How to claim your grant
This section explains how to claim your grant, what evidence you need to submit with your claim and what happens next.
Your grant will be paid in a single instalment after you have paid for in full (with the funds having left your bank account), taken delivery (and installed if required) all of the items on your approved application. They need to be fully operational, and you should have submitted a completed claim template (with supporting eligibility evidence) and eligibility checks have been made.
Please submit the following with your claim (tick list):
- a completed claim and declaration template - you will have received the claim template with your GFA email
- copies of the invoices (requirements are detailed below)
- copies of your payment evidence - bank statement or business credit card statement to prove the items have been paid in full (requirements are detailed below)
- photographic evidence, showing the equipment in situ and operational, for each item (requirements are detailed below)
These should be either photographed or scanned and emailed to CPSGClaims@rpa.gov.uk by midnight on 31 May 2021. The email must be submitted from the email address registered in the Rural Payments service. If you are unable to send electronic copies of your invoices or statements, please contact us for a postal address to send them to.
All correspondence about your CPSG claim will be sent from CPSGClaims@rpa.gov.uk. You should add this email address to your trusted senders list and remember to check your spam and junk mail folders.
To be accepted, invoice(s) must:
- individually describe each item in full
- breakdown of the cost of each item
- detail the manufacturer’s make and model of the item purchased
- ideally quote the relevant SG item code from Annex 3 of this handbook against the item purchased
- be addressed to the same individual or business as detailed in the GFA email
- show the supplier’s name, address, VAT number and date
- be from a supplier who is not part of, or linked in any way to your business
- not include your own labour charges
- not include hire purchase, lease purchase or part exchange items
See Annex 5 for an example invoice.
We will only pay grant for those items that we agreed to fund, based on your original application. If the invoice includes additional items that are not part of your CPSG application, you must clearly itemise and highlight the items you are claiming for.
Invoices must be paid in full and the payment must have left your bank account before you claim your grant funding. If you have made a payment to a supplier that covers more than one invoice, you need to provide copies of all the invoices included in the payment.
Your payments are eligible where they:
- are listed in your GFA email
- meet the minimum specification set out in Annex 3 of this handbook
- are incurred after the date of the GFA email
- are for items which have been fully paid for by your business. This means payment for the items is shown on your business bank account statement or on your business credit card statement
- are for items that have been delivered, installed and are in use by your business
- are at the location(s) stated in your application
- are for new items only - ex-demo, second hand, part exchange and ‘try before you buy’ items are not eligible.
See Annex 5 for more CPSG Hints and Tips.
You will need to send us copies of your bank statement or business credit card statement so that we can check all invoices have been paid in full by your business. For cheque or BACS payments, the cheque number or transfer reference should be visible on the statement. Acceptable evidence includes screen shots from an online account showing payment details and bank logos, or a certified report printed from a banking system.
You can blank out other personal information that isn’t needed, but bank statements must still clearly show:
- bank’s name and logo
- account holder name in full
- account number
- account balance – opening and closing balance of the bank statement period
- sort code
- transaction date
- transaction type (including payee ref/cheque number)
- transaction amount
See Annex 5 for an example of a bank statement.
If other payments were included in the BACS transaction, we will need to see the full audit trail including the BACS statement and copies of any other invoices.
You must not make cash payments for any grant funded items as you will be unable to provide a satisfactory audit trail and we will not be able to pay any of your grant.
If you pay for any items with a credit card, the items must be purchased from your business credit card, not a personal account or a different business account. The credit card statement(s) must show that all invoices for grant related items have been paid in full by your business.
If any other credit card is used, there must be evidence to show that the item is transferred to your ownership before a claim is made.
If you pay for an item through a buying group, please provide evidence to show you have paid the intermediary (Buying Group). The intermediary must also evidence that payment has been made to the supplier. This can either be an email from the supplier or a supplier statement i.e. there must be evidence to show that you have paid the intermediary, and the intermediary has paid the supplier.
If you pay for an item on account, please ask your supplier to raise a separate invoice and take separate payment for the CPSG item to help with the invoice validation of the eligible spend.
You won’t be able to use lease purchase or hire purchase to buy any of the items in your application as your business will need to have fully paid for all items (with the funds having left your bank account) and own the items outright. It is your responsibility to provide information securely. If you wish to password protect email attached documents, you should contact us before sending. That way, we can confirm the method being used is acceptable. We will store your information securely for 7 years as per the terms and conditions of grant. This is in line with our document retention policy.
Your claim must be supported with photographs of each item which must:
- show the item specification, in situ and working on your farm (not a representation of the item from a supplier)
- be clear, in focus, in colour and clearly show the capital item, and with no other objects in front of the item
- include make and model number, to show the eligibility of the items against the specifications in Annex 3
- not be smaller than 600 x 400 pixels and ideally the image file size no larger than 400 KB
- clearly demonstrate the layout of the system (for Handling Systems (SG1/2/27/28/31)
Avoid taking photos which identify individuals including employees unless you have obtained their permission to share their personal information with us. Contact us for more information.
If you are unable to send electronic copies, please contact CPSGClaims@rpa.gov.uk or call us on 03000 200 301 and select the options for the Countryside Productivity Small Grant scheme.
