Guidance

How to apply for BPS 2023 online

Updated 16 March 2023

Applies to England

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If you cannot apply online you can apply for BPS 2023 by email or post.

Updates for 2023

The Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), including the young farmer payment, will continue for the whole 2023 scheme year. BPS is due to end after the 2023 scheme year.

Before you start your application, read the BPS rules for 2023. This includes important information about the end of BPS, and updates about:

  • delinked payments
  • the end of entitlements
  • the end of cross-compliance
  • the Lump Sum Exit Scheme
  • opportunities within other schemes
  • payments
  • progressive reductions
  • Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) (and BPS)
  • the end of the GOV.UK Verify sign-in for the Rural Payments service

You should also read the ‘Important dates for BPS 2023’. This gives all the main BPS windows and deadlines.

When to apply

The deadline for us to receive your application is 11:59pm on 15 May 2023.

We encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible and well before the deadline. Read the ‘Important Dates for BPS 2023’ for more information.

You can submit a late application after 15 May 2023, but penalties will apply. We cannot accept any applications after 11:59pm on 9 June 2023, unless it is accepted due to force majeure and exceptional circumstances.

For more information about the ‘Important dates’ of the scheme, including how to change your application after the deadline, read the BPS rules for 2023.

Outstanding BPS queries from previous years

If you think there is a difference between the amount you were expecting to be paid for BPS 2022, or previous BPS years, and what you’ve received, or that your entitlements balance is incorrect, we recommend you:

  • fill in a BPS payment query form and return it to us by email (use ‘BPS payment query form’ as the subject header) or post it to us – if you have already sent us a query form for 2022 or a previous scheme year, you do not need to send us another one
  • carry on with your 2023 application, declaring your land as it is on 15 May 2023 – you should use the code of the main crop you intend to grow in the year even if it will be late sown, or declare it as fallow if you do not intend to sow a main crop (read the BPS rules for 2023 for more information)

If you had a site visit in 2022 and are not sure what to declare on your 2023 application

You need to make sure you take the results of your site visit into account when you apply – for example, by updating your land use and making sure mapping changes have been made (or that we have received an RLE1 form requesting them). You can do this by checking your digital maps on the Rural Payments service – see annex 1 for more information.

If you have not had your site visit results yet, you can still apply, showing your land at 15 May 2023. You should use the code of the main crop you intend to grow in the year even if it will be late sown or declare it as fallow if you do not intend to sow a main crop – read the BPS rules for 2023 for more information.

If you receive a 2022 site visit report after you have submitted your 2023 application, you can make some changes to your application up to 11:59pm on 9 June 2023 without getting a penalty (as long as you submitted your application by 11:59pm on 15 May 2023). Some changes can also be made after 9 June 2023.

However, you cannot make these changes if:

  • you have already been told about any non-compliance affecting the agricultural parcel you want to amend
  • a check has revealed a non-compliance affecting the agricultural parcel you want to amend
  • you have received advance warning of a site visit

Read the BPS rules for 2023 for more information.

If you are unsure about whether you can make the change, you should request it by email and we will decide if it is allowed.

If you have not received a BPS payment for a previous year or claim statement yet and are not sure what to apply for

You need to make your application for 2023 showing your land at 15 May 2023. You should use the code of the main crop you intend to grow in the year even if it will be late sown or declare it as fallow if you do not intend to sow a main crop – read the BPS rules for 2023 for more information.

If you receive a payment and claim statement after you have submitted your 2023 application, you can make some changes to your application up to 11:59pm on 9 June 2023 without getting a penalty (as long as you submitted your application by 11:59pm on 15 May 2023). Some changes can also be made after 9 June 2023.

However, you cannot make these changes if:

  • you have already been told about any non-compliance affecting the land parcel you want to amend
  • a check has revealed a non-compliance affecting the land parcel you want to amend
  • you have received advance warning of a site visit

Read the BPS rules for 2023 for more information.

Apply online for BPS 2023

To apply online, sign into the Rural Payments service .

After you’ve signed in, there are 4 things you need to do.

  1. Check your information.
  2. Change anything that needs to be updated.
  3. Complete your declarations.
  4. Confirm your information and apply.

There is a ‘Help’ link on many of the screens that go through each process step-by-step.

Read the scheme rules and other guidance

You’ll need to read this guidance to apply for BPS 2023:

It’s your responsibility to make sure:

  • you meet the scheme rules
  • all the eligible land included in your application is correct, to the best of your knowledge
  • you hold the correct number of entitlements – refer to the BPS rules for 2023 for more information about entitlements

If you hold an Environmental Stewardship (ES) or Countryside Stewardship (CS) agreement or an agreement with the Forestry Commission, or are involved in agroforestry, you can also refer to the separate guidance on applying for payment on land in BPS and in an agri-environment or woodland agreement.

You can find guidance for the Forestry Commission schemes and BPS in the Forestry Commission’s Guidance on woodland grant schemes and BPS: operations note 42, and Guidance on agri-environment schemes (CS and ES) and BPS.

Sign in to the Rural Payments service

The information below shows you how to access the Rural Payments service, generate and check your BPS claim.

If you’re a new customer

You need to confirm your identity before you can register with the Rural Payments service. You can do this by calling the Rural Payments helpline on 03000 200 301 and we will help you access the ‘RPA Identity’ service – this service will only give you access to the Rural Payments service, not other government services.

After you’ve confirmed your identity, you can sign in to the Rural Payments service and start to register. You will need to create a password. For security, do not share your password with anyone.

If you’re an existing customer

Sign in to the Rural Payments service.

GOV.UK Verify sign-in has closed. If you had a GOV.UK Verify account, you can no longer use it to sign-in to the Rural Payments service – you’ll need to follow the guidance for a new customer to get registered on RPA Identity.

We contacted all GOV.UK Verify account holders about the changes and explained what they needed to do. Please follow the instructions in your email or letter to move your account from GOV.UK Verify to RPA Identity.

If you’re already an RPA Identity customer you do not need to take any further action.

To open the service, we recommend you use the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Firefox or Safari.

The best screen resolution to view the service is 1024 by 768. To view PDF files from the service (such as an application summary), we recommend you download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat.

Check your information

First check that your personal and business details are up to date, then create and check your ‘application summary’.

Check that your details are up to date

Before you start to check your application, you need to check that the personal and business details you’ve already registered are still correct. We’ll use them to contact you about your application so please make sure they are up to date.

Check your personal details

As soon as you sign in to the Rural Payments service you’ll see a screen called ‘Your Businesses and messages’. To check and change your personal details, click ‘View and amend personal details’ on the right side of the screen. Click ‘Amend your details’, then after you make any changes, click ‘Submit changes’.

Make sure your details, and any agent details, are up to date as we’ll use these as contacts.

Check that your address, email address and phone number are up to date.

Check your business details

If you apply online, we will contact you by email, whenever possible, so it’s important that your email address is up to date.

To check your business details, choose the business from the ‘Your businesses and messages’ screen. On the ‘Business overview’ screen, click ‘View and amend your business details’ ‘on the right side of the screen. To make any changes, click the appropriate ‘Amend’ link.

The main business address that we have in the Rural Payments service is the address that we’ll use to send certain types of information to you, such as the remittance advice after a payment is made.

Check your bank account details

It’s important that your bank account details are up to date and valid or we will not be able to pay you for BPS and any other schemes you are claiming payments for.

We will use the bank account details we already have to pay you. If these change and you want to be paid into a different account, you need to give us your updated bank account details as soon as you can. You can only do this by telephone on 03000 200 301. You cannot change them online or by email. You need to have ‘Business details: Full or Make legal changes’ permission levels in the Rural Payments service before you ask us to update your bank account details. It may not be possible to change your details close to the start of payments.

We’ll make payments in sterling only.

Check your permission levels

To check your permission levels, click the relevant name under ‘Give people permission to act for this business’ on the ‘Business overview’ screen. If you do not have the right permission on the service, you’ll need to get someone with ‘Business Details: Full Permission’ level for the business to change your permission levels.

To access your online application summary, you need to have the BPS ‘submit’ permission.

If your ‘relationship’ for the business is ‘employee’ in the service you won’t be able to access the application, even if you have the permission shown above. You’ll need to ask someone with ‘Business Details: Full Permission’ level for the business to change your relationship to ‘helper’. If there is nobody else for the business who can do this on the service, call us and we will help you over the phone.

Check any permission levels you’ve given to other people

If you want someone else to have access to your business so they can help you apply online, you need to check that you’ve given them the right permission. Click the relevant name under ‘Give people permission to act for this business’ on the ‘Business overview’ screen. They’ll need BPS ‘submit’ permission if you want them to apply on your behalf. They need to be registered in the Rural Payments service before you can give them access, and you will need their customer reference number (CRN).

If you prefer, you can arrange for someone else to receive payments on your behalf.

After you’ve updated the permission level, remember to scroll to the bottom of the page and click ‘Save and return’.

Check your application summary

Once you’ve checked that your details are up to date, you can start checking your online application. To do this, generate an ‘application summary’. You may find it useful to print the summary as it looks like a paper BP5 application form, so if you’ve applied for BPS before, it should look familiar.

How to generate your application summary

From the ‘Business overview’ screen, click the ‘Apply for BPS or view status of your application’ link. Remember there’s ‘Help’ on these screens to guide you step-by-step.

Create a new application

Each year, before you view an application summary for the first time, you need to create a new BPS application.

