Rural Payments and Services

The Single Application Form is the form you need to fill in if you want to claim payments under the following schemes:

• Basic Payment Scheme (including Greening and Young Farmer payments)
• Scottish Suckler Beef Support Scheme (Mainland and Islands)
• Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme
• Less Favoured Area Support Scheme
• Agri-Environment Climate Scheme – annual recurrent options
• Forestry Grant Scheme – annual maintenance and management grants
• Beef Efficiency Scheme
• Rural Development Contracts – Rural Priorities annual recurrent options

The easiest way to complete the Single Application Form is online. To do this, you must be registered with Rural Payments and Services.

How to register

Once you are registered with our online service, we will send you a reminder each year ahead of the application window opening. If you need help using our online service, contact your local area office to arrange a short tutorial.

Guidance

If you require a paper copy of the Single Application Form, you can pick up a copy at your local area office.

You can download the Single Application Form blank base form (IACS (2)) and data sheets (IACS (3),(4) and (5)) below. Please note that we can only accept a base form that is bound by two staples down its left side.

We can accept data sheets you have downloaded and filled in, provided they are legible on A3 paper.

We will also accept computer generated data sheets if they are on A3 paper and:

• they match exactly the same layout and headings shown on the IACS(3), IACS(4) and IACS(5) forms
• the maximum number of land parcels recorded on them is five
• they are easy to read, decipher and photocopy
• each data sheet is signed and dated

Our offices will be happy to print blank forms and post them to you if you can't meet the requirements above.

We recommend that you submit your form online to get the benefit of our submission validation checks and you can find guidance on how to do that under the Submitting Online section.

• if you are using the Single Application Form to apply for the Basic Payment Scheme, you should make sure you are familiar with the guidance for Greening and Cross Compliance
• for the Scottish Suckler beef Support Scheme and the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme, you will also need to submit a separate claim form
• if you have a contract with the Beef Efficiency Scheme, you will need to tick the claim box in the Single Application Form
• we'll use the information on your Single Application Form (plus any supporting information) to determine your eligibility for the schemes you are claiming for
• if your claim is successful (each claim is assessed on its ability to meet the eligibility criteria) we will make payments into your business bank account

21 May 2020

If your SAF application was submitted by the 15 May 2020 it can be amended to add or remove certain information up to 1 June 2020 without penalty.

As the 31 May 2020 is a Sunday, the deadline is set to the first following working day.

Unfortunately the SAF related guidance has been published using the 31 May deadline instead of the 1 June deadline for amendments.

9 April 2020

Within the online Single Application Form (SAF) there is a section titled Entitlements. This section is where any applications to the National Reserve could be made and also where any Basic Payment Scheme entitlements already held by a business should be displayed showing the numbers and value by payment region.

The number and value of entitlements is illustrative and may be amended, for example, if there are entitlement transfers still to process.

We are aware of a problem for SAF 2020 in that there are applications where the entitlements value is displayed as a zero. The value can be missing for some or all of the different lots of entitlements held by a business.

This problem is just a display issue and has no impact on your ability to correctly complete and submit the 2020 SAF application. Note that if the value is displayed as a zero on screen then any SAF acknowledgement letter or SAF summary generated will also show a zero value.

The functionality to display 2020 BPS entitlements within the Rural Payments and Services IT system is still being developed, when this is complete you will be able to see entitlement numbers and value for 2020. At the moment all you can see are the entitlements from 2015-2019.

Section	Change
Guidance	Updated 2021 Guide to online SAF submission document uploaded

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