Forestry Commission National Office
620 Bristol Business Park
Coldharbour Lane
Bristol
BS16 1EJ
COPY – please refer to letter received
13 July 2017
Your Forestry Commission Case Details
GLOS Case Ref: PLEASE REFER TO LETTER RECEIVED
Property Name: PLEASE REFER TO LETTER RECEIVED
Agreement Ref: PLEASE REFER TO LETTER RECEIVED
SBI: PLEASE REFER TO LETTER RECEIVED
Dear «Recipient_Name»,
Important: New requirement to submit annual Claim Forms
Action:
1. Please read this letter, together with Annex 1 and Annex 2;
2. Please register as the agreement holder on the new online Rural Payments service;
3. Once you have registered, if an agent is acting on your behalf please pass on this
documentation to them as they will not have received a duplicate copy;
4. Check your land is registered using the maps provided by the Rural Payments
Agency (to you or your agent) and notify them of any changes required;
5. Return the Annual Claim Form (Annex 1) completed (by you or your agent) to the
Forestry Commission before the deadline of 15 June 2015 to avoid any reduction in
your payments.
Please note: All information included in this letter and updates are available on the Forestry
Commission Grants and Regulations homepage http://www.forestry.gov.uk/england-grants
1. What the claim is for
From 1 January 2015 agreement holders must submit a claim form each year to receive their
scheduled payments. This new requirement relates to annual payments identified in the case
details above, many of which would have previously been paid automatically.
You have been identified as a main applicant in the agreement contract. This new requirement
will affect all Farm Woodland Premium Schemes and English Woodland Grant schemes
where you are still in receipt of either:


