If you do not wish to extend an extension, you can inform the consultant. You can apply for one of the campaign`s stewardship agreements instead. The RPA offers HLS contract renewals to provide the following benefits: Information to contract holders on renewals for appropriate higher-level environmental stewardship agreements that will expire in 2022 The RPA will only consider extending these agreements if there are real practical or administrative barriers that would prevent the management of additional habitat under a CS agreement. Renewal will not be available for operations with SSSI or unmanaged SM that must be in the system options. In this case, you can apply for a campaign stewardship contract. If you have HC7 and/or HC8 forest options in your current agreement with a combined area of more than 3 ha, these options will be removed from your extended agreement. Forest plots remain in your extended agreement without HLS payments (ELS payments will continue if necessary). If the individual hc7/HC8 plots have an area of less than 0.5 ha, the HC7/HC8 option may remain in the agreement to be extended. As the name suggests, it`s more targeted than (O) ELS, and not all areas are eligible. It is designed to provide more support for more active and environmentally friendly management practices. Unlike ELS, it also offers grants for capital works, such as the restoration of traditional farm buildings. All senior management agreements (HLS) must be underpinned by basic management of an ELS or OELS agreement, but unlike these systems, the agreement has a term of 10 years. All agreements begin on one of four start dates at three-month intervals throughout the year.
The first HLS agreements started on 1 February 2006. There was a delay in the introduction of HLS due to problems with the department`s computer system, “Genesis”, which was built by Atos Origin. If your agreement started in 2012 and expires in 2022, Natural England (NE) will use the following criteria to assess whether it can be renewed. NE may recommend that RPA offer a one-year extension of the agreement. NE will conduct an initial assessment to see if your agreement can be renewed. If this is the case, an NE consultant will contact you to determine if your agreement is still in compliance with the rules and continues to provide the environmental outcomes for which it was put in place. Guidelines on how to meet the requirements of an environmental liability agreement. If you have any of the following options in your agreement, you will receive an ELS basemap with your revised Extension Agreement documents: However, if you want to obtain funding for the ongoing management of these forest parcels where HC7/HC8 has been removed from the agreement, you must do the following: Link to tips on how changes to digital cards in the Rural Payment Service may have an impact on added agreements. NE will conduct an initial assessment to determine whether agreements started in 2011 and due to expire in 2021 can be renewed. One of the most important things the consultant will look at is the environmental outcomes associated with the current agreement. The consultant then makes a recommendation as to whether the agreement should be extended by 12 months. RPA will record receipt of your signed declaration and your HLS agreement will continue until the new end date.
You must submit an annual application in the usual manner. We will notify you when the deadline for the application form is announced. After that, RPA will review annually whether to offer renewals to all expiring contract holders, based on value for money. We have worked with Defra and NE to enable the renewal of the appropriate HLS agreements if they meet the following criteria. Countryside Stewardship`s new mid- and upper-level programs consist of five-year agreements. Each of them offers a number of new and better paid options compared to the old systems. Examples include, but are by no means limited to: If your agreement was renewed in 2019, 2020 or 2021, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) may offer to extend your agreement for another year. It is based on the criteria used in previous years and you must continue to meet these criteria. .