Rural Payments and Services

This page is no longer in use as it was only applicable to 2015.

Date published: 6 March, 2015

Date removed: 26 May, 2016

Who should complete an 'Allocation of entitlements' form?

Any farmer who is applying for an allocation of Basic Payment Scheme payment entitlements under the following routes:

Activity in 2013

• producing at least three hectares of fruits, vegetables, ware potatoes, seed potatoes or ornamental plants on 15 May, 2013
• producing, rearing or growing of agricultural products, including through harvesting, milking, breeding animals and keeping animals for farming purposes on 15 May, 2013
• cultivating at least three hectares of vineyards on 15 May, 2013

National Reserve

• New Entrant
• Young Farmer
• Specific Disadvantage
• Force majeure or exceptional circumstance

Private contract clause

• transfer of the right to receive payment entitlements in the case of sale or lease of an entire holding or part of it
• transfer of payment entitlements (yet to be allocated) in the case of sale or lease of an entire holding or part of it

If I submit an allocation of entitlements form, do I also need to submit a Single Application Form in 2015?

Yes. All farmers wishing to participate in the Basic Payment Scheme must submit a Single Application Form annually.

If I was eligible to receive a payment under the Single Farm Payment Scheme and / or the Scottish Beef Scheme for scheme year 2013 do I need to complete an allocation of entitlements form?

No. If you were eligible to receive a payment under the Single Farm Payment Scheme or the Scottish Beef Scheme in respect of scheme year 2013 you should apply for an allocation of payment entitlements by completing Question 5c on your Single Application Form 2015.

In addition to the Single Application Form 2015, you will have to complete an Application for Entitlements if you wish to apply for a top-up to your entitlement value through one of the National Reserve categories or if you have entered into a private contract clause agreement.

Can I submit an allocation of entitlements online via the Rural Payments and Services website?

Online submissions of the form will be available from mid-March 2015.

However, the online submission will not cover private contract clause applications and therefore all such applications should be made via the paper version of the form.

To submit the form online, you must first register with Rural Payments and Services.

Alternatively, you can access the paper form below.

PF10 – Allocation of Entitlements form

You can access a quick guide with advice on how to complete the form here

When do I need to submit my application by?

Applications open on 28 January, 2015, and close on 15 May, 2015, although we will accept applications up to 9 June, 2015 subject to a three per cent per working day penalty to be applied to payments due under the Basic Payment Scheme, Greening payment and Young Farmer payment.

Any applications received after 9 June, 2015 will be rejected.

If I apply using the paper allocation of entitlements form where do I submit my application?

You should submit your allocation of entitlements form to your local Rural Payments and Inspections Division (RPID) Area Office.

Contact us

What will happen to my application?

Your application will be assessed and you will be notified whether it has been 'approved in principal' or 'rejected'.

An approved in principal application is one which meets the eligibility requirements of the routes or categories applied for. Final eligibility checks can only be completed when the data contained within the Single Application Form is received and verified.

We are required to indicate to you what your entitlement allocation will be by 31 December, 2015 and to definitively establish and notify entitlement allocations by 1 April, 2016.

What are the eligibility requirements for the 'Activity in 2013' routes to entitlements?

To be eligible under Route two – activity in 2013, you must have been eligible to receive a payment under the Single Farm Payment Scheme or the Scottish Beef Scheme for the 2013 scheme year.

Alternatively, you must have been undertaking one or more of the following activities on 15 May, 2013:

• producing at least three hectares of fruits, vegetables, ware potatoes, seed potatoes or ornamental plants
• producing, rearing or growing of agricultural products, including through harvesting, milking, breeding animals and keeping animals for farming purposes
• cultivating at least three hectares of vineyards

I am a land owner who rented out land seasonally in 2013, declaring all my land as land let out on the Single Application Form 2013 in columns J and K of the Field Data sheets. I have now taken this land back in hand and will be claiming this myself on the 2015 SAF. Can I apply under Route two – activity 2013?

No. As you did not undertake an agricultural activity in your own right on 15 May, 2013, you are not eligible for an allocation of payment entitlements under Route two.

What is the National Reserve?

The National Reserve is an allocation of the Direct Payments budget which is used to allocate payment entitlements, as a matter of priority, to young farmers and new entrants to farming.

What other categories of farmers can receive awards under the National Reserve?

The National Reserve will also be used to allocate payment entitlements to farmers in order to compensate for specific disadvantages and to farmers who are prevented from being allocated payment entitlements as a result of force majeure or exceptional circumstances.