Farm Woodland (revenue forgone) Payments or;
Annual Woodland Management Grant Payments.
Claims for Capital works such as Woodland Creation Grant, Woodland Improvement Grant and
Woodland Regeneration Grant can continue to be submitted at any time of the year and will not
be affected by this change in Regulations.
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2. If you have an agent
This letter has not been sent to the primary contact, because in many cases (in particular
‘agents’ for older schemes) our experience tells us that often these agents no longer have an
active interest in the day to day management of the scheme(s).
If you still use an agent to manage your scheme(s) you will need to provide your agent with
authority to act on your behalf by completing Parts B, C and D of the new Forestry Commission
Agent Authority Form. You should then pass on all documentation to your agent as they will not
have received a duplicate copy. Once your agent has completed Part A of the Agent Authority
Form this must be returned with the Claim Form (Annex 1).
To obtain the Agent Authority Form, please visit the Forestry Commission Grants and
Regulations homepage http://www.forestry.gov.uk/england-grants
3. Registering on the new online Rural Payments service
The Forestry Commission cannot make any future payments to you unless you are registered.
When you register you will be given a Customer Reference Number (CRN). If an agent is acting
on your behalf, both the agreement holder and the agent must register. Once the agent has
registered you can authorise your agent to act on your behalf for Rural Payments Agency (RPA)
purposes on the online Rural Payments service. Further details can be found at
www.gov.uk/rural-payments or by contacting the Rural Payments Helpline on 03000 200 301.
If you are already claiming Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) for land on your holding you may
already be registered.
4. Checking your land is registered on the Rural Payments service
As an agreement holder the land you manage must be fully declared and accurately recorded. If
you have not already received maps from RPA in the last few months (since 1 September 2014),
during April the RPA should send you or your agent maps showing details of your land as
registered on the Rural Land Register. If your maps have not been received by 30 April contact
the Rural Payments Helpline on 03000 200 301. If you are already claiming Basic Payment
Scheme (BPS) for land on your holding you may already have received maps from the RPA.
The maps must be checked, to ensure that they correctly show all of the land which you
manage and that none of your land is missing. If anything is incorrect or missing you must
notify the RPA by completing an RLE1 form and returning it to Rural Payments Agency, PO Box
352, Worksop, S80 9FG:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tell-the-rural-payments-agency-about-landchanges-and-entitlement-transfers
5. When to submit the Claim Form
The Claim Form must be completed and returned to the Forestry Commission National Office by
15 June 2015. We would urge customers to submit their claims as early as possible
It is very important that you submit your Claim Form in time for it to be received
by the 15 June 2015 deadline to avoid any reduction in your payments.
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What happens next?
A fully pre-populated 2015 Claim Form will be sent to you in early autumn (we are planning for
early September).
Please note: a further result of the changes in the EU Regulations mean that
annual payments that have previously been made in or around the first week in
November will now not be paid until the first week in December at the earliest.
Thank you for your participation in the Forestry Commission’s grant schemes and your
contribution to the conservation and enhancement of the natural environment.
Yours sincerely,
Forestry Commission, England
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This page is
intentionally
blank
Page 4
Annex 1
Forestry Commission Annual Claim Form
Important: This Claim Form (all pages including this page) and any
applicable supporting documents (such as a new Agent Authority Form)
must be signed and returned using the enclosed self-addressed envelope, to
be received by 15 June 2015. To help you answer any questions we have
created an FAQ. Please see Annex 2.
If for any reason you are late in returning it, or fail to return it, your annual payment may
incur a penalty or be withheld completely for this year (2015).
If you want confirmation that your Claim Form has been received, please tick this
box:
Do not detach the slip below – Forestry Commission use only
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Claim Form Acknowledgement
GLOS Case Ref: «Case_Ref»
Agreement Ref: «Agreement_Ref»
Property Name: «Property_Name»
SBI: «SBI»
Your Claim Form was received by the Forestry Commission on the date shown below. This
acknowledgement only provides proof that your form has been received by the Forestry
Commission.
Recipient name and address
«Recipient_Name»
«Address»
Forestry Commission date stamp
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How to complete this form
Please complete this form by hand, using block letters and black ink throughout.
Please ensure that you complete all relevant sections of this form, including any applicable tick
boxes and that you sign and date it. Failure to complete and return the Claim Form in
time for it to be received by the 15 June deadline may result in a penalty to your
annual claim for this year.
If you require more space for any section please continue on a separate sheet, ensuring that
you add your Forestry Commission claim details as referenced below.
Section 1: Your claim details
GLOS Case Ref:
PLEASE REFER TO LETTER RECEIVED
Property Name:
PLEASE REFER TO LETTER RECEIVED
Agreement Ref:
PLEASE REFER TO LETTER RECEIVED
SBI:
PLEASE REFER TO LETTER RECEIVED
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This space is intentionally left blank for the reverse of the
acknowledgement
Do not write anything here
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Section 2: Receiving future updates
Email alerts highlight new information relevant to Grants and Regulations customers. If
you are interested in receiving these, please tick the box and provide your email
address below.
Recipient’s email address:
Section 3: Change(s) to your claim
If any of the details of your agreement have changed, e.g. you have been/will be
unable to carry out the management required or there has been a transfer in or out of
land which has not yet been notified to the Forestry Commission, please provide an
explanation in the box below.
Please use the box below as follows:

To explain why you have been/will be unable to carry out the management required.
Please include details of work areas affected.

To provide details of any transfers in/out of your agreement (e.g. details of the land, the
party the land was transferred to/from and the date of transfer). Please refer to the
Successor Form Operations Note 14 guidance on our Forestry Commission website.
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-7tyffe

To provide details of any other changes.
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(Section 3 Continued)
Please record the number of continuation sheets used in the box. Please ensure that each sheet
includes your claim reference, signature and date.
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Section 4: Declarations
You must tick all the declarations in the table below.
If you are unable to tick all the declarations you should explain why in section 3, but
this may result in some or all of your payment being withheld.
I declare that:
a)
I have complied with and will continue to comply with the provisions of my
agreement and the rules of the scheme as set out in my contract and
supplements (if any) until my agreement ends. If following submission of this
claim form I am unable to fulfill the obligations of my agreement I will notify the
Forestry Commission.
b)
I accept the conditions of payment and understand that payment may be
withheld or recovered if it appears to the Forestry Commission that any of the
conditions have not been complied with or a false or misleading statement has
been made.
c)
As an agreement holder you must register on the online Rural Payments service.
Further details can be found at www.gov.uk/rural-payments

d)
As an agreement holder the land you manage must be fully registered. You can
check this using the maps the Rural Payments Agency send you.

