Confused about which code to put in a box? Baffled by a column which you are not sure how to complete? Keen to complete your form online, but not sure how to go about it?

In order to help farmers fill their SP5 forms as quickly and easily as possible a team from the RPA has agreed to answer your queries about form-filling online using the FWiSpace forums.

We’ve set up this dedicated area of the site to enable any farmer to raise their queries about how to complete the form accurately.

You will need to be registered to do so, but this process only takes a couple of minutes. The RPA team will be checking the thread every day and aiming to answer questions by the end of the following day.

This is a great opportunity to get those niggling queries answered by specialists within the RPA. Although, the team will not be able to answer individual queries which relate to your individual claim – they will be able to field common queries.

The forum thread will be open from 12 March through to 31 March and answers to the most frequently asked questions will appear in future issues of Farmers Weekly.

Q. I am very keen to do this year's SFP online. At a recent Agrilive event, I filled in a form to be notified when this would be possible, but no-one has got back to me. Are we able to sign up for this now, and how do we go about this? I already fill in Farm Surveys through the whole farm approach and the Government Gateway.

TeslaCoils:

Q. I am very keen to do this year's SFP online. At a recent Agrilive event, I filled in a form to be notified when this would be possible, but no-one has got back to me. Are we able to sign up for this now, and how do we go about this? I already fill in Farm Surveys through the whole farm approach and the Government Gateway.

SPS 2010 team

I have a number of grazed woods which in the past I have made an adjustment to the activated area to take into acount the trees. As a result of the RLR mapping exercise I now have an SPS maximum area for these grazed woods. The SPS maximum area does not take into account the trees and therefore is currently the same value as the OS field area.

Should I leave the SPS maximum area as it is and continue to make an adjustment to the activated area, or should I change to SPS maximum area on my SP5 application to take into account the trees and then set the activated area to match the SPS maximum area. 

I always like to put a figure in the box for the eligible claimed area even if the pre-printed figure is right. It means I am less likely to miss a line or overlook something. Is this a problem? I never really know or not?

Just so people are clear - it will take a day or so for the RPA to turn around answers because of the processes they need to work through (and they will not be answering questions on the weekends). However, the aim is to turn answers around by the following day where possible - so it is likely that questions posted today will be answered on Monday. Hope that makes sense!

bunty:

I always like to put a figure in the box for the eligible claimed area even if the pre-printed figure is right. It means I am less likely to miss a line or overlook something. Is this a problem? I never really know or not?

Hello, thanks for your query. In itself this isn’t an error, but we do actively discourage people from writing in the blank boxes unless they need to correct the information pre-printed above them. All of the forms are scanned into our computer system for processing and any hand writing on them increases the risk that numbers may be captured incorrectly. In extreme cases, if the information is not clear, or is on the border of the box, it may not be captured at all. We do really want to avoid anything that might hold up the processing of your application!

SPS 2010 team

Caroline - RPA SPS 2010 team:

An email is due to go out next week to all farmers and agents who have registered their interest in SPS Online with us.

Thanks. I will update on how it goes as I fully intend to get this done online this year.

My question is- how can the process of the 2010 forms begin when 2009 payments have not been made? We are still waiting for our payment and when we ring the RPA for our regular chat about when the payment will be made, usually following a phone call from our bank manager, we are told that staff shortages are slowing the process. Surely staff should not be working on 2010 forms until 2009 are sorted.

 Help required please

Have looked on NVZ maps for our area and it shows virtually all of Hampshire as an NVZ but we read in Farmers Weekly that the River Meon and Meon Valley are one of approx 20 rivers being removed from NVZs Clarification needed please? info obviously needed for sfp form

Hi Muddled.

Excuse me butting in but as an FW journalist I've written quite a bit about NVZs in recent months.

To be fair, your query is probably one for the Environment Agency rather than RPA - the EA has a helpline on 0845 345 1302 so should be able to answer that. You're right though - we do need an answer on whether these have been successfully exempted.

You can find more free NVZ guidance, and help on how to make the calculations, here.

Hope it's useful

Ian Ashbridge

FW Business Editor

hallfaer:

My question is- how can the process of the 2010 forms begin when 2009 payments have not been made? We are still waiting for our payment and when we ring the RPA for our regular chat about when the payment will be made, usually following a phone call from our bank manager, we are told that staff shortages are slowing the process. Surely staff should not be working on 2010 forms until 2009 are sorted.

I’m afraid to say, as you’ve probably heard this before, but the regulations are clear on this. The application period for 2010 closes on 17 May (without late application penalties) and 11 June with penalties. The 2009 payment window (when we’re allowed and meant to make 2009 payments) opened on 1 December 2009 and runs for 7 months – this means that it overlaps with the start of the next scheme year. We also have a scheme management team to run SPS and who work on the next scheme year, as well as a processing team who concentrate on processing the 2009 application forms received.

I hope this is helpful.

regards SPS 2010 team

borderfarmer:

I have a number of grazed woods which in the past I have made an adjustment to the activated area to take into acount the trees. As a result of the RLR mapping exercise I now have an SPS maximum area for these grazed woods. The SPS maximum area does not take into account the trees and therefore is currently the same value as the OS field area.

Should I leave the SPS maximum area as it is and continue to make an adjustment to the activated area, or should I change to SPS maximum area on my SP5 application to take into account the trees and then set the activated area to match the SPS maximum area. 