To do this, click the green ‘Create a new DIRECT PAYMENTS application’ button. A message will appear showing a green tick. This confirms the application has been created ‘Successfully’.

Click the green ‘Back’ button at the bottom of this screen. On the next screen click ‘Open’.

You can also see how to generate a new application summary by clicking the ‘Help’ link on the relevant screen.

If the green ‘Create a new DIRECT PAYMENTS application’ button is not available or is not clearly visible, this means that the option to apply for BPS is not available to customers at that particular time. We tell you each year when you can start to apply for BPS – this ends at 11:59pm on the ‘late application’ deadline (9 June 2023).

If the application period is open but the green ‘Create a new DIRECT PAYMENTS application’ button is not available, this may be because your permission level is not correct. You need to have the ‘BPS: Submit’ permission level. To check your permission levels, click your name from the list under ‘Give people permission to act for this business’ on the ‘Business overview’ screen. If you do not have the right permission in the service, you’ll need to ask someone with ‘Business Details: Full permission’ level for the business to change your permission level.

When you create your application for the first time, we recommend you make a note of the ‘App. number’, which is the unique application number given in the Rural Payments service, and share this with anyone in your business who has permission to change your application.

You can only have one BPS application with the ‘Status’ of ‘Created’ at any one time – this is your current application. If you have more than one, call us to find out how this has happened and what to do. When you ‘Create a new DIRECT PAYMENTS application’, the information is pre-populated from information we hold from previous years’ applications and updated mapping information.

Generate an application summary

After you’ve created and opened your new BPS application, click ‘View and print your application summary’.

Then click ‘Generate’ – when your application summary is available a date and time will appear beside the ‘Download’ button.

Click ‘Download’ to read or print your application summary or to save it to your computer.

This will be the most recent summary you generated about this business. For the ‘Download’ button to work there needs to already have been a summary generated.

After you’ve created your application and application summary, if a land parcel is then added to your business (SBI) or there’s a mapping change, there are additional steps that you need to follow to make sure that the latest information appears in your application and your application summary. Please read the section on Change, including the ‘Important’ box within ‘Making changes to land use’ for more information.

The ‘Business summary’ you find on your ‘Business overview’ screen is different to your application summary. You do not have to check your business summary to apply. If you do want to look at it, make sure you are looking at the latest information.

We’ve filled in your application with information we already have about your business so you can check it. Where necessary, we have reviewed and updated our mapping information based on the latest available data sources, such as aerial photography and Ordnance Survey (OS) updates. It is your responsibility to make sure that the information in your application is correct.

The first time you read your application summary, you’ll see information in the following sections that you will need to check:

  • Part A: Your business
  • Part C: Field data sheet
  • Part E: Common land grazing rights (if you have any)
  • Part H: Entitlements

You may notice that parts of the summary have been removed, covering currency, EFA greening, land in more than one part of the UK, and organic land status. This is because we removed the need for these requirements from 2021.

The other sections of the application summary are blank at the moment. These sections will update with information when you complete your declarations (see section ‘Complete your declarations’), and you then generate and download your application summary again.

As you check these sections, make a note of anything that needs to change. Once you have checked them all, if you need to make any changes, read the ‘Change’ section to find out how.

What to check in Part A: Your business

Check that the single business identifier (SBI) and the ‘Name of beneficiary (or business name)’ are correct. You cannot change your SBI online – call us if it’s incorrect.

What to check in Part C: Field data sheet

In Part C, your application summary should show:

  • all the agricultural areas on your holding which are 0.0100 hectares (ha) or more, even if you are not applying for BPS on that land
  • non-agricultural land, including woodland, that you have in an agri-environment scheme (such as CS and Farm Woodland Schemes) and the National Forest Changing Landscape Scheme
  • land in the Woodland Carbon Fund or HS2 Woodland Fund should, where it is already registered with RPA
  • all the land uses for each land parcel – if you have a land parcel with more than one land use, you need to tell us about all the land uses in that parcel
  • non-agricultural features on your agricultural land

You can apply for BPS on as much of your eligible land as you want. However, you should not declare more eligible land than you have.

You do not need to match the area you apply for with the number of entitlements you have. If the eligible area you apply for is greater than the number of entitlements you actually have, we will work out your payment based on the number of entitlements you have that are matched by the eligible area. No penalty will be applied for this as this is not considered an over-declaration.

The information in Part C is based on:

  • what land parcels we have linked to your SBI shown on your digital maps
  • the total field size and maximum area eligible for BPS that we have recorded on our maps (columns C3 and C4) – if your land share is less than 100% of a parcel this will affect what proportion of the parcel is shown in the summary
  • the information we took from your BPS application last year

The total field size of every land parcel needs to be accounted for, including:

  • areas and features within the land parcel which are non-agricultural
  • how different areas of the parcel are being used for different things – such as arable land, permanent grassland and permanent crops (they need to have the appropriate land use code)

First, check if there are any land parcels missing from your application or if there are any that you want to remove. Make a note of this so you can change them later (read the section on ‘Change’).

It’s particularly important to check that columns C6, C7 and C8 are correct. These are the columns that tell us what you use each area of a land parcel for, what size it is, and how much of it you want to claim for payment (if it’s eligible). As the Rural Payments service accepts zero values, for example in C7 and C8, it’s important that you check that the values shown are correct. If they are not correct, this can reduce the value of the payment or cause your application to be rejected.

Check your maps online

We have updated your land using the latest information we have, including aerial photography and OS map updates. This keeps our land information up to date and we use it to check any applications you make, so it’s important you check your maps online because we may have updated them since your application for 2022.

If we’ve updated your land parcels, you will have received notifications in the ‘All messages’ tab on the ‘Your businesses and messages’ screen in the Rural Payments service identifying which land parcels have been updated.

If you do not read your messages, we will send you an email reminding you to sign in to the service and check your notifications.

Read annex 1 for more information about your digital maps.

C2 – Ordnance Survey Map sheet reference and National Grid field number

This will contain a 10-character reference, made up of 2 letters, 4 numbers and the final 4 numbers indicating the centre of the land parcel (for example, AA1234 1234).

Land parcel numbers may have changed since last year, which means they may be listed in a different order from last year’s application. You can check them by looking at your digital maps – read annex 1.

C3 (Total field size) and C4 (Maximum area eligible for BPS)

Column C3 should show the total area of the land parcel that is linked to your holding. C4 should show the maximum area eligible for BPS (the total area of the land parcel that is linked to your holding, minus the area of any permanent non-agricultural areas and features).

The information in columns C3 and C4 comes from our mapping database. It may not be up to date if you have:

  • sent us an RLE1 form to tell us about land changes and we have not made them yet (they will show as a ‘pending’ change on your digital maps)
  • made changes to your land parcel that you haven’t told us about yet on an RLE1 form
  • had a site visit in 2022 and we have changes to make to our mapping database as a result

Check if there are any land parcels missing or if there are any that you want to remove.

It’s important that you check your digital maps as we’ve been reviewing and updating our mapping information, where necessary, since BPS 2022 applications were submitted. Read annex 1.

Checking your land areas

All the land information on your application summary needs to be to 4 decimal places (that is, x.xxxx ha). If you have any problems doing this, we recommend you round down rather than using normal rounding rules. For example, if the parcel is 2.47725ha, record as 2.4772ha, rather than 2.4773ha.

C6 – Part field size

Column C6 shows the size of the eligible areas (or crops) and non-agricultural areas and features in the land parcel (C7 shows what the area is being used for). We’ve listed the ones that you supplied in 2022. Only permanent non-agricultural areas and features are prepopulated on your BPS application, not temporary ones.

Make a note of any areas that have changed, so that you can update them in the ‘Land use’ screen later. (Read ‘Change land use’ section for more information). The total of all the land use areas (C6) should add up to the correct total field size (C3). The total area of all the eligible land uses (C7) should add up to the correct maximum area eligible for BPS (C4) for the land parcel. You might need to consider any RLE1 forms you have sent to us, changes made following our review of mapping data, or changes made following a site visit.

If you only have part of a land parcel ‘at your disposal’ for BPS, and someone else has the other part, you should only declare the land use (C7) and area (C6) for your part of the parcel.

If you need to tell us about more than one land use in your ‘share’ of the eligible land, then you can do this in the ‘Land use’ screen. Read the BPS rules for 2023 for more information about what ‘land at your disposal’ means.

We will use the information about your land use in columns C6 and C7 to work out if you have enough eligible land to apply for BPS.

The rules for applications with land in more than one part of the UK changed from 2021. Read the Making an application – cross-border farms in BPS rules for 2023 for more information.

C7 – Land use in 2023

This column should contain a land use code showing what each area of land is being used for on 15 May 2023. You should use the code of the main crop you intend to grow in the year even if it will be late sown, or declare it as fallow (FA01) if you do not intend to sow a main crop.

There’s a list of all the land use codes. You can also refer to the Agroforestry and the Basic Payment Scheme guidance.

If you have any land that will not be eligible for the entire calendar year, use the correct non-agricultural land use code at C7. Or, if the reason is temporary, for example, you know that utility works will take place on the land later in the year, use land-use code NA02 at C7. You do not need to fill in an RLE1 form to tell us about non-agricultural areas or features that will only be on agricultural land temporarily.

If you have features on your land which are eligible for BPS (such as hedges, dry stone walls or ditches), these do not need to be declared as separate land uses in columns C6 and C7. You should include the area of these features in the main land use of the field.

