Guidance

Countryside Stewardship: mirror agreements

Find out about the process and conditions of eligibility for Countryside Stewardship mirror agreements

• From: Rural Payments Agency
• Published: 20 April 2021
• Last updated: 16 March 2023 — See all updates

Applies to England

A CS mirror agreement is a new agreement under domestic regulations that will mirror an existing CS agreement that is due to expire on 31 December 2023.

A new mirror agreement will last for 5 years.

Background

As current CS Higher Tier agreements expire, we are looking to offer CS agreement holders, with expiring agreements, an opportunity to apply for a new CS agreement under domestic terms and conditions so that the land continues to be managed environmentally. We will no longer be offering a Mirror Agreement for CS Mid Tier Agreements that expire in 2023 but we will invite existing MT agreement holders to apply for a new MT Agreement.

These CS mirror agreements:

• will be new domestically funded agreements, subject to the CS 2023 guidance (including its Terms and Conditions and other annexes) and the conditions of eligibility on this webpage
• will be based upon the eligible parcels and options in your expiring agreement, although ineligible options will be removed
• are a simple way to maintain the environmental outcomes that the public has invested in over the past five years, where those outcomes meet the scheme expectations
• will secure ongoing payments for eligible farmers that will deliver value for money
• will be simpler to administer, as they will not be an extension of their expiring agreement but a mirrored agreement under CS domestic regulations
• will help agreement holders to transition to the new Defra environmental land management schemes.

We have worked with Defra and Natural England (NE) to offer suitable CS mirror agreements if they meet the domestic criteria.

Principles of CS mirror agreements

CS mirror agreements can be offered where the current agreement already delivers the environmental outcomes expected and meets the requirements set out below.

If the agreement is due to expire on 31 December 2023 Natural England (NE) will assess expiring Higher Tier agreements, based on environmental outcomes, using the conditions of eligibility below.

If you are not eligible to apply for a CS mirror agreement, we will let you know in time to apply for a new agreement through Countryside Stewardship. Read about the Countryside Stewardship agreements you may apply for instead. You will need to apply using the standard eligibilities and priorities in place at that time.

We will no longer be offering annual extensions of CS agreements.

Conditions of eligibility

1. The CS agreement must not have expired or been terminated on or before the date the new mirror agreement is accepted by you and received by us.
2. You must apply for the mirror agreement and agree to follow the current scheme rules.
3. There must be no outstanding land transfers which cannot be completed before the start date of the new mirror agreement. In this situation, as an agreement holder, you must make sure all necessary paperwork is complete before the new mirror agreement can start (including RLE1 forms).
4. There must be no outstanding breaches related to the agreement that cannot be put right before the start date of the new mirror agreement. In this situation, as an agreement holder, you must make sure you have responded to all requests for information from us and NE, relating to the breach, and have taken any required action to put right the issues found.
5. There are no unmanaged areas of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) or Scheduled Monuments (SM) on your holding that need to be brought under management.
6. There must be no other non-compliances with the scheme rules.

Environmental outcomes (Higher Tier only)

Assessments of environmental benefits are based solely on the options in your current agreement.

1. 1. The NE adviser will complete a technical assessment to check the following before making a recommendation to offer a new mirror agreement:
   1. a) the options in your current Higher Tier agreement remain appropriate for the CS priority target features on the holding
   2. b) at least 80% of the Priority Habitats on your holding (if applicable) are under appropriate, beneficial options
   3. c) the management prescriptions are being delivered at the point of assessment as set out in your Higher Tier agreement and these options can achieve the required outcomes, as set out in the indicators of success
   4. d) where Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) land is included in the agreement, the current land management is still appropriate for the SSSI features and NE can give consent without amending the option choices or prescription details and without the need for additional capital works
2. 2. Where your agreement has less than 80% of the Priority Habitats on the holding under option management in your agreement, it is unlikely you will be offered the opportunity to apply for a new CS Higher Tier mirror agreement. The expectation is that you should apply for CS Higher Tier to bring the unmanaged Priority Habitats into suitable options.

We will only consider a new CS mirror agreement an option for these agreements if there are genuine practical or administrative barriers which would prevent the additional habitat from being managed under a CS agreement. New CS mirror agreements will not be available on holdings with unmanaged SSSI or SM that need to be under scheme options. In this situation you will be expected to apply for a new domestic Countryside Stewardship agreement.