Installation and Operating manuals
As part of the claim process, you may be asked to provide a copy of the installation and operating manual for items you have purchased to help verify the item is eligible. You should provide these in an electronic format.
Your claim must be submitted by midnight on 31 May 2021 or your grant award will be withdrawn.
If you have any other queries when preparing your claim, please contact CPSGClaims@rpa.gov.uk or call us on 03000 200 301 and select the options for the Countryside Productivity Small Grant scheme.
You can withdraw your claim at any time unless:
- you have already been told about an error in the claim
- you have been inspected (or receive advance warning of an inspection)
- an inspection reveals a breach of the rules
If you wish to withdraw your claim, please email your request to CPSGClaims@rpa.gov.uk as soon as possible, telling us your reasons for withdrawal. You should include your unique 6 digit reference number.
Grant funding is paid directly into the bank account attached to your business’s main SBI number registered in the Rural Payments service.
It is your responsibility to make sure a valid and active bank account for your business has been added to the main SBI before sending us your claim evidence. Failure to do so will result in your claim payment being delayed. If you need to add a bank account to your main SBI, contact the helpline on 03000 200 301 and follow the options for the Rural Payments team.
We aim to pay your complete claim within 30 working days of receipt of your claim evidence. If there are any issues, it may take longer. You may need to account for this if it will affect the cash flow of your project or business.
Your claim for grant funding may be selected for inspection before the grant payment is made, or up to five years after this date.
All the details in your application, your claim and the declarations you make when submitting your application and items will be checked at inspection. This will include a check on the dates on which the items were bought, who the invoice or invoices were made out to and the specification of the equipment.
If you breach the terms of your GFA, the terms and conditions set out in Annex 1 and 2 of this guidance, or you do not meet the relevant eligibility criteria for this scheme, your payments may be reduced or withheld. Any grant previously paid may be recovered and additional penalties may be applied.
You must make sure that you only claim for eligible equipment from the approved list in Annex 3.
You must buy items that meet the required specification and the invoices you submit must be clearly itemised and dated.
You must claim for all of the items applied for, and they must all have been bought after the date the approval email was sent to you.
Your claim will be considered incorrect and will be rejected if:
- you have not bought all of the items listed in the application
- you buy any items of the wrong kind or which do not meet the minimum specification
- you have ordered or bought items before the GFA was sent to you
- the payment for the items on your claim has either not left your bank account before you claim, or is not listed on your credit card statement before you claim
- the supporting evidence that you provide with your claim does not meet the requirements set out in this handbook
- you made cash payments for any of the items
- you used lease purchase or hire purchase
- you bought ex-demo, second hand, part exchange and ‘try before you buy’ items
- the photographs provided do not show each item as per the minimum specification, in situ and working on your farm
If any part of your claim is incorrect, none of the grant will be paid.
Items purchased with grant funding must be kept in situ, operational and in good repair. They must be used for the same purpose as set out in the original application, for five years from the date of the grant payment. We may recover some or all of the grant if you breach the grant funding agreement during this period.
You should record the items on the business’s asset register and keep it for a minimum of five years from the date your claim is paid. You should also keep copies of any relevant documentation during this period. This includes original invoices, receipts and bank statements.
You must allow officials from RPA, Defra, National Audit Office and the European Commission and their representatives to inspect the equipment at any reasonable time within the five year period from the date of the final payment of your grant.
You must tell us in advance of:
- replacing or upgrading any of the grant funded items
- any changes in the ownership of the business that applied for grant
- any changes in the ownership of the grant funded items
- the business or grant funded enterprise/activity ceasing to trade or fundamentally changing the nature of its activities
If any grant funded assets are sold, become redundant, or will no longer be used for the purpose for which they were grant funded, the grant will be recovered pro-rata. This will be effective for five years from the date of your grant payment.
If the business changes ownership, the item can either transfer to the new owner or the grant can be repaid to us. Contact us for more advice.
All invoices, receipts, and accounts and any other relevant documents relating to the grant must be kept for at least seven years from the date of the final payment. This is a HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) requirement. If you have any other queries, please contact CPSGClaims@rpa.gov.uk or call us on 03000 200 301 and select the options for the Countryside Productivity Small Grant scheme.
Once you receive your grant, you must meet the publicity requirements to display the European Union (EU) logo and publicise information about the funding you have received. You must still meet these requirements even though we formally left the EU on 31 January 2020. The EU logo and a reference to support from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD): Europe Investing in rural areas”, as well as a reference to Defra must be shown on:
- electronic materials (including websites)
- printed material and publications, such as newsletters and posters
- media and public relations material
- events, conferences, seminars and workshop material
- printed or electronic material for beneficiaries/participants
- descriptions of activity on websites
Please see europa.eu for details of the correct logo to use. Search for ‘EUROPA – Resources for writers and publishers’ and choose ‘EU flag’. The logo should be placed in a prominent position on all materials.
Your grant will be recovered if you do not meet this requirement.
The requirements are set out in Annex III at 2.1 and 2.1 of Regulation (EU) No. 808/2014] which is available here: Annex III at 2.1 and 2.2 of Regulation (EU) No. 808/2014 and Annex III of Regulation (EU) No. 2016/669 on the EUR-Lex site.