Rural Payments and Services

The Rural Support (Simplification and Improvement) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 (SSI 2023/308) which comes into force on 1 January 2024 will implement changes to simplify the payment entitlement process.

From the 2024 scheme year, the two-year usage rule no longer applies. This means that 2023 is the last year where customers could lose BPS payment entitlements due to non-activation in two previous years.

For customers wishing to transfer entitlements, the entitlement transfer request form PF23 will be simplified to 3 categories of transfer:

• permanent
• temporary or
• inheritance

Customers will also no longer need to notify if the transfer is to be done with or without land and the siphon for transfer without land will no longer be applied.