Additional rules and conditions which will apply to new CS mirror agreements

1. You cannot use a CS Higher Tier mirror agreement offer to add, remove, or replace options in the current agreement.
2. Educational access ED1 will be retained.
3. Any incomplete capital works will be removed from the agreement.
4. New mirror agreements are available for Higher Tier agreements.
5. New mirror agreements are not available for Organic Conversion options OR1, OR2, OR3, OR4 and OR5. These options will be removed, but you may still be eligible for other options. Organic Management Options are eligible for a mirror agreement.
6. New mirror agreements are not available for AB13 as this option has been withdrawn for 2023. This option will be removed but you may still be eligible for other options.
7. New mirror agreements are not available for BE7. This option will be removed but you may still be eligible for other options.
8. New mirror agreements are not available for GS16. This option will be removed but you may still be eligible for other options.
9. New mirror agreements are not allowed for Woodland only expiring agreements. Woodland options (WD2) in mixed agreements will be removed, but you may still be eligible for other options.
10. Higher Tier only: mirror agreements are not available on any agreement that has no Higher Tier options remaining after any required amendments have been made to remove options that are no longer available, such as woodland or organic conversion options.
11. In signing the declaration, you will be asked to confirm you have management control for the mirror agreement period.

How woodland will be affected by CS mirror agreements

If you have woodland options in your current Higher Tier Mixed CS agreement with a combined area greater than 3 ha, (1 ha for Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs)) these woodland options will be removed from your new mirrored agreement.

You can apply for a Countryside Stewardship Woodland Improvement (WD2) grant on these areas. To be eligible for Higher Tier Woodland Improvement Grant (WD3) the total area of woodland in your application must be 3 hectares or more (unless the woodland site is a SSSI, in which case the threshold is lowered to 1 hectare). The total area for the application can be made up of separate blocks of woodland, but the minimum size for these blocks is 0.5 hectares.

Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)

If you are offered a mirror agreement and you need a new consent for the ongoing management activities on the SSSI, contact Natural England (NE) to get consent as soon as you receive your new agreement offer. Then send NE a copy of the consent with your signed acceptance declaration. We cannot finalise your agreement without the appropriate consent from NE, where this is required.

Educational Access

Educational Access options in an expiring agreement will be included in the mirror agreement. You will need to continue to record and submit a record of these visits, as currently required under the terms of your agreement.

Ecological Focus Areas (EFAS)

Domestic controls have removed the Ecological Focus Areas (EFA) rules. Mirror agreements do not allow for changes in options, so if you wish to change these options in your expiring agreement, please complete a new application.

Environmental Land Management

If you join one of the future Environmental Land Management schemes, you can end your Countryside Stewardship agreement early, at agreed points, so you can join the new scheme.

What will happen next?

If your agreement is suitable, we will write to invite you to apply for a new agreement which will mirror the current agreement and will start on 1 January 2024. If accepted, this new agreement will include all the revenue options in the current agreement that are eligible under the domestic funding regulations.

If you have a Higher Tier agreement which is due to expire on 31 December 2023, Natural England (NE) will carry out an initial assessment to see if your agreement is suitable for a new mirror agreement.

If it is suitable, the NE adviser will decide whether your agreement still meets the rules and provides the environmental outcomes it was set up to deliver. The adviser may arrange a site visit to confirm your agreement is suitable. A site visit may not be necessary if NE already has enough knowledge of your agreement. If your agreement includes SSSI land, a visit must be completed. We will then write to you if your agreement is suitable to invite you to apply for a mirror agreement.

If your agreement is not suitable for a new mirror agreement or you wish to make changes, you can apply for a new CS agreement under domestic regulations. For information on new CS applications, read the Countryside Stewardship: How to apply guidance.

Published 20 April 2021
Last updated 16 March 2023 + show all updates

1. 16 March 2023

   Update to Mid Tier invitations. All Mid Tier agreement holders affected by this change will be contacted by the Rural Payments Agency

2. 9 December 2022

   Dates have been updated to reflect continuation.

3. 7 February 2022

   Updated for CS mirror agreements in 2022.

4. 20 April 2021

   First published.