Annual grant payments - 2008

The details on this page apply to annual payments under the following schemes:

Farm Woodland Scheme (FWS)
Farm Woodland Premium Scheme (FWPS)
EWGS Farm Woodland Payments (FWP)
EWGS Woodland Management Grant (WMG)

EU regulations mean that annual payments co-financed by the EU cannot commence until all the inspections have started on those cases selected for inspection. The Forestry Commission received confirmation from the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) that this had been achieved on 22nd October 2008 and payment processing commenced shortly after.

Payments are being made by electronic BACS transfer ONLY. Bank statements will record the entry FORESTRY COMM. Your remittance advice will give full details of the payments including case references and any set-aside deductions. Operations Note 016: Farm Woodland Payments and Set Aside Deductions (PDF 55kb) gives further details.

For FWS and FWPS, we are using BACS data held by the RPA. Where the RPA do not hold current bank or building society details they have twice written to customers requesting the information. The Forestry Commission has also written to those customers for whom we do not hold valid bank details. If you have had one of these letters and have not yet responded or you believe the RPA do not hold your BACS details, you will need to complete a CREG 17 form. Once completed, the form should be returned direct to the RPA as soon as possible.

If you have any problems completing the CREG 17 form or have any questions regarding the letter, please contact the RPA. Their Customer Service Centre is open from 08:30am to 5pm Monday to Friday and calls are charged at local rate. Call 0845 603 7777 and choose the Customer Registration option or e-mail your enquiry to customer.service.centre@rpa.gsi.gov.uk.

Even where the FC holds valid bank details there are several reasons why individual payments may be delayed:

2008 or an earlier years claim form not yet received
prior years payments incomplete
changes to, or incomplete, Rural Land Register data
land-use cross-check failure against other RDPE scheme or Single Payment Scheme
outstanding inspection issue
day to day amendment such as succession
set-aside query
no Single Business Identifier (SBI).

Single Business Identifiers (SBIs)

Since 1st June 2008 it has been a requirement for all claimants to declare their SBI number at the time of submitting a claim. All claimants in receipt of 'Invitations to claim' are being notified of this requirement at the time claims are sent out. For EWGS FWP and WMG cases where claims are to be generated and paid automatically, the Forestry Commission has made contact with owners requesting that this information be provided to allow payments to be made on time. Failure or delay in notifying us of your number will result in payment being delayed. Further information on SBI numbers and how to register is given in Operations Note 019: Customer and Land Registration (PDF 54kb).

Non-farmer capped Farm Woodland Payments (for schemes approved since 1st January 2007)

In accordance with the new rules, non-farmers are capped with a Farm Woodland Payment (FWP) of €150/hectare/year. In processing the annual payment, it is converted to sterling equivalent based on the exchange rate on the 31st December of the previous year; this is set out in the European regulations. This year's payments are therefore based on the exchange rate on 31st December 2007. It is important to note that the autumn payment is not based on the current exchange rate but payments may go up or down year on year.

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