e)
I confirm that I have registered on the new online Rural Payments service.
I confirm that all of the land details for the holding(s) that I manage,
including all land subject to a Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) agreement,
are correct at the date of submitting this declaration, or I have notified the
Rural Payments Agency of any corrections required via an RLE1 form.
The details I have provided on this form are correct and I accept full
responsibility for them.
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Section 5: Agent Authorisation (For completion by agents
only)
Please note that the Agent Authority Form has changed, therefore if you are
an agent acting on behalf of the agreement holder you will need to submit a
new Forestry Commission Agent Authority Form. The Agent Authority Form is
available from the Forestry Commission Grants and Regulations homepage
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/england-grants
You must tick all the declarations in the table below.
I declare that:
a)
b)

I am authorised to act as an Agreement Management Agent for this
agreement. I confirm that I have drawn to the attention of the beneficiary(s)
the conditions that apply to this claim and I have made the beneficiary(s)
aware that they are responsible for complying with those conditions.

I have enclosed a new Agent Authority Form.
As an agent you must register on the online Rural Payments service. Further
details can be found at www.gov.uk/rural-payments

I have registered on the new online Rural Payments service.
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Section 6: Signature and date
Please sign and date this Claim Form. This Claim Form must be signed by
either the agreement holder or by an agent who has written authority from
the named agreement holder (as per Section 5).
Signature
Name
Status (e.g. agent)
Agreement holder CRN (to
be completed on all Claim
Forms)
Agent CRN (to be completed
only when an agent has
signed this Claim Form)
Date
Section 7: Return document check
Note: Only agents need to complete section b) below.
Please confirm you have enclosed the following documents:
a)

I confirm that I have enclosed the completed Claim Form (Annex 1)
b)

