Guidance

Agreement holder's guide: Woodland Management Plan grants from 9 February 2021

Published 31 March 2021

Applies to England

5 Scheme requirements, procedures and agreement management

You must read and meet the requirements detailed in this section as these are mandatory for all Countryside Stewardship WMP agreement holders.

‘Agreement Holder’ means the person (whether an individual, a company or other entity) who has entered into the Countryside Stewardship Agreement as identified in the Agreement Document (in line with clause 1 of the Terms and Conditions).

‘Agreement Land’ is defined in clause 1 of the Terms and Conditions.

If your application is successful we will send you an agreement offer letter.

5.1 Agreement Management

A Countryside Stewardship Agreement is made up of the Countryside Stewardship Terms and Conditions, the Agreement Document (which sets out Agreement Holder-specific details) and any supplementary documents referred to in the Agreement Document.

5.2 Claiming for the Woodland Management Plan

You can submit a payment claim for your approved WMP at any time of the year, providing you meet the following terms:

• the completed WMP was completed to the standards set out in Create a woodland management plan within 2 years from the agreement start date (see section 2.7)

• the WMP and associated felling permissions have been approved by a FCWO

• we receive your payment claim no later than 3 months following the agreement end date.

You can only make one payment claim for the WMP grant, for the full amount. We will pay valid claims within 2 months of receiving them. We will reject any payment claims which are late.

You can read the How to submit a payment claim online guidance for information on how to submit your claim online.

If you cannot claim online, contact us to get a claim form.

We will make payments directly into your bank account. You do not need to send any evidence that we have approved the WMP with the payment claim.

5.3 Amendments

You cannot change or amend your agreement after you’ve been offered a grant.

5.4 Recoveries and reductions

We may reduce or withhold payments, or recover previous payments if you:

• breach the terms of your agreement

• do not meet the relevant eligibility criteria on all or part of your land.

5.4.1 Late payment claims

You must claim for payment no later than 3 months following the agreement end date. If you do not, we will not pay you.

5.4.2 Cross compliance

If you receive Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments, you must follow the cross compliance rules.

If you do not receive BPS payments, and your only agri-environment or woodland agreement is the Woodland Management Plan agreement, you do not need to follow the cross compliance rules

If you are required to follow cross compliance rules and we find a breach of these rules anywhere on your holding (including associated common land) by any of the following, we will inform the relevant body responsible:

• you

• others acting under your control

• anyone with access to the holding under the terms of an agreement including contractors, employees or family members.

The cross compliance guide changes annually, so you need to read the latest version of the Guide to Cross Compliance in England to find out about cross compliance rules.

5.4.3 Breaches of Agreement

If you do not fulfil your obligations under your agreement, we may recover payments already made to you. We will write to you to explain why we are considering if there is a breach of agreement. We will give you an opportunity to make written representations before we make our final decision.

In cases of fraud or severe non-compliance, we can withhold all support and stop a new Countryside Stewardship application being made for up to 2 years.

5.4.4 Refusal or withdrawal of payments claimed

In certain circumstances, we may refuse, or withdraw in full, the payment you have claimed. We will do this is if we think any of the following has happened:

• you have committed a serious non-compliance

• you have provided false evidence

• you have negligently failed to provide the necessary information (for instance, where we have asked for it repeatedly and there is no reason why you have not provided it)

• you have already been paid for the same or similar work.

If we have to withdraw support we may also refuse support for other agri-environment or forestry schemes. If this is the case, we will tell you, and you will be able to appeal against this decision.

5.4.5 Over-declaration of claim

If you submit a claim for more than is eligible to be claimed, we will reduce the payment to the correct amount.

5.5 Disputes, appeals and complaints

If you’re unhappy with a decision or service you’ve had from the Rural Payments Agency (RPA), you can email, write or call us.

Read more information about how to complain in our Complaints procedure.