Entitlement Transfers

Many will be wanting to transfer entitlements ahead of the 2016 BPS claim.  Timings and processes differ across the GB administrations as set out below. 

England

In England, Entitlement Statements are unlikely to be available until sometime in the New Year.  Statements are likely to be posted out and may also be available online.  Therefore claimants may not be certain about the precise number of BPS entitlements they hold (especially if they have applied to the National Reserve, or had entitlements confiscated).  Payments, if they arrive in December, may or may not give a clue as to entitlement numbers.  It would appear to make sense to wait until the Statements are available before transfers are undertaken.  However, the Active Farmer declaration for the 2015 BPS year only lasts until 31^st December.  For any transfers after that date, a new Active Farmer declaration will have to be filled-out to accompany the RLE1 form.  We have not yet seen this form.  The deadline for transfers in England in 2016 is likely to be aligned with the deadline for claims, as it was in 2015.  With the 15^th May being a Sunday, the last date for submissions will be the 16^th May.  RLE1s are the means for transfers at present.  It is possible that the online system will become available in 2016, but this is not certain.

Scotland

In Scotland entitlements will not be formally established until the spring once all checks and validation is completed.  Claimants will get an entitlement statement at that point.  The Scottish Government has produced new guidance and a ‘PF23’ form for those wishing to transfer entitlements beforehand (see https://www.ruralpayments.org/publicsite/futures/topics/all-schemes/basic-payment-scheme/basic-payment-scheme-full-guidance/guidance-on-transfer-of-entitlements/ ).  This acts as an advanced notification to the Government, who will then action it once entitlements are established.  In Scotland, the traditional 6-week cut-off prior to the BPS deadline is being retained so the last entitlement transfer date will be the 2^nd April.  As this is a Sunday it may be shifted to the 3^rd.

Unlike other parts of Great Britain, a ‘siphon’ of 50% applies to transfers of entitlements without land in Scotland.  This affects the basic element of the BPS and not the Greening Top-up (or any Coupled payments).  ‘Transfer’ covers both sales and leases.  The interaction of the siphon and the transition to the regional payment is complex, but most claimants will wish to avoid the siphon by linking transfers with an equivalent number of hectares.  One particular issue concerns where Tenants have been allocated BPS entitlements in 2015.  Where they are required to return these to the Landlord at the end of the tenancy (or an incoming Tenant), this will be deemed a ‘without land’ transfer and so be subject to the siphon.  This is because the reversion of a lease does not count as a transfer.  In the future, if a Landlord lets a farm and leases an equivalent number of entitlements then the siphon will not apply at the end of the lease.  This is because the return of the land and entitlements are both reversions and do not count as transfers.

Wales

In Wales, the plan is that all entitlement transfers will be completed electronically using the RPW Online system.  This facility should be available from February 2016.  When part payments are made the Welsh Government will provide an indication of the number of entitlements allocated.  This will be followed by definitive Entitlement Statements, hopefully in late March.  The deadline for transfers in Wales in 2016 will be Tuesday 3^rd May (was to be the 30^th April, but weekends and Bank Holidays have pushed the date back).