Guidance

Create an annual declaration for a Countryside Stewardship revenue claim

When and how Countryside Stewardship agreement holders can create an annual declaration online for their revenue claim.

Applies to England

Agreement holders can create an annual declaration online using the Rural Payments service if there are no changes to the revenue claim. You can create an automated revenue claim and submit it without completing a claim form.

You cannot make an annual declaration if you need to change your Countryside Stewardship revenue claim at any stage. To make changes you need to create the revenue claim as detailed in the section below and choose the ‘amend claim’ option.

Before you complete and submit your CS claim, please make sure you have updated your land use codes by signing into the Rural Payments service. If you are unable to access the Rural Payments service, email us at ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk

Create an annual declaration

Sign into the Rural Payments service, select ‘View business’ then scroll down the ‘Business overview’ screen to ‘Countryside Stewardship claims’.

On the Countryside Stewardship claims screen, click the ‘Create CS Revenue Payment Claim’ button to create a revenue claim for 2024.

View your agreement document

Before you create your revenue claim, you can view your agreement document and use it to check that the information in your agreement is correct before you start your claim.

Click the circle to the left of the ‘Agreement Type’ then click ‘Open Agreement’.

Click ‘Generate’ to create your agreement document, and click ‘Download’ to read, print or save it.

Select agreement and create a revenue claim

From the list of your agreements, select the agreement you want to submit the claim for by clicking the circle to the left of the ‘Agreement Type’ then click ‘Create Annual Declaration’.

Note: You cannot make changes to your 2024 revenue claim once you have submitted your annual declaration. We recommend you carefully consider your revenue claim options, amounts, locations and changes before choosing the annual declaration.

Read the declaration and important information section and click either:

  • I agree – I want to make my annual declaration and submit my claim. This means your claim will be submitted for the 2024 payment year, and you agree that no further changes are needed at this stage

  • I disagree – I want to amend my claim before I submit it

Follow the onscreen help

Click the ‘Help’ hyperlink on the top left of the screen. You can then use the on-screen ‘Help’ link to take you through the process step-by-step. More information

More information

You can find a video on RPA’s YouTube channel, which explains how to submit a revenue claim on the following link: How to submit a revenue claim using the Rural Payments portal (youtube.com)

Published 14 March 2023