Welsh BPS Applications February 17, 2016 12:00 am All BPS claimants in Wales will have to make their BPS applications online in 2016. There will be no paper applications in 2016. The Single Application Form (SAF) will only be available online through the Rural Payments Wales (RPW) Online portal at www.gov.wales/rpwonline The system will be opened in early March, with all applicants being sent a Rules Booklet update at this point. But as Governments continue to push for everything to be digital, the full version will only be available on line at www.gov.wales/environmentalandcountryside Paper copies of SAF maps will not be sent out this year, but fields can be printed from the online system. For 2016 the application will require some map-based data to be entered – showing different crop covers and EFA features. Rather worryingly this does sound very similar to the process that ultimately failed in England last year. Registering All businesses must be registered on line. Those which aren’t already will shortly be receiving a letter containing their Service Activation Code (SAC) to register with RPW online. Subsequently a Government Gateway ID and Password will be required to access claimant’s accounts. Extra Help For those who have yet to register or apply on line many are bound to require assistance and agents should be prepared for additional work. There will also be extra help at all of the Rural Payments Wales offices. Similar to last year, applicants can book a meeting and make use of the computers and help available. Demand at these centres is expected to be high and applicants should book their places in good time – 0300 0625004 In 2015there were just over 17,000 BPS claims in Wales. 13,680 SAF customers are signed up for RPW Online, either directly or through an agent. Assuming all of these made an online claim in 2015 (which may not be the case), there are still over 3,000 claimants to migrate to online applications.
