Guidance

Countryside Stewardship agreements: modified terms and conditions

Modified terms and conditions, and summary of changes, for Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier and Higher Tier agreements between 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2020.

• From: Rural Payments Agency
• Published: 31 October 2022
• Last updated: 6 December 2023 — See all updates

Applies to England

Documents

Modified Countryside Stewardship terms and conditions for Mid Tier and Higher Tier agreements between 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2020

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Details

Summary of changes

The terms and conditions have been modified for Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier and Higher Tier agreements starting on or between 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2020. A summary of changes are outlined on this page.

These modified terms and conditions are effective from 1 January 2023.

Read the full terms and conditions for more details.

Environmental Stewardship (ES) agreement holders should refer to the changes to ES terms and conditions for more information.

Site visits and administrative checks

There is greater flexibility on how the RPA carries out site visits and administrative checks to meet evidence requirements. (Sections 8, 10, 11 and 12).

This includes:

• extending the notice period given to agreement holders before a site visit
• allowing virtual site visits in some cases

Breaches of agreement and repayments

If there is a difference between the amount you have claimed and the amount you are due to receive, your claim will be reduced, once we have completed our checks. If we have already paid you, we will recover the difference. Additional penalties will not be applied but reductions will still apply to late payment claims. (Section 9).

Transfer between schemes

You can transfer to a new land management scheme if your application to that new scheme is successful and it provides at least equivalent environmental management. You will be able to end your existing agreement early, without recovery. (Section 19).

Exceptional circumstances (force majeure)

The notice period is extended from 15 days to 8 weeks to give you more time to make your case for reasons of exceptional circumstances. (Section 18).

Agreement Holder’s declarations

There are additional clauses to the Agreement Holder’s declarations. (Sections 2.1j and 2.1k and 2.4). These align with those published on GOV.UK for other new CS agreements starting on 1 January 2023.

Published 31 October 2022
Last updated 6 December 2023 + show all updates

1. 6 December 2023

   Amended the terms and conditions to account for cross compliance ending at midnight on 31 December 2023. And removed Section 3.4 which referred to cross compliance.

2. 31 October 2022

   First published.