ES Payment Alignment and Cashflow

From 1^st January 2015 all existing Environmental Stewardship agreement holders will see their claim period being re-aligned to January to December.  The total amount of money received over the lifetime ofthe agreement will be unaffected, the end date of the agreement will also remain the same, but the timing and value of some payments may change from the original schedule which could affect cashflow.  The change only affects annual revenue payments; capital items payments will follow existing processes.

In 2015 the timing of payments and the amount received will vary depending on which month a particular agreement started.  From 2016 onwards, once the new system is bedded-in, a partial payment will be received in December after the Single Annual Crosscheck (SAC).  Then, an ‘End of Year’ payment will be made in the following June (currently this is usually received by April).  When the agreement ends, the final two payments will be made after the end date.

How the re-alignment affects individual agreements will depend on their current start date (and it is complicated!).  Natural England has written a standard letter to all agreement holders explaining the changes.  It will also send letters out in the Autumn detailing payments and timings tailored to the individual.  In the meantime there is an online payments timing tool which can be accessed at www.naturalengland.org.uk/Images/payment-timing-tool_tcm6-26323.xls to help calculate cashflow.