Grass strips (such as tracks, strips, margins and headlands) do not need to be identified separately from the main land use of the parcel (the cropped area).

Temporary to permanent grassland

Check that grassland, which has been declared as temporary grass for 5 consecutive years (2018 to 2022 inclusive), is shown as permanent grassland for BPS 2023 (the sixth consecutive year in which the parcel is declared as grass) – as long as it is still grassland, has not been used for a catch crop, and has not been in certain agri-environment scheme options during this time. For more information, read the ‘Temporary grassland’ section in the BPS rules for 2023.

C8 – Eligible area you want to claim for payment

Column C8 should be the sum of the eligible areas (column C6) and land uses (column C7). Check that the area you want to claim payment for is correct. You can only use land parcels which have a total eligible area of 0.1000ha or more to apply for BPS.

The area entered in C8 for each eligible land use cannot be more than the area entered in C6 for that land use. The total of the areas entered in C8 for the land parcel cannot be more than the total of all the eligible land use areas entered in C6.

Why it’s important that you check the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen

Whether or not any changes have been made to your land information, it’s very important that you check the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen to make sure that the eligible area you want to claim for payment (C8) is showing correctly. In some cases, particularly where a land parcel has been added to your business (SBI) or there’s been a mapping change, the eligible area you want to claim for payment (C8) may have defaulted to 0.0000 in this screen.

If this has happened, you can update it in the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen in your BPS application. From the Business overview screen click ‘Apply for BPS or view status of your application’, then ‘Open’ your application, and click ‘Make changes to your application’. After you’ve updated it, generate and download a copy of your application summary showing the correct eligible area you want to claim for payment (C8).

After you’ve made any changes to land parcel information on the ‘land use’ screen, and before submitting your BPS application, you need to open the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen. This screen displays the information that will be used to create the BPS application. Any changes made on the land use screen will not be included in the BPS application until it has been opened.

You need to check the activated (claimed) area (column C8) of the ‘Activate less BPS area’ table or screen for all of the land parcels you’ve declared as part of your application. If there is an error, this can usually be corrected by over-writing the information directly into the ‘Applied for’ column.

If a land parcel has been added to your business (SBI) or there’s been a mapping change, after you’ve created your application online, there are additional steps you need to follow to make sure the latest information appears in your application and your application summary. Please read the section on ‘Make changes to Part C: Field data sheet’ for more information.

A land parcel may also have a ‘red hand’ indicator displayed next to it on the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen. This is a warning the activated area declared for the parcel is greater than its BPS eligible area and this needs to be corrected before the application can be submitted.

In some cases, the red hand is showing incorrectly. This error can normally be corrected by deleting and re-entering the relevant information on the ‘land-use’ screen (you might need to do this more than once). Re-open the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen to check the information carries over into the application.

What to check in Part E: Common land

This part will show any common land grazing rights that you have. Check the information is correct and make a note of anything that is either missing or you need to change. If you need to add or change your information, read section ‘Make changes to Part E: Common land grazing rights’.

After BPS 2023, you will not need grazing rights or use of a common in future years for delinked payments. You will need to comply with the relevant commons rules and regulations.

E3 – Type of commons rights

This shows the type of grazing rights you have by animal type (for example, cattle, sheep, ponies) using the information we have.

Read the BPS rules for 2023 for more information and for guidance about how to apply if you have New Forest grazing rights.

E4 – Number of rights of this type

This shows the number of animals you have grazing rights for, for the animal type listed at E3, using the information we have. Read the BPS rules for 2023 for more information.

You do not need to convert your rights to livestock units (LUs) or do any other calculations.

E5 – Do you own the common?

If you own the common, check this is shown correctly.

E6 – Activate entitlements

Check each line in column E6 is correct if you want to be paid for your common land rights.

Where rights can be used on more than one common, we will allocate the rights between the commons in proportion to their relative eligible areas.

For example, if a farmer has rights to graze 100 cattle (equivalent to 100 LUs) on Common A (150ha eligible area) or Common B (50ha eligible area), we will allocate 75 LU (150 ha/200 ha x 100LU) to Common A and 25 LU (50 ha/200ha x 100LU) to Common B.

The information pre-populated in the ‘Common Land Grazing Rights’ table shows the allocation of rights that was used for BPS 2022 payments. However, if you are declaring split rights for BPS 2023, you should declare the full number of rights held against all the commons on which your rights can be used (in the above example declare 100 cattle on Common A and 100 cattle on Common B) and we will do the calculation to allocate the rights between the commons for you, using up-to-date information that we hold.

What to check at Part H: Entitlements

This section is for information only. You can check your entitlements information from the ‘Business overview’ screen, then under the ‘Basic Payment Scheme’ section, choose ‘View entitlements’. You can view entitlements from different scheme years, make sure you choose the correct ‘Scheme year’ from the dropdown list towards the top left side of the screen.

Click the ‘Help’ link to read about what the information on the screen means. If you think your entitlements information is wrong telephone us on 03000 200 301.

As the entitlement usage rule was removed from 2021, you’ll no longer see a ‘use by year’.

Entitlements that have been leased in will still show the date they were leased in and the end date of the lease.

Remember, you can apply for BPS on as much of your eligible land as you want to – you do not need to match the area you apply for with the number of entitlements you hold.

There is no penalty if the eligible area you apply for is greater than the number of entitlements you actually hold. We will work out your payment based on the number of entitlements matched by eligible land. However, you should not apply for more eligible land than you actually have.

For example, a farmer holds 100 entitlements on 15 May 2023 and declares 120ha of eligible land. 100 entitlements are activated for payment. The additional 20ha of eligible land is not an over-declaration.

If entitlements should have been transferred to you but they are not included on your application summary

You need to first check your entitlement balance in the Rural Payments service.

If an online entitlements transfer is showing as ‘pending’, there may be an outstanding query about those entitlements or if your BPS 2022 payment is still outstanding.

On your application, declare your land and BPS eligible area as you normally would. When we process your application, we’ll update your entitlement balance if there is a transfer we still need to complete and pay you for the actual number of entitlements you held on 15 May 2023.

If you think your Rural Payments service screen shows the wrong number of entitlements

You need to click ‘Help’ in the ‘View entitlements’ screen to read more information about your entitlements.

If you still think the Rural Payments service shows the wrong number of entitlements, fill in and send us a Basic Payment Scheme: payment query form, giving as much detail as you can.

You do not need to complete a query form if you have already completed one for 2022 or a previous scheme year. On your application, declare your land and BPS eligible area as you normally would. When we process your application, we’ll check your entitlements balance and make any updates we need to.

If there are any planned adjustments or you have an outstanding query about your BPS payment for previous years, any entitlement transfers will show as ‘pending’ on the ‘View entitlements’ screen until the adjustment or query has been completed. Once that is done, the transfer will be completed with the effective date given (unless there are insufficient entitlements).

If you applied for entitlements as a ‘young or new farmer’ in 2022, but they are not included in your balance in the Rural Payments service screens

You need to declare your land and BPS eligible area as you normally would on your application. Where applicable, refer to any information we have sent to you about your entitlements. When we process your application, we’ll check your entitlements balance and make any updates we need to so we can pay you for the correct number of entitlements you held on 15 May 2023 (based on the eligible land you apply on).

Change anything that needs updating

Making changes online will update your application. If you do not need to make any changes, go to ‘Complete your declaration’.

Use the different links on your ‘Business overview’ screen to make changes to the information shown on your application summary. If you’re still on the screen where you ‘Make changes to your application’ (where you downloaded your application summary), click ‘Back to Business overview’ at the top of the screen.

A guide about where you can make changes in the Rural Payments service is at annex 2. When you’re using the Rural Payments service, whenever you see the ‘Help’ link, you can click it to read information about how to use the screen you’re on.

When you’ve finished making your changes from the Business overview screen, you’ll need to open your application again and go back to the screen where you ‘Manage your application’ so you can complete your declaration (for more information, read section ‘Complete your declarations’).

Part A: Business details

To update your business name, click ‘View and amend your business details’ on the right side of the ‘Business overview’ screen, then ‘Amend business details and reference numbers’. To leave this screen always click ‘Save changes’.

Make changes to Part C: Field data sheet

The information in Part C: field data sheet comes from the ‘Land use’ screen. You can find it by clicking the ‘Update land’ link on the Business overview screen.

You can make the following changes to Part C:

  • change your ‘land use’ (columns C6 and C7 on your application summary)
  • reduce the area you want to claim for payment (C8)

You cannot change the information in columns C3 or C4 of your application summary online – and you will not need to when you make an application. You just need to:

  • make sure your land use (C7) and areas (C6) are correct
  • send us an RLE1 form and sketch map (if you haven’t already done so) if there has been a permanent boundary change (the total size of the parcel has changed), or if permanent non-agricultural areas and features have been added or removed from it

In the Rural Payments service, declare all of the land information to 4 decimal places (x.xxxx) ha. If you have any problems doing this, we recommend you round down rather than using normal rounding rules.

For example, if the parcel is 2.47725ha, record as 2.4772ha, rather than 2.4773ha.

If you see the ‘Plan not editable’ message on the ‘Update land use’ screen, telephone us on 03000 200 301 and tell us you have this message. We’ll change the status in the Rural Payments service so that you can make your changes.

Change ‘Land use’ – columns C6 and C7

From the ‘Business overview’ screen, click ‘Update land use’. The information on the land use screen will be submitted to us as part of your BPS application in Part C, so it’s important it’s correct.

