Countryside Stewardship Grants 2023

On 5 January the ‘Countryside Stewardship (CS) Capital Grants’ scheme opened for applications for the rest of the year.

A number of our clients have made applications to this scheme previously, so I thought it would be useful to pick out a few key points from the Guidance on GOV.UK website.

Scheme changes for 2023

These include:

Agreement duration

For applications received from 5 January 2023, Agreement Holders will have three years to complete capital works.

Maximum amount

The maximum amount allowable for a single application has increased to £80,000, but there’s a limit of £20,000 for each of these groups:

· boundaries, trees and orchards

· water quality

· air quality

· natural flood management

Proportionate reductions

Instead of a 100% reduction for being one day late, the reduction will be scaled according to how late the claim is.

What are CS Capital Grants

CS Capital Grants are three year agreements offering capital items to achieve specific environmental benefits within four groups:

boundaries, trees and orchards (including the former hedgerows and boundaries grant items)
water quality
air quality
natural flood management

There are 70 capital items available, these are listed in section five of the Countryside Stewardship online grant finder which gives a description and essential requirements for each capital item. This includes eligibility and evidence requirements.

You can find the payment rates and details about using supplements in section five. Some capital items require Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) approval, these are listed in Annex two. For example if you choose capital items to help improve water and air quality and reduce flood risk, you will need to get approval before you apply otherwise they will be removed from your application

Who can apply?

The CS Capital Grant is open to land managers who are one of the following:

an owner occupier
a tenant
a landlord
a licensor as long as they have control of all the land and all the activities needed to meet the obligations of the grant for the full duration of the agreement

Before you apply for a grant you must register on the Rural Payments service, if you have not done so already.

There is a whole section (3.4) of the guidance that considers interaction of CS Capital Grants with other funding.

Applicants must be considered financially viable. For applications including capital expenditure of more than £50,000 in total, you must submit a statement from a registered accountant (for example, a chartered accountant or certified accountant). This is to confirm that the business has the resources from trading profits, reserves or loans to undertake the work in the proposed agreement schedule.

How to apply?

You should submit your application online if you can. If you are unable to apply online, you can apply by email or by post.

You can apply online using the Rural Payments service. Use the how to complete your online Capital Grant application to help you. If you apply online, you do not need to fill in a CS Capital Grants application form. However, you must send them a map and any supporting documents by email or post.

Use the how to complete your Capital Grant application by email or post to help you.

PKF Francis Clark – how we can help

Any questions on the CS Capital Grants or any other aspect of your agricultural business you would like to chat through with us, please do not hesitate to contact your usual point of contact at PKF Francis Clark. If you are currently not a client of ours please contact one of our agriculture sector experts.