I confirm that I have enclosed a new Agent Authority Form (agents only)
Please return the above documents in the enclosed self-addressed envelope.
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Warning
If you knowingly or recklessly make a false statement to obtain aid for
yourself or anyone else, you risk prosecution (which could result in
imprisonment, a fine or both), the loss of all aid paid to you under the
scheme(s) in respect of which you have made a commitment, and exclusion
from certain schemes for up to two years.
Using and sharing your information
The data controller is the Forestry Commission, 620 Bristol Business Park, Coldharbour Lane,
Bristol BS16 1EJ.
Your information will be stored and processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.
This Act gives you, as an individual, the right to know what data we hold on you, how we use it,
with whom we share it and to ensure that it is accurate.
We will use the data for administering and analysing agreements and claims under the English
Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS), Woodland Grant Scheme 1, 2 and 3 (WGS), Farm Woodland
Premium Scheme (FWPS) and Farm Woodland Scheme (FWS), Felling Licence Agreements and
Forest Plans (England). We will circulate and discuss it, in confidence, with those persons or
organisations helping us to assess and monitor agreements and claims. Some information will
be shared with other grant distribution bodies and government departments, to enable them to
detect fraudulent applications, agreements and claims and to co-ordinate the processing of
complementary applications, agreements and claims. To do this, we may have to discuss
applications, agreements and claims with third parties or disclose information about funding
decisions.
Participation in the English Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS), Woodland Grant Scheme (WGS),
Farm Woodland Premium Scheme (FWPS) and Farm Woodland Scheme (FWS) involves
expenditure of public money and is therefore a matter of public interest.
We, or our appointed agents, may use the name, address and other details on your application
form to contact you in connection with customer research aimed at improving the services that
we provide to you.
We will respect personal privacy while complying with access to information requests to the
extent necessary to enable the Forestry Commission to comply with its statutory obligations
under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and the Freedom of Information Act
2000.
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Annex 2
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is the CRN?
The CRN is your Customer Reference Number that you will be allocated when you first register
on the Rural Payments service. It is used to identify all individuals who are registered on the
service. This can include landowners or other people connected with the business benefiting
from Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments and any agents they may employ to help
manage their business.
Why do I now have to send a Claim Form every year?
The new EU Regulations require all CAP schemes to make an annual claim for all area based
annual payments. The EWGS terms and conditions require adherence with the regulations, and
the Statutory Instruments governing the Farm Woodland Premium Scheme require claims to ‘be
made in such form and at such times as the appropriate Minister may require’.
Why do I have to return the Claim Form to be received in the
Forestry Commission National Office by 15 June?
For 2015, the deadline has been extended until 15 June. If you need to make a claim under an
existing woodland grant scheme you must submit your form by 15 June. We would urge
customers to submit their claims as early as possible.
In previous years I’ve had late claims paid – why are you applying
a penalty if I submit my Claim Form late?
The EU regulations require penalties to be imposed for late claims, and we have to apply these
to EWGS and FWPS schemes in the same way as the annual claim requirement.
Why are you sending me this Claim Form now when you’re
sending a second Claim Form in September?
You are required to return a signed claim form to be received by the deadline of 15 June;
however we are not able to provide you with a pre-populated claim form showing your
agreement details until we have made the relevant IT developments. We will send the prepopulated forms out in the autumn so that you still have the opportunity to review and confirm
the information held. We apologise for this inconvenience but we were unable to adapt our
systems in time following changes in the EU Regulations.
Why do I need to register on the new online Rural Payments
service?
The Rural Payments service is the new online application and payment service for all CAP
schemes. Customers wanting to apply or claim for CAP payments will need to be registered on
the service. Anyone linked to a business that is claiming CAP payments (e.g. agent) will also
need to register on the service as an individual customer. It is a requirement of the regulations
that a single register of all CAP customers exists.
How do I register on the new online Rural Payments service?
The new online Rural Payments service can be accessed here: www.gov.uk/rural-payments or
by contacting the Rural Payments Helpline on 03000 200 301. If you are already claiming
Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) for land on your holding you may already be registered.
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Can I return my Claim Form if I am not registered on the new
online Rural Payments service?
No. All customers wanting to apply or claim for CAP payments will need to be registered on the
service. If we find you have not registered your claim will be disallowed.
How do I check and/or update my land?
During April the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) should send you or your agent maps showing
details of your land as registered on the Rural Land Register. The maps must be checked and if
anything is incorrect or missing you must notify the RPA by completing and returning an RLE1
form: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tell-the-rural-payments-agency-aboutland-changes-and-entitlement-transfers
Can I return my Claim Form if my maps need to be updated?
Yes. If you have sent the RPA an RLE1 form, you do not need to wait for updated copies of your
maps to arrive before submitting the enclosed Claim Form.
Do I need to provide the RPA with Agent Authority details as well
as completing the new Forestry Commission Agent Authority
Form?
Yes. If an agent is acting on your behalf they will need to complete a new Forestry Commission
Agent Authority Form which is available on the Forestry Commission Grants and Regulations
homepage http://www.forestry.gov.uk/england-grants
Once the agent and you have both registered on the new online Rural Payments service, you
will be able to assign your agent with the necessary empowerments online for RPA purposes.
I submitted a Woodland Creation Grant (WCG) 2nd Instalment
Claim Form previously. Do I still need to return this Claim Form?
Yes, although in the past the WCG 2nd instalment Claim Form covered five years of Farm
Woodland Payments (FWP), the regulations have changed from 2015 onwards, so a Claim Form
for your FWP will need to be returned each year.
Why will I now be paid in December and not November?
All CAP schemes now have the same payment window of 01 December to 30 June.
I have received multiple letters. Do I need to post all of the Claim
Forms back to you?
Yes. To ensure payments are processed for each of your agreements you need to return all of
the Claim Forms that you have received.
The main applicant has passed away – what do I do?
We are very sorry that you have received this letter. These are the details we have on our
system. It is therefore very important that you notify your local Forestry Commission office to
ensure our records are updated: www.forestry.gov.uk/england-areas
I’m no longer the main applicant because I sold my land. What do
I do?
It’s very important that you notify your local Forestry Commission office to ensure our records
are updated: www.forestry.gov.uk/england-areas
The main applicant no longer lives at this address. What do I do?
It’s very important that you notify your local Forestry Commission office to ensure our records
are updated: www.forestry.gov.uk/england-areas
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