Key dates for 2015

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Important note
The deadline for the submission of Single Application Forms for 2016 has been extended to 15 June.

News release

Questions and answers: Extension to SAF 2016 closing date

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Date published: 20 April, 2015

Date superseded: 1 January, 2016

The below information relates to the 2015 scheme year. We will update this page with the key dates for 2016 ahead of the opening date for the Single Application Form window.

Some of the dates for the 2015 scheme year, as they apply in Scotland, have changed.

This follows a regulation raised by the European Commission that extends the deadline for, amongst other things, the submission of the single application form to Monday, 15 June, 2015.

The key dates for the scheme year 2015 are in the table below.

Date Event
1 January Start of the scheme year. You must meet all Cross Compliance conditions from this date.

Start of management for EFA buffers and EFA field margins.
15 January Start of management period for EFA fallow.
1 March Start of no hedge cutting period.
2 April (or first working day after if this falls on weekend or public holiday) Deadline for transferring entitlements.
1 May (to 30 June) Period designated as the most relevant for calculating the shares attributable to different crop types for the purposes of crop diversification.
15 May, 2015 Land used to claim Basic Payment Scheme payment in 2015 has to be ‘at your disposal’ on this date.
15 May, 2015 Start of the Land Managers Options scheme year.
Midnight, 15 June, 2015 Deadline for Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division to receive form PF10 (Allocation of entitlements) – applications for entitlements under the wider access, National Reserve, or Private Contract Clause provisions.
Midnight, 15 June, 2015 Deadline for Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division to receive form PF06 (Land maintenance) – land transfers (the land for the Basic Payment Scheme 2015 must have been at the applicants disposal on 15 May, 2015) and mapping changes (such as permanent changes to field boundaries or information about permanent ineligible features that are not already included on existing maps).
Midnight, 15 June, 2015 Deadline for Scottish Government Rural Payment and Inspections Division to receive forms seeking allocation of entitlements in relation to changes to business structures:
PF11 - business merger
PF12 - business inheritance
PF13 - part business inheritance
PF14 - business split (scission)
Midnight, 15 June, 2015 Deadline for Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division to receive Single Application Form / Basic Payment Scheme 2015 application.
Midnight, 15 June, 2015 Deadline for Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division to receive applications for Land Managers Options continuing commitments. (Note – applications received after this date are inadmissible).
Midnight, 10 July, 2015 Deadline for Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division to receive late applications (Single Application Forms / Basic Payment Scheme 2015 applications, applications to National Reserve), or late amendments, with penalty.
Midnight, 10 July, 2015 Deadline for Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division to receive nominations or changes to preferred currency (euros or sterling) in which Direct Payments are to be received.
15 July End of management period for EFA fallow.
1 August End of management period for EFA nitrogen fixing crops.
31 August Start of cutting period for hedges.
30 September Euro exchange rate is set.
1 October Catch crop / green cover must be established.
1 December Payment window opens for Basic Payment Scheme.
31 December End of scheme year. You must meet all Cross Compliance conditions until this date.

It is important to note that there is no provision for the 2015 scheme year to allow amendments to Single Application Forms without penalty after 15 June, 2015.

Changes can be made after this date for reasons of force majeure, withdrawals of all or part of your application, obvious errors and notified errors.

Outside these reasons, amendments can only be made between 16 June and 10 July by withdrawing the Single Application Form in its entirety, making the changes, and re-submitting.

In this case, you need to be aware that we will apply deductions to any subsequent payments for late submission.

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