Increased Rates for Existing Higher Level Stewardship Agreements
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) recently published details on GOV.UK regarding the amounts by which payment rates for 157 Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) options will rise, totalling £30 million. However, whether an individual’s payments increase will depend on the options in their agreement.
Where applicable, the increase will be 34.4% of the difference between the HLS rate set out in an agreement holder’s document and the equivalent Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) or Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) action, to bring them more in line with those schemes. The increases will take effect from 1 January 2025.
Agreement holders with standard rates in their agreements will be able to use the tables published on GOV.UK to calculate how much each option in their agreement will increase by.
To calculate the increase for an agreement that contains non-standard rates, agreement holders need to calculate the difference between the non-standard rate set out in that agreement and the CS/SFI equivalent, adding 34.4% of the difference to the original HLS rate listed in the agreement.
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has written to HLS agreement holders to inform them about the changes to their agreements and how these will form part of their usual claim payment from December 2025.
Agreement holders will still need to manage their agreements in line with the option requirements, as well as submit an annual claim form.
Not All Rates Will Be Raised
There are 23 HLS options that are already paid at a higher rate than their CS and SFI equivalents, so these will not be changed.
There are a further 22 options that do not have a comparable option or action in CS or SFI. These will remain at their existing value.
Similarly, the Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) underpinning payment is not affected, and agreement holders will continue to receive this if they are eligible.
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