 

Don’t alter the maximum area eligible for SPS total in column C4, as this only takes account of ‘permanent’ ineligible features – buildings, water features and metalled areas such as farm roads and hard standing. Trees are regarded as being temporary ineligible features for the purposes of SPS.

I hope this is helpful

Have all the forms gone out? Don't think mine has arrived.

maximusto:

Have all the forms gone out? Don't think mine has arrived.

We started sending forms out on last Thursday (11 March) and we’re planning on sending them out over the next few of weeks or so.

Our guidance on the website states – all forms will be out by early April. If you haven’t received your SPS 2010 application form by 8 April then please call us on 0845 603 7777. You may find our website helpful, we’ve set up an SPS 2010 webage with links to information such as the faqs. The web address is www.rpa.gov.uk/sps2010

SPS 2010 team

My 2010 form has prefilled the field rows with the correct fields plus an extra one that is not mine. This field was not on the map sent to me by the RLR in June last year. Nor was it on my SPS form last year. The same error occurs when I try to start an ELS application. I can presumably put a cross in column C10 for this year but how can I make a full correction?

I have received an application form for a farmer who ceased farming before last years SPS.  All his fields were transfered out to the new farmers in December 2008.  However, I have received an SPS5 form with four fields still on it.  Do I fill it in deleting each line?  Do I ignore it? 

muddled:

Have looked on NVZ maps for our area and it shows virtually all of Hampshire as an NVZ but we read in Farmers Weekly that the River Meon and Meon Valley are one of approx 20 rivers being removed from NVZs Clarification needed please? info obviously needed for sfp form

Ian is correct that the Environment Agency are responsible for NVZs. However, your question was regarding how to complete your SPS application form, so we have also checked with our cross compliance colleagues who work closely with colleagues in the Environment Agency.

All affected farmers will be written to by the Environment Agency once the amended NVZ areas are confirmed, so you should use the latest advice available to you before completing the application form. Therefore, unless you have been told in writing that your farm is no longer in an NVZ you should mark that some or all of your holding is within an NVZ in Part D of your SPS application form.

If a change is made after you have completed returned your form, then do not worry, as we will have the up to date information available to us when we process your application.

SPS 2010 team

lizzyno:

I have received an application form for a farmer who ceased farming before last years SPS.  All his fields were transfered out to the new farmers in December 2008.  However, I have received an SPS5 form with four fields still on it.  Do I fill it in deleting each line?  Do I ignore it? 

Hi lizzyno,

Let me explain this briefly. This year is the first time we have pre-printed the forms using “land links”. In previous years we have printed forms using the information from the previous year’s claim information, therefore any changes made during the year weren’t included on the next year’s form.

This year we have undertaken the Mapping Update project, and as a part of that have tried to check the links to each farmer’s land parcels. Each parcel has to be linked to a farmer’s Single Business Identifier (SBI) via a County Parish Holding (CPH) number. It all sounds quite similar, however as you can imagine with approximately 2.4million parcels, around 115,000 SBIs and a fair few CPH numbers we have relied on farmers agreeing or making changes to their maps or forms. Therefore we’re asking farmers to check their application forms very carefully and to notify us of any changes.

In this case it sounds like these parcels have still been linked to the farmer’s SBI, possibly they could still be in an environmental or forestry scheme? We recommend you mark column C10 for each land parcel (to delete them from your application) and sign and return the form with a covering letter to explain that the farmer has ceased farming. We’ll then add a note on his file and hopefully won’t send you any more forms in the future.

I hope this helps to explain it.

SPS 2010 Team

richardfwi:

My 2010 form has prefilled the field rows with the correct fields plus an extra one that is not mine. This field was not on the map sent to me by the RLR in June last year. Nor was it on my SPS form last year. The same error occurs when I try to start an ELS application. I can presumably put a cross in column C10 for this year but how can I make a full correction?

This year we have undertaken the Mapping Update project, and as a part of that have tried to check the links to each farmer’s land parcels. Each parcel has to be linked to a farmer’s Single Business Identifier (SBI) via a County Parish Holding (CPH) number. It all sounds quite similar, however as you can imagine with approximately 2.4million parcels, around 115,000 SBIs and a fair few CPH numbers we have relied on farmers agreeing or making changes to their maps or forms. Therefore we’re asking farmers to check their application forms very carefully this year and to notify us of any changes.

I have a client who underwent an RPA inspection, the inspector was very sensible and has given me a copy of his findings, maps and report. When I met him he said he was sending it all of the RLR Team for updating.

So low and behold today the revised plans come but bear no resemblance to his inspections or report. The covering letter says the maps are updated from the inspection and that we should use them for 2010?!

Help please am I right in sending the whole lot back to the RPA, including the inspection findings and ask them to sort it out, or shall I await the SP5 form to see what is pre populated. In any event which figures should I use, the previous agreed ones, the inspection ones or the wrong RLR maps sent this morning. Guidance would be gratefully received.

SP5 forms are arriving on farms now, so I would probably wait to see if your form arrives shortly for cross referencing purposes, hopefully!! you will find the pre-populated information concur with the new RLR data. If the inspection flagged up a few measurement issues I would use those figures on the land parcels that are involved as they will be accurate in the RPAs view!!  Hey Ho spring time is here again!!!!

I agree but unfortunately the RLR update does not tie in wiht the inspection, ie the RLR shows 3 hectares and the inspector found 3.20 all of which is SPS eligible?!

I've merged this post inot the main thread so the RPA will hopefully be able to come back with some guidance on this issue.