Making a change in the ‘Update land Use’ screen will not automatically update your digital maps in the ‘View land’ screens. For more information about the ‘View land’ screens, read ‘Annex 1: Your digital maps’.

If you’re changing the land use for a land parcel that is already included or is going to be included, in a CS agreement, make sure the land use is compatible with the CS management option or it may affect your CS application or an existing agreement and your payment. For more information, refer to:

Searching for a land parcel

If you have a large number of land parcels, the easiest way to find the parcel you are looking for is to use the ‘Filters’. When you use a filter, you can update your land use and you’ll return to the filtered view (rather than the top of the land use screen). This means you can make a number of changes to a land parcel without having to search for it each time.

To see the filters, click the ‘Filters’ heading.

You can filter by:

  • sheet reference (for example, ‘2435’ or ‘AB1234’)
  • parcel ID (for example, ‘1145’)
  • land use – using this filter will show all the instances of a single land use (for example, if you search for permanent grassland it will show you all the land uses for ‘PG01 – Permanent Grassland’ for each National Grid reference)
  • ‘Undeclared’ or ‘Overdeclared’ to see all the parcels and land use areas which have these warnings

To filter, type the information you want to search for into one of the white boxes, then click the ‘Search’ button. To filter for ‘Undeclared’ or ‘Overdeclared’ warnings, click the arrow next to ‘All’, and choose the warning you want to search for.

To remove a filter:

  • delete the text you’ve typed in to one of the white boxes, then click ‘Search’
  • click the arrow next to the box showing ‘Undeclared’ or ‘Overdeclared’ and click ‘All’

If you use the filter to search by OS Sheet number, you will rarely have more than 10 fields to look through and generally all are displayed on the screen.

Make changes to land use

You can:

  • edit – change a land use area
  • add – include another land use in the land parcel and tell us its area or measurement
  • delete – remove a land use from a land parcel

When you’re changing your land use there are checks built into the Rural Payments service. They’ll highlight if the land uses you’ve declared for a parcel add up to more or less than the total field size that we currently have mapped. The total field size is shown in the ‘Parcel size’ column (and column C3 on your application summary).

The total field size shown is the area of the parcel which is linked to your holding. This will remain the same even if only part of the parcel is linked to you. For example, if the parcel is 10.0000ha in size and 50% is linked to you, the total field size will show as 10.0000ha in the land use screen and 10.0000ha in your digital maps. Column C4 (eligible area) will show 5.0000 to reflect the reduction. You can check the percentages of your land in the ‘Transfer land’ or ‘Business summary’ screens.

Undeclared

If you see an amber ‘undeclared’ warning, this means you have not declared the land use for the area of the land parcel that is linked to your holding and we currently have mapped. To add a land use for this area, click the ‘Add’ icon for the row shown as undeclared.

Overdeclared

If you see a red ‘overdeclared’ warning, this means you’ve declared land use that’s larger than the total size of the land parcel we currently have mapped and linked to your holding (SBI). Use the ‘Edit’ icons on the land use screen to reduce the size of one or more of the land uses in the land parcel.

You can update your land use to remove the ‘Undeclared’ or ‘Overdeclared’ warnings, but you may not need to if:

  • you need to tell us about a change to the total size of the field – send us an RLE1 form and sketch map to tell us about the changes and make sure the land use you’ve entered is correct
  • you’ve already sent us an RLE1 to tell us about changes but we have not updated your maps yet – you need to make sure the land uses for the parcel and their areas are correct
  • only part of the land parcel is ‘at your disposal’ for BPS – then you should only declare the land use and area for your part of the parcel

If any of these apply, you can still submit your application if the ‘undeclared’ or ‘overdeclared’ warnings are showing.

After you’ve created your application and generated an application summary, if a land parcel is added to your business (SBI), or there’s a mapping change, you need to add the land use, or make the relevant change, to the land parcel in the Land use screen. From the Business overview screen click ‘Update land use’, then click ‘Activate less BPS area’ to allow your application to update with the new information.

You’ll see a message saying, ‘We are calculating your eligibility information, please wait’. Once it’s completed, check the information is correct. Then click ‘Save’, then ‘Close’ to leave the screen.

From the Business overview screen click ‘Apply for BPS or view status of your application’ then ‘Open’ your application and click ‘Manage changes to your application’.

More information about how to do this can be found in this section. If the change relates to commons, you need to click the relevant link to allow that part of your application to update.

Activate less commons – after you’ve made the changes to the Update commons screen – more information about how to do this can be found in this section.

After you’ve done this, generate and download your application summary again to see the updates that have been made to your application.

If you have a land parcel in the ‘land use’ screen showing an area of 0.0000 and an amber ‘undeclared’ warning next to it

You need to do one of the following:

  • if the parcel should not be linked to your SBI because, for example, you do not have control of the parcel or have sold it, and you want to remove it from your holding, or transfer it to the new owner, follow the instructions in the ‘Make changes to Part C: Field data sheet’ section
  • if you cannot remove or transfer the parcel in the Transfer land screens, leave the area as undeclared in your online application and send us an RLE1 form to make the transfer
  • if you want to claim for BPS on this parcel, add the land uses to the land use screen using the information you have before you add the land parcel to your application
  • if you do not want to claim for BPS on this parcel, then leave the parcel as undeclared with an area of 0.0000 when you submit your BPS application

The land use screen will still show as an ‘undeclared’ area and flag against the 0.0000 and reference number. However, it will not be included in the list of ‘undeclared areas’ at the top of the screen (as shown below).

Adding or editing a land use

Enter a new land use (after clicking the ‘Add’ icon) or edit an existing one (after clicking the ‘Edit’ icon). If you get stuck, click the ‘Help’ link.

When you add or edit a land use, the screen will allow you to choose a further land use and its ‘Rotation’. This is no longer used for BPS and you should not enter any information for rotations.

When you have made your changes on this screen, click the ‘Save’ button, then ‘Back’.

For BPS 2023, if you’re applying for ‘Spelt Wheat’, you need to use code AC96, which will show as ‘Samphire’.

If the changes you make mean that the total size of the field (‘Parcel size’ in the land use screen) has changed, you need to fill in and send us an RLE1 form and sketch map and ask us to change the permanent field boundaries (if you haven’t already done so).

If you have already sent us an RLE1 form, you can check your digital map of the land parcel to see if the change still shows as ‘pending’ – shown by an (!) icon. For more information, read ‘Annex 1: Your digital maps’.

Add or remove land parcels at Part C

The information below explains how to add or remove a land parcel at Part C of your application summary.

If you transfer land online, you will not see this straightaway on your digital maps in the ‘View land’ screens. It can take up to 24 hours to appear. You should see it straightaway in the ‘Update land use’ screen.

If you want to add a land parcel to your application

You need to do either option 1, if the land parcel is already registered with us or option 2, if it is not registered with us.

Option 1

If the land parcel is already registered with us you need to do one of the following.

  1. Ask the previous owner or applicant to transfer the land parcel to you online (this will link the parcel to your SBI). We recommend online transfers are made as early as possible, so they appear on your online application in time to submit it. If the land parcel shows the holding type as ‘tenant’ or less than 100% owned, read the section below this table ‘Transferring or removing land with holding type as tenant or shows as less than 100% owned of the land parcel’. If the land parcel is in an agri-environment agreement with another SBI, read the ‘Important’ information within the ‘Dual linking of land for landlords and tenants’ section.
  2. Fill in a BP5 continuation booklet with the details of the land parcel and send it to us when you apply. You need to post continuation sheets to us – we cannot accept them in an email.
  3. Add land by email – send us an email (from an email address registered for a person in the business in the Rural Payments service, with at least ‘BPS: Amend’ permission) asking us to add the land to your online application – put ‘Add land’ in the subject title and include the following information in the body of your email:
    • the SBI and name of the business the land should be linked to (so it appears on your online application)
    • the land parcel reference numbers for the parcels you want to add including sheet reference numbers and parcel IDs
    • National Grid field numbers in the format of 2 letters followed by 8 numbers, for example AB1234 5678
    • your name and contact number in case of any issues

Only land parcels not linked to common land can be added using email. Any requests to add land parcels that are linked to common land need to be submitted on a BP5 continuation booklet.

Send your email to ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk and include the subject title ‘Add land’.

We need to receive your email by 2 May 2023 to make sure we can get back to you in time for you to complete your application by the 15 May 2023 deadline.

We will send you an email (to the email address you sent the request from) after the change has been made. In some cases, for example, the land has an outstanding mapping change, we may not be able to link the parcel to your SBI. If this happens, we will email you and provide you with a link to the continuation sheets that you will need.

You need to read the ‘Important’ information within the ‘Make changes to land use’ section about adding a land parcel to your application.

Option 2

If the land parcel is not registered with us, fill in a BP5 continuation booklet with the details of the land parcel and send it to us when you apply and fill in an RLE1 form and sketch map to register the land parcel (if you have not already done so).

If you want to transfer or remove a land parcel from your application

You need to do one of the following.

  1. Transfer the land parcel online to the right business in the Rural Payments service (this will remove it from your business). After you’ve transferred the land parcel, you need to make sure you do not include it as part of your BPS application.
  2. Remove the land parcel from your business (SBI) if you no longer have control of it – for example, you do not farm it any longer or you tried to delete it from your application last year and it’s still appearing. To do this go to ‘Transfer land’ and select ‘Remove’ as the type of transfer.

