Introduction
This guidance explains how to complete your Countryside Stewardship (CS) Mid Tier application and supporting documents, after you’ve received them by email or post.
You can now apply for a Mid Tier agreement online using the Rural Payments service. This is a faster and simpler way to complete your application and we encourage you to apply online if you’re able to. You don’t need to request an application pack if you apply online.
Read section 4.1 of the Mid Tier manual and the How to apply online for Mid Tier guidance for more information. You can search for these on GOV.UK.
If you want to apply for capital items only, you can do this by applying for the new extended Capital Grants offer. Read more about the new Capital Grants offer in the Countryside Stewardship Capital Grants manual on GOV.UK.
If you choose not to apply for an agreement online, you can request an application pack using the Rural Payments service. The pack will be emailed to you and will contain the information we hold for your business in the Rural Payments service. Check your junk folder if you have not received the application pack in your inbox following your request. The pack is emailed only once, so it’s important that all your information is up to date in the Rural Payments service before you request the pack.
If you cannot access the internet to apply online or request an application pack, call us on 03000 200 301 and we’ll try to help. To find out what you need to do, read How to request a Mid Tier or Higher Tier application pack on GOV.UK.
If you send your completed application by email you do not need to sign the application form. (However, if you’re sending a paper application form to us by post, you do still need to sign that.) Before you submit an application through any method, you must have both of the following in the Rural Payments service:
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the correct permission level to submit an application
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the business email address registered against the SBI.
We’ll only accept documents such as forms if they are either printed and sent by post or scanned and attached to an email (maximum size of emails we can accept is 32MB). For security reasons, we cannot accept discs, USB pen drives or other external storage media. For more information read Step 8 – Submit your application.
The deadline for the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) to receive your application (including any supporting documents and evidence that needs to be submitted) is 29 July 2022.
We recommend that you submit your application as early as possible and well before the deadline. This will allow time for us to resolve any queries about your application. Read ‘Key dates’ for more information.