Key dates
Date published: 15 March, 2018
For recent changes to this guidance, please see the bottom of the page.
Guidance on how to complete your Single Application Form can be found below.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 January | Start of the scheme year. You must meet all Cross Compliance conditions from this date. Start of management for EFA buffers and EFA field margins. |
| 15 January | Start of management period for EFA fallow. |
| 1 March | Start of no hedge cutting period. |
| 2 April (or first working day after if this falls on weekend or public holiday) | Deadline for RPID to receive an application to transfer Basic Payment Scheme entitlements with an effective date of 15 May this year |
| 1 May (to 30 June) | Period designated as the most relevant for calculating the shares attributable to different crop types for the purposes of crop diversification. |
| 15 May | Land used to claim Basic Payment Scheme payment in the current scheme year has to be ‘at your disposal’ on this date. |
| 15 May | Start of the Land Managers Options scheme year. |
| 15 May | Basic Payment Scheme 2018 entitlements transfer window opens. |
| Midnight, 15 May | Deadline for Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division to receive form PF06 (Land maintenance) – land transfers (the land for the Basic Payment Scheme in any year must have been at the applicants disposal on 15 May of that year) and mapping changes (such as permanent changes to field boundaries or information about permanent ineligible features that are not already included on existing maps). |
| Midnight, 15 May | Deadline for Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division to receive Single Application Form / Basic Payment Scheme application. |
| 31 May | Deadline for Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division to receive amendments or additions to your SAF (if we received it on or before 15 May) without reducing your payments. |
| 9 June | Final deadline for us to receive your SAF. We will not accept your SAF after this date. We will not accept BPS and BPS National Reserve supporting documentation after this date. Last day for applications and supporting documentation for an allocation of BPS entitlements from National Reserve. Deadline for Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division to receive nominations or changes to preferred currency (euros or sterling) in which Direct Payments are to be received. |
| 15 July | End of management period for EFA fallow. |
| 1 August | End of management period for EFA nitrogen fixing crops. |
| 31 August | Start of cutting period for hedges. |
| 30 September | Euro exchange rate is set. |
| 1 November | Green cover must be established. |
| 31 December | End of scheme year. You must meet all Cross Compliance conditions until this date. |
It is important to note that there is no provision in the scheme year to allow amendments to Single Application Forms without penalty after 15 June.
Changes can be made after this date for reasons of force majeure, withdrawals of all or part of your application, obvious errors and notified errors.
Outside these reasons, amendments can only be made between 16 June and 10 July by withdrawing the Single Application Form in its entirety, making the changes, and re-submitting.
In this case, you need to be aware that we will apply deductions to any subsequent payments for late submission.
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