If the land parcel shows the holding type as ‘tenant’ or less than 100% owned and this is incorrect, you will need to fill in a ‘Change land tenure form’. Read section ‘Transferring or removing land with holding type as tenant or shows as less than 100% owned of the land parcel’ for more information.

After you have either transferred or removed the land parcel, you need to remove it from your BPS application (before you submit it). To do this, from the ‘Land use’ screen delete the ‘land use’ from the land parcel. Then, check the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen. The land parcel should not appear.

If you are not able to transfer or remove the land parcel online, fill in an RLE1 form and email it to us. You also need to remove the land parcel from your BPS application – see the information above.

If you transfer the land parcel from your SBI, or use the ‘Remove’ land option, this will completely remove the land parcel from your record. You will not be able to claim for payment on that land parcel for either BPS or one of the following agri-environment payment schemes:

  • CS
  • ES
  • SFI
  • Habitat Scheme
  • English Woodland Grant Scheme
  • Farm Woodland Premium Scheme
  • National Forest Changing Landscape Scheme
  • Woodland Carbon Fund
  • HS2 Woodland Fund

Do not use the ‘Remove land’ option if you still control the land parcel for one of these schemes. If you remove a land parcel under an existing agri-environmental agreement, it will be removed from your land record and from your agreement. It may also mean that any payments already made to you are recovered.

For these cases, you should leave the land parcel on your BPS application and use the correct ‘land use’ for the scheme you are applying for. To update your land use, from the ‘land use’ screen, use the ‘Edit land use’ option.

You also need to remove the land parcel from your BPS application. To do this, you need to use the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen and select ‘No’ in the relevant row. This will reduce the ‘applied for’ area on your BPS application to 0.0000. Read ‘Part C (Column C8): ‘Activate less BPS area’ within the ‘Complete your declarations’ section for more information.

Transferring or removing land – with ‘holding type’ of tenant or shows as less than 100% owned of the land parcel

You cannot transfer or remove a land parcel online if the ‘Holding type’ on the ‘Transfer land’ screen shows as:

  • tenant
  • owner but the percentage owned is less than 100%

If this is incorrect, you will need to fill in the Change land tenure form to update the holding type or land share of a parcel. When this information is shown correctly, you will then be able to transfer or remove the land parcel in the Rural Payments service.

You can also fill in and send us an RLE1 form to transfer or remove the land parcel from your SBI. Read the RLE1 guidance for more information.

The ‘Transfer land’ screen, and the ‘Business summary’ screen, which you can access from the Business overview screen, shows the percentage of land owned on the ‘Land details’ page under ‘Share %’.

Dual linking of land for landlords and tenants

If a landlord has a land parcel in an agri-environment agreement and has let the land to a tenant who is using the same land at the same time to apply for BPS, that land needs to be linked to both the landlord’s and tenant’s SBI. This situation is known as ‘dual use’.

The tenant can add the land parcel to their online BPS application by emailing us – follow the instructions in the table within section ‘Add or remove land parcels at part C’. This will allow the land parcel to be linked to the tenant’s SBI at the same time as being linked to the landlord’s SBI. This will not create a permanent land link to the tenant’s SBI, only submitting an RLE1 form or transferring the land online will do that.

If an RLE1 form is submitted to transfer the land parcel to the tenant, write on the front page of the RLE1 form ‘Dual use – maintain link to existing SBI’. Make sure you enter ‘(Keep link)’ after the business name in section B2. The tenant should then include the land parcel on a continuation sheet, which they will need to post to us, or email us to add the land parcel to their online BPS application.

If the landlord is transferring the land online to a tenant, they should transfer it by lease, which will allow the tenant to include the land parcel on their application. This will not break the existing land link to the owner but will add a new link to the land parcel for the tenant. At the end of the lease, the parcel link will end but the original land link to the owner will be retained.

If the landlord is applying for BPS on other land, the agri-environment scheme agreement land should be declared on their BPS 2023 application but the area being claimed for payment should show as 0.0000.

The tenant applying for BPS on the land parcel should update the land use – they need to make sure that the land use code for BPS does not conflict with the CS option that the landlord has on their agri-environment agreement. If the parcel is owned by someone else but they are not applying for payment on it for BPS, they should use the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen to show that they are not applying for payment on that land parcel – click the button next to the N to answer ‘no’ in the relevant row, then click Save.

Other changes you may want to make

Other information you may find useful when you make changes to your land information.

If you want to change the size of a land parcel (because the permanent boundary has changed)

To increase the size of the land parcel, you need to increase the area of land use for the corresponding land use code(s). Use the ‘Edit’ and/or ‘Add’ icons in the land use screen to make the changes. The total area of land use will now be larger than the total parcel size and will show as ‘overdeclared’.

Then fill in an RLE1 and sketch map to tell us about the change to the land parcel (if you have not already done so).

To reduce the size of the land parcel you need to reduce the area of land use for the corresponding code(s). Use the ‘Edit’ icon in the land use screen to make the changes. The total area of land uses will now be smaller than the total parcel size and will show as ‘undeclared’

Then fill in an RLE1 form and sketch map to tell us about the change (if you have not already done so.

You need to click ‘Activate less BPS area’ for the information to be updated in your application. For more information read the ‘Important’ box within the ‘Making changes to land use’ section.

If you want to split or merge parcels (permanent splits, not crop splits)

You need to do either of the following.

  1. Merge: fill in the land use for each parcel and leave as 2 separate parcels. Use the ‘Edit’, ‘Delete’ or ‘Add’ icons in the land use screen to do this.
  2. Split: fill in the land use for each parcel in the existing parcel (and do not split it other than providing different land use where needed). Use the ‘Edit’, ‘Delete’ or ‘Add’ icons in the land use screen to do this.

Then fill in and send us an RLE1 and sketch form to tell us about the change (if you have not already done so).

You need to click ‘Activate less BPS area’ for the information to be updated in your application. For more information read the ‘Important’ box within the ‘Making changes to land use’ section.

If you want to claim for land that is in dual use

You need to agree the land use code to use for the land parcel with the other applicant – make sure it is compatible with both BPS and CS or ES agreements. Once this is agreed, this is the land use you should both declare in your land use screen and should not be changed unless you both agree with the change.

Then, you need to do one of the following.

  1. If you are applying for BPS on the land parcel: claim on the land parcel but do not amend the land use code. The person who is not applying for BPS on the land parcel should use the ‘activate less BPS area’ screen to show the ‘eligible area’ as 0.0000 so that the land parcel is not activated for payment, if they are applying for BPS on other land parcels
  2. If you are claiming for CS or ES and someone else is claiming for BPS on the same area: do not activate the land parcel for payment on your BPS application. If you are applying for BPS on other land parcels, use the ‘activate less BPS area’ screen. Do not amend the land use code or eligible area on the ‘Land use’ screen
  3. If you are making a CS application in 2023: claim on the parcel and make sure the land use code is the same on the application for BPS and CS. The land needs to be linked to both the person claiming BPS and the person claiming CS.

If you want to declare an area of a shared parcel

You need to declare the area of land use for your share of the land parcel.

The total area of land uses will now be smaller than the total parcel size, and you will get an ‘undeclared’ warning. Use the ‘Edit’ icons in the land use screen to do this.

Make sure the shares declared by each person do not exceed the total parcel size or the maximum BPS eligible area.

If you want to tell us about non-agricultural areas and features in a land parcel which are not on your maps

You need to enter the land use code for the non-agricultural area or feature and enter the area. Use the ‘Add’ icon on the land use screen to add new land uses. If it is a temporary non-agricultural area or feature, use the NA02 land use code.

You also need to fill in an RLE1 form and sketch map to tell us about these features and areas if it is a permanent non-agricultural area or feature (if you have not already done so). We do not map temporary non-agricultural areas or features.

If you want to tell us about temporary non- agricultural areas and features

You need to give the area or feature a land use code of NA02 and enter the area. Use the ‘Add’ icon on the land use screen to add new land uses.

You do not need to fill in an RLE1 form or sketch map to tell us about temporary non-agricultural features.

If you want to submit an RLE1 to tell us about changes to your land

You need to fill in an RLE1 form and sketch map to tell us about permanent changes to your land for BPS 2023.

When submitting an RLE1 form for land changes, make sure that the changes are also shown in your online application.

If land changes occur later in the year and these affect your 2023 application (for example, some of your land has become permanently ineligible for BPS), tell us about the change by emailing or writing to us with a completed RLE1 form and sketch map, explaining the changes needed to your application.

Read the BPS rules for 2023 for more information about withdrawing part or all of an application.

If you want to have a land parcel in your ‘Land use’ screen in the Rural Payments service and a single land use is shown over a number of lines (for example, permanent grassland is shown 3 times in one land parcel)

You need to either:

  • leave it so it shows as more than one line in the ‘Update land use’ screen
  • delete and edit the information so the land use only shows on one line for that land parcel

If you want to change the land cover shown on your digital maps for a land parcel

Where there is one land cover (arable, permanent grassland, permanent crops or non-agricultural) for the whole land parcel, telephone us on 03000 200 301.

Where there is more than one land cover for a land parcel, you need to fill in an RLE1 form and send it to us with a sketch map clearly marked with the land covers and areas.

Before you change the land cover for an individual land parcel, check this will not affect any CS, ES or SFI agreement that the land parcel has been included in. For more information, read the ‘Land cover changes’ section in the RLE1 guidance.

