Forestry Commission National Office
620 Bristol Business Park
Coldharbour Lane
Bristol
BS16 1EJ
COPY – please refer to letter received
Your Forestry Commission Case Details
GLOS Case Ref: PLEASE REFER TO LETTER RECEIVED
Property Name: PLEASE REFER TO LETTER RECEIVED
Agreement Ref: PLEASE REFER TO LETTER RECEIVED
SBI: PLEASE REFER TO LETTER RECEIVED
Important: New requirement to submit annual Claim Forms
Action:
1. Please read this letter, together with Annex 1 and Annex 2;
2. Please register as the agreement holder on the new online Rural Payments service;
3. Once you have registered, if an agent is acting on your behalf please pass on this
documentation to them as they will not have received a duplicate copy;
4. Check your land is registered using the maps provided by the Rural Payments
Agency (to you or your agent) and notify them of any changes required;
5. Return the Annual Claim Form (Annex 1) completed (by you or your agent) to the
Forestry Commission before the deadline of 15 June 2015 to avoid any reduction in
your payments.
Please note: All information included in this letter and updates are available on the Forestry
Commission Grants and Regulations homepage http://www.forestry.gov.uk/england-grants.
1. What the claim is for
From 1 January 2015 agreement holders must submit a claim form each year to receive their
scheduled payments. This new requirement relates to annual payments identified in the case
details above, many of which would have previously been paid automatically.
You have been identified as a main applicant in the agreement contract. This new requirement
will affect all Farm Woodland Premium Schemes and English Woodland Grant schemes
where you are still in receipt of either:


Farm Woodland (revenue forgone) Payments or;
Annual Woodland Management Grant Payments.
Claims for Capital works such as Woodland Creation Grant, Woodland Improvement Grant and
Woodland Regeneration Grant can continue to be submitted at any time of the year and will not
be affected by this change in Regulations.
Page 1
2. If you have an agent
This letter has not been sent to the primary contact, because in many cases (in particular
‘agents’ for older schemes) our experience tells us that often these agents no longer have an
active interest in the day to day management of the scheme(s).
If you still use an agent to manage your scheme(s) you will need to provide your agent with
authority to act on your behalf by completing Parts B, C and D of the new Forestry Commission
Agent Authority Form. You should then pass on all documentation to your agent as they will not
have received a duplicate copy. Once your agent has completed Part A of the Agent Authority
Form this must be returned with the Claim Form (Annex 1).
To obtain the Agent Authority Form, please visit the Forestry Commission Grants and
Regulations homepage http://www.forestry.gov.uk/england-grants.
3. Registering on the new online Rural Payments service
The Forestry Commission cannot make any future payments to you unless you are registered.
When you register you will be given a Customer Reference Number (CRN). If an agent is acting
on your behalf, both the agreement holder and the agent must register. Once the agent has
registered you can authorise your agent to act on your behalf for Rural Payments Agency (RPA)
purposes on the online Rural Payments service. Further details can be found at
www.gov.uk/rural-payments or by contacting the Rural Payments Helpline on 03000 200 301.
If you are already claiming Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) for land on your holding you may
already be registered.
4. Checking your land is registered on the Rural Payments service
As an agreement holder the land you manage must be fully declared and accurately recorded. If
you have not already received maps from RPA in the last few months (since 1 September 2014),
during April the RPA should send you or your agent maps showing details of your land as
registered on the Rural Land Register. If your maps have not been received by 30 April contact
the Rural Payments Helpline on 03000 200 301. If you are already claiming Basic Payment
Scheme (BPS) for land on your holding you may already have received maps from the RPA.
The maps must be checked, to ensure that they correctly show all of the land which you
manage and that none of your land is missing. If anything is incorrect or missing you must
notify the RPA by completing an RLE1 form and returning it to Rural Payments Agency, PO Box
352, Worksop, S80 9FG:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tell-the-rural-payments-agency-about-landchanges-and-entitlement-transfers
5. When to submit the Claim Form
The Claim Form must be completed and returned to the Forestry Commission National Office by
15 June 2015. We would urge customers to submit their claims as early as possible
It is very important that you submit your Claim Form in time for it to be received
by the 15 June 2015 deadline to avoid any reduction in your payments.
Page 2
What happens next?
A fully pre-populated 2015 Claim Form will be sent to you in early autumn (we are planning for
early September).
Please note: a further result of the changes in the EU Regulations mean that
annual payments that have previously been made in or around the first week in
November will now not be paid until the first week in December at the earliest.
Thank you for your participation in the Forestry Commission’s grant schemes and your
contribution to the conservation and enhancement of the natural environment.
Yours sincerely,
Forestry Commission, England
Page 3
This page is
intentionally
blank
Page 4