What is the definition of a Young Farmer?

A young farmer is a farmer who is no more than 40 years and 364 days old on 31 December of the year they first apply to the Basic Payment Scheme and who are setting up for the first time as head of the holding.

What does it mean to be 'head of the holding'?

The European Regulations require that the young farmer must be head of holding, exercising effective and long-term control over the business in terms of decisions related to management, benefits and financial risks.

For a sole trader, the position is clear but for businesses where a number of individuals are involved (for example, partners) further evidence will be required to prove that the young person meets the legal requirements.

What is the definition of a New Entrant?

A new entrant is a farmer starting an agricultural activity in 2013 or later and who has not had any agricultural activity in their own name or at their own risk in the five years before the start of their current farming activity.

I am a land owner who rented out land seasonally in 2013, declaring all my land as land let out on the Single Application Form 2013 in columns J and K of the Field Data sheets. I have now taken this land back in hand and will be claiming this myself on the 2015 SAF. Can I apply as a New Entrant?

Yes, if you meet the definition of a new entrant.

What are the eligibility requirements for the Specific Disadvantages category of the National Reserve?

The Specific Disadvantages category is available to farmers who:

• have been allocated National Reserve-type entitlements in 2005 as a result of an application under the New Entrant or Investor categories of the 2005 National Reserve. This includes entitlements originally allocated as the standard, set-aside, or Payment Entitlement with Special Conditions (PESC) types but which were subsequently changed to National Reserve-type, due to an award of greater than 20 per cent of the original entitlement value
• did not receive an automatic allocation of standard, set-aside, or PESC-type entitlements in 2005 but have purchased entitlements in any year since 2006 and still held these in 2014

What are force majeure or exceptional circumstances?

To be eligible for force majeure, you must have been prevented from meeting requirements due to:

• abnormal and unforeseeable conditions, outside your control
• the consequences of which, in spite of the exercise of all due care, you could not have avoided other than with excessive sacrifice

Circumstances	Acceptable documentation
Death of an active member of the farming business	Death certificate
Illness of the producer or an active member of the farming business	Medical certificate
A severe natural disaster gravely affecting the holding's agricultural land, including the accidental destruction of livestock buildings on the holding	Either evidence of insurance claim and its payment, including, if appropriate, Meteorogical Office records or evidence from the body responsible for the disruption
An epizootic affecting part or all of the farmer's livestock	Veterinary evidence
Other exceptional circumstance	Other appropriate documentary evidence

The examples shown above are not, by themselves, enough to qualify as exceptional circumstances.

However, they will be a significant factor in deciding whether exceptional circumstances existed in any particular scheme year.

How is the National Reserve funded?

For 2015, the National Reserve is funded by a reduction of the basic payment scheme annual ceiling.

The percentage reduction shall not be higher than three per cent unless a higher percentage is required to cover allocations to young farmers, new entrants or farmers with specific disadvantages.

The National Reserve is also funded from values resulting from the following replenishment routes:

• payment entitlements not giving right to payments during two consecutive years due to the application of the rules on:
  - active farmer
  - minimum requirements for receiving direct payments
  - artificially creating conditions to avoid reduction of payments
• non-activation of payment entitlements for a period of two consecutive years
• payment entitlements voluntarily returned by farmers
• payment entitlements subject to windfall profit
• unduly allocated payment entitlements
• a linear reduction of the value of payment entitlements under the basic payment scheme where the national reserve is not sufficient to cover cases allocated entitlements as a result of a definitive court ruling
• a siphon of transfer of entitlements without land

What types of private contract clause are there?

There are two types of private contract clause, they are:

• transfer of the right to receive payment entitlements in the case of sale or lease of an entire holding or part of it

This type of private contract clause is targeted at farmers who do not have an automatic right to an allocation of payment entitlements through eligibility for a payment under the Single Farm Payment and / or Scottish Beef schemes in 2013.

In this type of contract clause, the buyer or lessee is allocated payment entitlements.

• transfer of Basic Payment Scheme payment entitlements to be allocated in the case of sale or lease of an entire holding or part of it

This type of private contract clause is targeted at farmers who buy or lease an entire holding or part of it and would like to benefit from the historic reference (2014 payment entitlement value) of the seller or lessor.

In this type of clause, the seller or lessor is allocated the payment entitlements and then they are immediately transferred to the buyer or lessee with effect from 15 May, 2015.

If I have entered into more than one private contract clause can I enter them all in one application?

No. You must complete a separate Allocation of Entitlement application form for each private contract clause you are involved in.