Check the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen

You should check the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen whether or not you’ve made any changes to your land information as the area you’ve claimed for payment on can default to 0.0000. Read Part C (Column C8): ‘Activate less BPS area’ for more information. If the information shown in the ‘activate less BPS area’ is incorrect, update the ‘Applied for’ column to show the area you want to claim for payment on, and click ‘Save’.

If a land parcel has been added to your business (SBI) or there’s been a mapping change, after you’ve created your application, there are additional steps that you need to follow to make sure that the latest information appears in your application and in your application summary. Please read the ‘Important’ box within the ‘Making changes to land use’ section for more information.

Make changes to Part E: Common land grazing rights

Changing E1 to E5

If you need to make changes to your common land, you can do this in the ‘Update rights for common land’ screen. From the ‘Business overview’ screen click ‘Update commons’. Onscreen ‘Help’ is available and will guide you through using the commons screens step-by-step.

Click on the row you want to change and a ‘Common Declared Rights’ table will appear on the screen. If the table is empty and you want to add common land rights, click ‘New page’.

If you have split rights that can be used on more than one common, the information in the ‘common rights declared’ table will show the number of these rights allocated to each common to make BPS 2022 payments.

Enter the total number of these rights that you hold against each common on which they can be used and we will perform the 2023 apportionment calculation for you.

Then, follow the steps below under the heading ‘If you have common land rights not showing in the application summary’.

Changes to E3 or E4

If any information has changed, please send us supporting documents to show the updated type of commons rights or number of rights.

Clearly write your SBI on everything you send to us, and then post your evidence to us – you can find our address in the ‘Contact us’ section.

New Forest

If you’re a new farmer in the New Forest, who started commoning in 2022 and will claim BPS on the New Forest for the first time in 2023, you will be allocated a reference amount based on your marking fees paid for 2022.

However, there is a threshold of 20 livestock units and you will not be allocated more than this.

You should use your BPS application to declare an interest in the common rights you have in the New Forest and under the ‘Number of rights of this type’, enter ‘9999’.

Changing E6

The information in column E6 on your application summary updates based on the information in the ‘Update rights for common land’ screen, but you need to follow the steps below under ‘Important’.

It will update to make sure you are always claiming the rights that you have. If, for any reason, you want to reduce the rights you are claiming for, you can do this in the ‘Activate less commons’ screen. Read ‘Part E Activate less commons’.

After you’ve made changes to your common land you need to follow the steps below to update the information in your application and your application summary.

  1. Go to your application, from the ‘Business overview’ screen, click ‘Apply for BPS or view status of your claim’, then ‘Open’.
  2. Click ‘Make changes to your application’, then ‘Activate less commons’.
  3. Make sure the rights you want to claim in the column ‘Do you want to activate entitlements’ have the Yes (‘Y’) box filled in. You can fill in all the Yes boxes by clicking ‘Activate all’.
  4. Click ‘Save’ then close the ‘activate less commons’ screen.

When you generate a new application summary, the updated information should show on it.

Part H: Entitlements

This part of your application summary is for information only. If you think the information is incorrect, you can check it on the ‘View entitlements’ screen.

Transferring entitlements

If you want to transfer entitlements online, from the ‘Business overview’ screen, click ‘Transfer entitlements’. ‘Help’ is available onscreen.

If you think the ‘View entitlements’ screen shows the incorrect number of entitlements and you still want to transfer them, fill in an RLE1 form and send it to us.

On your application, declare your land and BPS eligible area as you normally would. When we process your application, we’ll check your entitlements balance and make any updates we need to. This is so we can pay you for the correct number of entitlements you have based on the eligible land you claim for.

Only the business that has the entitlements at 11:59pm on 15 May 2023 can use them to be paid in that scheme year. This means all entitlement transfers for the BPS 2023 scheme year also need to be made by 11:59pm on 15 May 2023.

If you want to lease your entitlements to the same business year after year telephone us on 03000 200 301 to extend the original lease. Only the business leasing out the entitlements to another business can extend the lease, not the business leasing the entitlements from another business.

Entitlements will end with the BPS scheme. You will need to hold entitlements on 15 May 2023 if you want to use them to claim BPS in 2023. Entitlements will not be needed after this date. This means that you will not be able to make entitlement transfers after 15 May 2023. For transfers of land with entitlements or entitlements only, the ‘effective date of transfer’, or where applicable, the date the lease agreement starts, can be no later than 15 May 2023.

Entitlements will not be needed for delinked payments.

For more information about transferring entitlements, read the BPS rules for 2023.

If you’ve already sent us an RLE1 to transfer entitlements

If the transfer was for entitlements to be used in 2023 but the transfer has not yet been completed, you can still make the transfer online using the Rural Payments service.

Once you’ve transferred your entitlements online, you need to send us an email (from an email address that is registered in the Rural Payments service for a person with at least ‘BPS: Amend’ or ‘Entitlements: Amend’ permission for the business transferring the entitlements) or call us asking to withdraw your RLE1 form.

The email subject heading should include ‘BPS 2023 - Withdraw entitlements transfer RLE1’. You’ll need to tell us the following information, from your RLE1 form, in the email:

  • SBI of the business transferring the entitlements
  • SBI of the business receiving the entitlements
  • type of transfer: state that this is an entitlement transfer RLE1
  • the method of transfer, for example, sale, gift or lease
  • the number of entitlements and payment region they’re in

Complete your declaration

Before you can confirm your application and submit it, you need to complete your declaration.

You must fill in the ‘Your declaration and responsibilities’ section before submitting your application.

To complete your declaration, go to the ‘Manage your application’ screen. From the ‘Business overview’ screen, click ‘Apply for BPS or view status of your application’ (and ‘open’ your application).

If you need help, click the ‘Help’ link.

If you’ve made changes to Part C: Field data sheet, or Part E: Common land grazing rights, you need to make sure that the changes appear in your application and your application summary.

To do this, click on the relevant link under ‘Manage changes to your application’. You may see a message while your application is updating.

Once this is complete, check that the information is correct, click ‘Save’, and then ‘Close’ to leave the screen.

Read the ‘Important’ box within ‘Making changes to land use’ for more information.

Part C (Column C8): ‘Activate less BPS area’

From the ‘Manage your application’ screen, click ‘Activate less BPS area’.

The information in column C8 (Eligible area you want to apply for payment on) on your application summary is based on the information in the ‘Update land use’ screen. It should update to make sure you are always applying for the maximum eligible area that you can (based on your land use).

The ‘Eligible’ area will show the eligible area you’ve declared in the ‘Update land use’ screen (C6 and C7). You can also see how much land you’ve ‘Applied for’ (C8). For BPS, the total eligible area of a land parcel needs to be at least 0.10ha to ‘Apply for’ payment for it. If the land parcel is below 0.10ha then C4 and C8 in your application summary will show as 0.0000ha.

Whether or not any changes have been made to the information in the ‘Update land use’ screens, it’s very important that you check the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen to make sure that the eligible area you want to claim for payment (C) is showing correctly.

In some cases, the eligible area you want to claim for payment (C8) may have defaulted to 0.0000 in this screen. If this has happened, you can update it in the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen.

A land parcel may also have a ‘red hand’ indicator displayed next to it on the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen. This is a warning that the activated area declared for the parcel is greater than its BPS eligible area and that this needs to be corrected before the application can be submitted.

In some cases the red hand is showing incorrectly. This error can normally be corrected by deleting and re-entering the relevant information on the ‘land-use’ screen (you might need to do this more than once). Re-open the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen to check the information carries over into the application.

After you’ve updated it, generate and download a copy of your application summary. Check this summary is showing the correct eligible area you want to claim for payment (C8).

How to claim less BPS area

If you want to reduce the area you are claiming a BPS payment for, you can declare this in the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen.

You can make changes by typing the areas you want to claim into the ‘Applied for’ column. Click the ‘Help’ link on the screen for more information on how to do this.

If you do not want to claim for payment on a specific land parcel, for example, you are in a dual use situation, or you have transferred or removed the land parcel, you need to click the button next to the N to answer ‘no’ in the relevant row.

Make sure you save any changes before you close the screen.

Part E: ‘Activate less commons’

If you do not want to claim for payment on all your grazing rights (E6 on your application summary), you need to reduce the number of entitlements you use (activate).

From the ‘Apply for BPS or view status of your application’ screen, use the green button to open your application, choose ‘Make changes to your application’ then ‘Activate less commons’. This shows the grazing rights from your BPS 2022 application, and any additional changes that we’ve already agreed with you. It shows the maximum number of rights you can use to activate (use) payment entitlements for BPS 2023.

Any further changes that we’ve agreed with you but not yet entered, or changes that we may agree later, will show when we enter the updated information into the Rural Payments service.

For any common you do not want to claim for payment click ‘N’ in the ‘Do you want to activate entitlements’ column. Then choose the relevant common. (If you need more help to do this click the ‘Help’ link on the screen.) Then click Save. Click Close to go back to the previous screen.

If you make any changes to this information, please send us any supporting evidence you have showing the numbers you declare.

Change the information we have about your commons rights

You can also add and remove commons and change the name of a common, the number of rights or the type of rights. From the ‘Business overview’ screen, click ‘Update commons’.

