GovWire

A Countryside Stewardship (CS) 5 in 10 agreement is a Higher Tier agreement that contains both:

• 5-year options that expire on 31 December 2023
• 10 or 20-year options that will continue until the agreements expiry date

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is offering eligible agreement holders an opportunity to apply for a replacement CS agreement, so that the land continues to be managed environmentally.

The replacement CS agreement will last for 10 or 20 years from the new start date.

These replacement CS agreements will be based on the eligible parcels and options in your existing CS Higher Tier agreement. Ineligible options will be removed.

The agreements will be domestically funded.

Conditions of eligibility

To be eligible, you must apply for a replacement CS Higher Tier agreement and follow the current scheme rules, including the terms and conditions.

You must have an existing CS Higher Tier agreement. RPA must not have terminated it on or before the date the replacement agreement is accepted by you and received by us.

If you are transferring land, you must make sure all necessary paperwork is complete before the replacement agreement can start (including Rural Land and Entitlement (RLE1) forms).

A replacement CS agreement offer cannot add, remove, or replace options in your current agreement.

Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) or scheduled monuments on your holding need to be under management control. There should be no unmanaged areas on your holding. If there are unmanaged areas, you can apply for a new CS agreement.

If there are any breaches on your current agreement, you must make sure you have responded to all requests for information from us and Natural England, and have taken any required action.

There must be no other breaches with the scheme rules.

Additional rules and conditions that apply to replacement CS Higher Tier agreements

You should have completed any capital works. RPA will remove any incomplete capital works from the agreement.

If your existing agreement includes Educational Access options, RPA will include these in the replacement CS agreement. You will need to continue to record and submit a record of these visits, as currently required under the terms of your existing agreement.

Organic management options are eligible for a replacement CS Higher Tier agreement. However, RPA is not able to offer replacement CS agreements for organic conversion options OR1, OR2, OR3, OR4 and OR5. This is because conversion will have been completed in the first 5 years of your existing agreement. RPA will remove these options and replace them with organic management options. You may still be eligible for a replacement agreement if there are other options in your existing agreement.

RPA is not able to offer replacement CS Higher Tier agreements for woodland-only agreements. RPA will remove woodland options in mixed agreements. You may still be eligible for a replacement agreement if there are other options in your existing agreement.

By signing the declaration, you will need to confirm you have management control for the replacement CS agreement period.

What happens next

A Natural England adviser will carry out an initial assessment of the environmental benefits based on the options in your existing agreement. They will carry out checks before making a recommendation to offer a replacement CS Higher Tier agreement.

They will check that the options in your existing CS Higher Tier agreement:

• remain appropriate for the CS priority target features on the holding
• are at least 80% of the priority habitats on your holding (if applicable) under appropriate, beneficial options

They will also check that you are meeting the management prescriptions in your existing agreement (at the time of the Natural England assessment) and that these options can achieve the required outcomes, as set out in the indicators of success.

RPA will only consider offering a replacement CS agreement if there are genuine practical or administrative barriers, which would prevent you from managing a new or additional habitat under a new CS agreement.

When the adviser has completed their checks, they will decide whether your agreement still meets the rules and provides the environmental outcomes it was set up to deliver. If your agreement is suitable, RPA will invite you to apply for a replacement CS agreement.

Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)

If you are offered a replacement CS agreement, you may need a new consent for the ongoing management activities on the SSSI. If so, contact Natural England to get consent as soon as you receive your replacement CS agreement offer. Read about how to get consent on SSSI land.

Send RPA a copy of the consent notice with your signed agreement declaration.

Natural England can give consent without amending option choices or prescription details if SSSI land is included in the agreement and the current land management is still appropriate for the SSSI features on the agreement land. There is also no need for additional capital works.

RPA will finalise your agreement once we receive the appropriate consent from Natural England, where this is required.

How woodland will be affected by replacement CS agreements

If you have woodland option WD2 (woodland improvement) in your existing Higher Tier mixed CS agreement with a combined area greater than 3 hectares (ha) (1 ha for SSSIs), it will be removed from your replacement CS agreement. However, you can apply separately for a CS Woodland Improvement (WD2) grant on these areas.

Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs)

EFAs no longer exist.

If you wish to change any of these options in your expiring agreement, you need to complete a new application.

Environmental Land Management scheme

If you are successful in securing a place in the Environmental Land Management scheme, such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), then you can terminate your CS agreement early. This will be without penalty and at the end of an agreement year, so you can join the Environmental Land Management scheme.