and spot-checks) and shall provide access to any land, premises, plant, equipment or documents which may be required. Any refusal to do so, or obstruction, will be treated as a breach of the Agreements Terms and Conditions and you may face recovery, suspension or termination of your agreement. We may also refuse support for other Defra grant schemes for up to 2 years.

7.6 Payment reductions

7.6.1 What happens if you breach your agreement

If you do not meet the terms of your agreement, we may reduce or withhold your payment or ask you to repay any monies we have already paid to you.

If we find a breach, we will write to you and tell you. You’ll have the opportunity to appeal if you do not agree with our findings. If a breach is confirmed, we’ll work out the most appropriate action we need to take and let you know. We may apply more than one course of action depending on the breach found. We’ll assess the level of breach in a fair and consistent manner, on a case-by-case basis, using the following set of criteria:

• to what extent the breach can be rectified
• the circumstances, nature and consequences surrounding the breach
• any failure to cooperate with site visits, or further investigations
• any steps taken to report a change in circumstances
• whether it is an isolated or a repeat occurrence
• whether it was intentional
• whether it was because of reckless or negligent action

If there’s a breach of your agreement or the regulations, we may:

• ask you to correct the breach
• issue a letter explaining that we’ve assessed the breach and what you have to do to amend your agreement

For more serious breaches, we may:

• reduce the payments you get, or withhold part of them
• reduce or withhold money from other schemes
• recover money we’ve already paid

In the most extreme cases, we may:

• end your agreement
• stop you receiving financial assistance (other than BPS) under any other scheme for up to 2 years

In exceptional circumstances where there is reasonable suspicion of a serious breach or fraud, then we may access land and your premises without notice, using powers of entry. In these circumstances, for example as part of a fraud investigation, we may access any computer that’s been used in connection with the evidence or these records.

If we find breaches during administrative checks or any site visits, we will write to tell you and you will have the opportunity to make written representations if you feel that our findings are incorrect.

In these cases, we will work out the level of reduction we need to apply, by looking at the severity of the breach and whether it is an isolated or a repeat occurrence. We may apply a reduction to your claims, unless you can demonstrate you were compliant.

7.6.2 Over-declaration of expenditure

If you submit a claim for more than the value of the costs which are eligible to be claimed, we will reduce the payment to the correct amount.

Good reasons for a breach

You may be unable to meet your requirements under the agreement because of exceptional circumstances. If this happens, you must write to tell us within 8 weeks from the date on which you (or any person authorised to act for you) are able to do so. You will need to provide evidence in writing to show:

• what has happened
• how the event meant you were unable to meet the scheme rules

Good reasons for a breach may include, but are not limited to:

• the death of the agreement holder
• serious illness
• a severe weather event
• the accidental destruction of capital items connected to your agreement
• damage caused by criminality
• supply chain issues
• an epizootic or a plant disease affecting part or all of your crops, trees or livestock

We will consider the facts to decide whether or not the Agreement Holder is relieved of all or part of their obligations under the agreement, and whether all or part of the grant should be withheld or repaid.

If you are aware of the issue when entering into your agreement, then it is unlikely to be considered a good reason for a breach.

7.7 Change of ownership

You cannot transfer your agreement during the 3-year agreement period. This rule applies only during the 3-year period from the start of your agreement (not the 5-year requirement to keep capital items funded through the scheme).

If you sell or let, all or part of the land under your CS Capital Grants agreement to another party, we will end the agreement on those parcels. You may need to repay all or part of the grant payments you have already received.

If, after completing your CS Capital Grants (SFI pilot) agreement, you sell or let all or part of the land previously under your agreement to another party during the 5-year durability period, you may need to repay part of the grant payments you have already received.

7.8 Disputes, appeals and complaints

If you’re unhappy with a decision we have taken about your application or agreement, you can appeal.

If you’re unhappy with a decision we’ve taken or service you’ve had from us, you can ask us to reconsider. If you’re still unhappy with the result of our decision, you can appeal.

Follow the RPA complaints procedure to raise a complaint. This also includes information on how to request a reconsideration or submit an appeal.