If you’ve added or made changes to your common land (read Make changes to Part E: Common land grazing rights), you need to click ‘Activate less commons’ to allow your application to update with the new information. You may see a message while your application is updating. Once this is complete, check that the information is correct, click ‘Save’ and then ‘Close’ to leave the screen.

Part G: Young farmer payment

If you are applying for the young farmer payment for the first time, go to the ‘Make changes to your application’ section of the ‘Apply for BPS or view status of your application’ screen and click ‘Apply for young farmer’. Click ‘Yes’ to apply for the young farmer payment, then ‘Close’.

You need to send us a ‘Basic Payment Scheme (2023) Young and new farmer application form’ together with the accountant or solicitor certificate to prove you are a young farmer. We need to receive your application by 11:59pm on 15 May 2023.

If you were assessed as eligible for the young farmer payment in 2022, go to the ‘Make changes to your application’ section of the ‘Apply for BPS or view status of your application’ screen and click ‘Apply for young farmer’. Click ‘Yes’ to apply for the young farmer payment, then ‘Close’.

You do not need to send us another ‘Basic Payment Scheme (2023) Young and new farmer application form’ or any evidence, unless there has been a change to the structure of your business since you applied in 2022.

The same applies if you were assessed as eligible for the young farmer payment in an earlier scheme year but did not apply for the young farmer payment in 2022, and there has been no change to the business structure since you last successfully applied for the young farmer payment.

If your business structure has changed, you need to send us another ‘Basic Payment Scheme (2023) Young and new farmer application form’ and ‘Accountant or Solicitor certificate’.

You can apply for the young farmer payment for a maximum of 5 years, starting from the year you make your first successful young farmer payment application, provided you meet the criteria above.

After successfully applying for the young farmer payment, if you did not then apply in one or more of your 5 years (or your application was rejected, for example, because you did not provide the required evidence), you are still eligible to apply this year, provided you are still eligible.

BPS 2023 is the last year that the young farmer payment is available.

Read the BPS rules for 2023 for more information.

Part L: Your declaration and responsibilities

To make your declaration, on the ‘Manage your application’ screen, click ‘Declarations’ then ‘Your declaration and responsibilities’. Please read these carefully and then click ‘Yes’ to confirm that you accept the terms of the declaration.

You need to complete this declaration before you submit your application.

Confirm your information and apply

After you’ve made your changes and declarations, first check your application again, then submit it.

If you have made any changes to your information, you need to generate and print a new application summary. You need to do this to see the most up-to-date information in your application.

If a land parcel has been added to your business (SBI), or there’s been a mapping change, there are additional steps that you need to follow to make sure that the latest information shows on your application and your application summary. Please read the ‘Important’ box in ‘Making changes to land use’ section for more information.

How to generate an application summary

From the ‘Manage your application’ screen, click the drop-down arrow ‘View and print your application summary’, then click ‘Generate’ to create an updated version. Then click ‘Download’ to read it.

The date and time the summary was generated will show above the ‘Download’ button.

After you’ve generated your application summary, check for errors. One of the most common errors when applying is missing information at Part C, for example missing or zero values in the Land Use Code (C7) and Area to Activate (C8) boxes. Check the form carefully before it is submitted, particularly for any incorrect zero values

Submit your application

You need to submit your application by 11:59pm on 15 May 2023. The most recent BPS application is the one that will be accepted. It cannot be deleted online. If you want to withdraw it, you need to write or email us.

We can accept applications until 11:59pm on 9 June 2023 but will apply penalties to applications submitted after 11:59pm on 15 May 2023 (read the ‘Important dates’).

You need to complete the ‘Your declaration and responsibilities’ declaration.

Click ‘Submit’ on the ‘Manage your application’ screen to apply. A ‘screen message’ will confirm that RPA has received your application.

Please be aware that the Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier and Wildlife Offer application windows do not open fully until the 21 March.

If the ‘screen message’ does not appear, it means that your application has not been received. Check you have completed ‘Your declaration and responsibilities’ declarations.

We recommend that as soon as you submit your application, you generate a new application summary, download it and either print it or save it to your computer. This will be a direct copy of the application you’ve submitted and will contain the time and date that you submitted it.

After you’ve submitted your BPS application

The ‘status’ on the ‘Apply for BPS or view status of your application’ screen will change to ‘Submitted’ and the date and time it was submitted will show, as well as the date it was created (‘Date produced’).

You should check that the status of your application is ‘submitted’.

If you need to send us supporting documents, remember they are part of your application. We can accept these without penalty up to 11:59pm on 9 June 2023. For more information, read the section on ‘Sending supporting documents’.

You do not need to send us a paper application form (BP5) unless you want to withdraw your online application. If you do send a paper form, it will replace your online application and the date we receive the paper application will then become the date you submitted your application.

Generate a copy of your application summary after you’ve submitted your application and save it. This application summary shows the time and date you submitted your application.

However, when you submit a new application, the date and time of your original application will still show in the ‘Apply for BPS or view status of your application’ screen. See ‘Track your application’ for more information.

If you want to submit your BPS application online but cannot see a ‘Submit’ button in the ‘BPS Applications screens’

You need to check your permission level in the Rural Payments service – you need ‘BPS: submit’ permission level. To find out more about this permission level read ‘Check your permission levels’ within the ‘Check your information’ section.

If you have the correct permission level the green ‘Submit’ button shows at the bottom of the list of options when your BPS application is open on the ‘Manage your application’ screen (from the Business overview screen, click ‘Apply for BPS or view status of your application’, then ‘Open’).

If you are unable to submit your BPS application online

Check you have completed ‘Your declaration and responsibilities’ declarations.

If you want to know if your online application has submitted successfully

You need to do any of the following:

  • watch for the ‘screen message’ that appears after you’ve submitted your application
  • click the ‘All messages’ tab on the initial ‘Your businesses and messages’ screen – you’ll see a message telling you that you’ve submitted your application successfully
  • go to the ‘Apply for BPS or view status of your application’ screen which will show the status of the application as ‘submitted’ and the date and time that it was submitted

Track your application

After you’ve submitted your application, you can track its progress from the ‘Apply for BPS or view status of your application’ screen. Check the status box as this will tell you what stage your application is at. The final 2 status refer to the balance payment. Farmers with eligible BPS 2023 applications will receive an advance payment of around 50% from 1 August 2023 and the balance payment from 1 December 2023.

If your status is:

  • submitted – we’ve received your application and it’s ready for us to make our initial checks
  • claim validation – we’re making our main checks on the application
  • final checking – we’re completing final checks to confirm the application final value
  • preparing for payment – our checks are complete and the application will be sent for the balance payment to be made; you should receive your balance payment soon unless we’re still waiting for something from you before we can make your payment, for example, your bank details (this status may also remain after payment has been made)

If the status is blank, this means we have not received your application.

Generate and print a new copy of your application summary, check the information, make any changes, complete your declarations, confirm your information and then submit your application.

Sending supporting documents

If you need to send supporting documents as part of your application, you need to do this early enough for us to receive it by 11:59pm on 9 June 2023 (except for Hemp). We will not apply a penalty, as long as we received your application before 11:59pm on 15 May 2023.

Your application will be rejected if the supporting documents are received after 9 June 2023 (apart from Hemp and cases accepted as force majeure and exceptional circumstances).

Supporting documents might include:

  • young farmer or new farmer form and proof of status
  • continuation booklets
  • Hemp certificate – submit hemp seed labels by 30 June 2023 (for more information, read the ‘Hemp’ section in the BPS rules for 2023)

You need to make sure you clearly write the SBI on every sheet, then send them to us by post – we recommend that you use a postal method with tracking and proof of posting.

We cannot accept supporting documents that are sent by email.

Rural Payments Agency
PO Box 352
WORKSOP
S80 9FG

Read the BPS rules for 2023 for more information on application dates and penalties.

We recommend that you keep a copy of everything you send to us, including supporting documents.

We do not send acknowledgement receipts for any supporting documents we receive.

After you’ve applied: how to make changes to your application

You can make certain changes to your application – without getting a penalty – until 11:59pm on 9 June 2023 (as long as we received your original application by 11:59pm on 15 May 2023). For more information, read the BPS rules for 2023.

To make the changes, you will need to ‘create’ a new application and submit it when you have made them.

To do this, read the onscreen ‘Help’ at the ‘Apply for BPS or view status of your application’ screen.

You also need to email us to explain this is a change to the originally submitted application. This means penalties will not be applied for submitting a late application, as long as the original application was made by 11:59pm on 15 May 2023.

A new application will replace a previously submitted application – you will still be able to see (and print) any previously submitted applications as an application summary.

When you submit a new application, the date and time of your original application will still show in the ‘Apply for BPS’ screen.

The ‘Active’ column for the previously submitted application will show as ‘No’ and the status will now be blank.

However, when you generate an application summary, the actual date and time the summary was generated will show.

If you submit an updated application after 15 May 2023, you need to send an email to us, explaining that this is a change to your original application. Use ‘Amendments to BPS 2023 application’ as the subject of the email and quote your SBI in the email. Send it to ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk.

We recommend that as soon as you submit your application, you generate a new application summary, download it and either print it or save it to your computer. This will be a direct copy of the application you’ve submitted and will contain the time and date that you submitted it.

You should check that any changes you’ve made appear in the application summary. Use the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen to make sure that the eligible area you want to claim for payment (C8) is showing correctly.

Annex 1: Your digital maps

The information below shows you how to check your digital maps and make changes to them in the Rural Payments service.

