The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) confirmed today (Tuesday 6 December) that 95.3% of farmers have already received full payments in the first few days of the payment window. This means that £872m has been released into the rural economy to build on the earlier payments which farmers received in July and August.
Over 102,000 payments have been made, bringing the total paid to farmers to £1.528bn, across the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), Countryside Stewardship (CS) and Environmental Stewardship (ES) schemes which support farmers to achieve certain standards and deliver environmental outcomes in a range of habitats. Eligible farmers should expect to receive their payment within the payment window which opened on 1 December and ends on 30 June 2023.
As announced in May 2022, customers claiming Direct Payments have received two separate payments this year, with the first made from the end of July 2022 and completed by August 2022.
This was in response to the cost pressures faced by farmers caused by global gas prices rising and Putin's illegal war in Ukraine, and to boost cash flow for many businesses during this uncertain period.
RPA Chief Executive Paul Caldwell said:
This has been a year of unprecedented challenges for our farmers and rural businesses, which is why the RPA has been working hard to make payments as quickly as possible - both in July and in the current payment window.
We know how important these payments are to farmers and the wider economy, so will continue to work hard to process any remaining claims as quickly as possible.
The RPA recently published a blog on BPS 2022 payments to remind farmers about the changes to payments from this year: Basic Payment Scheme: December 2022 Payments - Rural payments (blog.gov.uk).
Claimants are also urged to remain vigilant against fraud. They should remember:
- Your bank, police or the RPA will never ask you to reveal your online password, PIN or bank account details or ask you to make a payment over the telephone.
- Never disclose personal information to someone you don't know or open unknown or unexpected computer links or emails.
- If in doubt, call the organisation back, ideally on a different telephone, using a number you are familiar with or you know to be official. You can find this on the organisation's website, correspondence or statement. Contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 without delay for advice and to register your concern.