You can look at digital maps of the individual land parcels which are linked to your SBI in the Rural Payments service. You can see them as either an OS map or as an aerial photo – you can print the OS map view too. On the ‘Business overview’ screen, click the ‘View land’ link.

Check your digital maps

It’s important that you check your digital maps in the ‘View land’ screen from the Business overview screen because we’ve reviewed and updated our mapping information, where necessary, since applications were made for BPS 2022. We’ve updated our digital land maps using the latest available data sources, such as aerial photography and OS updates.

If we’ve updated your land parcels, you will have received notifications in the ‘All messages’ tab in the Rural Payments service identifying which land parcels have been updated.

We’ll also send you an email to remind you to check your notifications, so it’s important that you keep your email address up to date.

If you do not agree with the changes, what you need to do is explained in the section ‘Land cover and how to change it’ below.

How to use the ‘Land summary’ screen

You’ll see a summary of your land parcels giving the number of parcels and their total area, and a list of all the individual land parcels. Click on the individual land parcel details to see more information about that parcel, for example, BPS eligible area, total area and land cover.

The ‘Land summary’ screen will highlight if there are any changes ‘pending’ on any of the land parcels – if there are, you will see an ‘!’ icon (exclamation mark). This means we’re still working on changes to that land parcel, so you should take account of any outstanding RLE1 forms that you’ve sent to us – or any outstanding site visit reports. You do not need to send us another RLE1 form.

If there are no changes ‘pending’, but you need to make changes to the land parcel, send us an RLE1 form and sketch map to tell us about the changes.

If you cannot see a particular land parcel, this could be because it is not linked to your SBI – or is not registered on our database at all. For information about what you need to do, follow the instructions detailed in the table in the ‘Add or remove land parcels at part C’ section.

This screen gives an overview of the current information and map that we have for the land on your holding. To help you identify when the last change was made to your land information, you can choose to see the information and map for a date in the past – as far back as 1 January 2015. Click in the date box and choose the year, month and date you want to see the information for, then click Search. The Help hyperlink gives more information.

Land cover and how to change it

From the ‘Land summary’ screen, click the details for an individual land parcel and you can see the ‘land cover’ for that land parcel in the ‘Parcel details’ screen. This will be either arable, permanent pasture, permanent crops or ‘other’ (non-agricultural area, with the type of non-agricultural area if that has been mapped, such as ungrazeable scrub). It is important that this information is correct.

See the section on ‘If you want to change the land cover shown on your digital maps for a land parcel’ in this guidance for more information.

Before you change the land cover for an individual land parcel, check that this will not affect any CS, ES or SFI agreement that the land parcel has been included in. For more information, read the section on ‘Change land use – columns C6 and C7’. You can also read the RLE1 guidance for more information.

If you have an exclamation mark (!) icon next to a land parcel in the Land summary screen

You need to make your application and ensure that the information in your ‘Update land use’ screen is up to date. The exclamation mark shows that we’re still mapping changes, but you do not need to wait for us to finish before you apply.

If you sent us an RLE1 and sketch map to tell us about a change to your land – but the change is not on your maps and you cannot see an exclamation mark (!) icon

You need to contact us by email, phone or post.

Rural Payments Agency (CS)
PO Box 324
Worksop
S95 1DF

Email: ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk

Telephone: 03000 200 301
Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm, except bank holidays
Find out about call charges

Give your SBI and use ‘Mapping Query’ as the subject heading of an email or letter and give details of the change that you’ve requested.

You should still submit your BPS 2023 application based on the information you have to the best of your knowledge and send an email to us to explain what you’ve done.

If you think we have mapped a permanent non-agricultural feature or area, or land parcel boundary incorrectly

You need to send us an email or a letter to let us know, if you have already told us about the change. If you have them, include a copy of any RLE1 forms and maps you have sent to us (if applicable) about the non-agricultural area or feature (read the RLE1 guidance for more information).

Print a copy of the land parcel from the ‘Parcel details’ screen and mark the change required on it (include any measurements if you have them and if it is a feature, what the feature is).

Make sure the feature has the correct area or land use code in your land use screen.

If you have land cover shown on your maps which is incorrect

Where there is one land cover type for the whole land parcel, telephone us on 03000 200 301.

If there is more than one land cover for a land parcel, you need to fill in an RLE1 form and send it to us with a sketch map clearly marked with the land cover and areas.

If you see a change to your maps and are not sure why we have made it (for example it is not a change you told us about)

You need to check the ‘All messages’ tab in the Rural Payments service for any new notifications.

We use all available data sources, including aerial photos and OS map updates, to keep our land information up to date, and to check any applications you make.

We will not write to you anymore to tell you when we make a change to your maps based on these data sources, but you will receive a notification when we make these changes – check ‘All messages’ tab regularly in the Rural Payments service.

You can view the information and map for a date in the past. The Help hyperlink in the ‘Land summary’ screen tells you how to do this. See ‘Annex 1: Your digital maps’ for more information.

If you do not agree with the changes

If it is a change to land cover, see the query above.

If you disagree with a split or merger of parcels, providing you are the sole applicant and there is no overall change to the eligible area you are applying for, there is no need to update your maps before you apply. If you wish us to do so, then please tell us later in the year.

If the changes do affect the eligible area of the land parcel, you need to fill in an RLE1 form and submit this along with a sketch map. Then, continue to make your application using the information you’ve given us on the RLE1 form.

If you notice a mapping change made by RPA after you’ve submitted your 2023 application – and need to update your claim

You need to refer to the section ‘After you’ve applied: how to make changes to your application’.

However, you cannot make these changes if:

  • you have already been told about any non-compliance affecting the agricultural parcel you want to amend
  • a site visit has revealed a non-compliance affecting the agricultural parcel you want to amend
  • you have received advance warning of a site visit

Read the BPS rules for 2023 for more information.

If you want to know if you should send us an RLE1 form and sketch map to tell us about changes to your land

You need to send us an RLE1 form and sketch map by email or post if you are:

  • registering new land parcels
  • transferring parcels – if you cannot make the transfer in the Rural Payments service
  • dividing or merging parcels
  • making permanent boundary changes
  • adding or deleting permanent non-agricultural areas and features that are not already shown on your maps
  • changing land cover – where there is more than one land cover for a land parcel

You do not need to send us an RLE1 form if you’ve already sent one telling us about a change, and an exclamation mark (!) icon is showing against your land parcel on the ‘Land summary’ screens in the Rural Payments service.

If you have a small area of land at least 0.01ha in size that has been wrongly mapped as ineligible land

You need to change the land use (read the ‘Change – your land use’ section) and send us an RLE1 form to ask us to change the land cover to eligible land.

If you have a land parcel that has been incorrectly merged with someone else’s land parcel

You need to apply on the eligible land area within the parcel and then send us an RLE1 form and sketch map by email or post to correct the land parcel boundaries. Read ‘C6 –Part field size’. Do not fill in a land use code for the area that is not yours.

For more information read the RLE1 guidance.

If you need to send us a map showing any changes, print the individual land parcel from the Rural Payments service ‘Land summary’ screen mark it up and send it to us with your RLE1 form.

Annex 2: Your online application at a glance

The information in table 1 shows you where to change the different parts of your application in the Rural Payments service.

Table 1

Part of your application summary Where to click from the Business overview screen
Part A: Your business Business name: View full business details › Amend business details and reference numbers
Part C-C1: Field name Not available to change online
Part C-C2: OS map sheet reference or National Grid field number Not available to change online. You can check them by going to Land › Update land use screen, or in the digital map information in the › View land screen
Part C-C3: Total field size You cannot update the Total field size within your online application. But you should make sure your part field size (C6) and land use information (C7) are correct. You can update these in the Land Use screen (Update land use) or by sending us an RLE1 form and sketch map
Part C-C4: Maximum area eligible for BPS You cannot update the Maximum area eligible for BPS within your online application. But you should make sure your part field size (C6) and land use information (C7) are correct. You can update these in the Land Use screen (Update land use) or by sending us an RLE1 form and sketch map
Part C-C5: Part field suffix This will update automatically, based on the information in your land use screen
Part C-C6: Part field size Update land use
Part C-C7: Land use in 2023 Update land use
Part C-C8: Eligible area you want to claim for payment for Whether or not you’ve made any changes to your land use or land area, it’s very important you check the ‘Activate less BPS area’ screen to make sure that the eligible area you want to claim for payment (C8) is showing correctly. C8 will also update when you make any changes to land use. If, for any reason, you want to reduce this area, go to: Apply for BPS or view status of your application › Open › Make changes to your application › Activate less BPS area
Part E: Common land If you need to make any other changes to your common land, go to the › Update commons screen. If you want to activate fewer grazing rights online, go to: Apply for BPS or view status of your application › Open › Make changes to your application › Activate less commons. Whether or not you’ve made any changes, it’s very important you check the ‘Activate less commons’ screen to make sure that the information is showing correctly
Part G: Young farmer payment Apply for BPS or view status of your application › Open › Make changes to my application › Apply for young farmer
Part H: Entitlements Transfer entitlements or › View entitlements
Part K: Checklist Not applicable online, but available on the application summary for your own use: Apply for BPS or view status of your application › Open › Make changes to my application › View and print your application summary. Or after you’ve submitted your application: Apply for BPS or view status of your claim › Summary
Part L: Declarations and responsibilities Apply for BPS or view status of your application › Open › Declarations › Your declaration and responsibilities