Higher Level Stewardship 2024: agreement extensions
How the rules are changing to extend eligible Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreements from 2024 for 4 years, and what you need to do.
Applies to England
Guidance for existing agreement holders about extensions for eligible Environmental Stewardship (ES) HLS agreements due to expire in 2024.
HLS agreement extensions
On 1 January 2023, all ES agreements were updated to domestic terms and conditions. This means that the rules on extending your HLS agreement have changed and you may be eligible to extend your HLS agreement from 2024 for 4 years.
Natural England will assess if you meet the criteria and, where appropriate, recommend that the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) offer you an extension to your agreement for 4 years.
The extension will run from the end date of your current agreement and will be based on the criteria that was used in previous years. You must continue to meet these criteria.
Within the 4-year extension, in consultation with RPA, you can leave your agreement at any point. To do this, you must meet certain criteria including being accepted onto another environmental scheme which offers the same or greater environmental benefits.
If you’re a tenant and your tenancy agreement expires within the 4-year extension, you should try to renew your tenancy agreement to cover the extension period.
If this is not possible, ask your landlord if they’re willing to take on the responsibility for the agreement once your tenancy expires.
Your landlord should countersign your agreement extension using the land ownership and control form.
Contact RPA about a shorter extension period if neither option is possible.
Email: ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk
Telephone: 03000 200 301
Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm. Find out about call charges.
If your:
- circumstances change, contact RPA
- contact details have changed, you should amend them in the Rural Payments service
For more information about domestic terms and conditions, read the 2022 addendum to terms and conditions.
What happens next
If you have an ES HLS agreement due to expire in 2024 and you meet the criteria for an extension, RPA will send you an extension offer before your current agreement expires.
If you are interested in extending your current agreement, there are steps you can take now:
- read through the eligibility criteria and rules
- consider whether there have been changes to your circumstances which affect any consents or arrangement you currently have
- check whether current consents or arrangements will expire during the 4-year extension period
You must send the relevant up-to-date consent and supporting documents when you accept the extension offer, if required. They may include:
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Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) consent
You should contact RPA by email at ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk before the end of your current agreement if:
- your agreement meets the eligibility criteria and you did not receive an offer to extend it
- you’ve not opted out of extending it
- you’ve opted out of extending it, but you’ve changed your mind
Criteria for an HLS extension
RPA will offer an extension to an HLS agreement based on the current agreement meeting its expected environmental outcomes, and that you’re eligible to apply.
If you’re not offered an extension for your agreement, RPA will let you know in time for you to apply for a new scheme.
If your agreement has already been extended in previous years, the criteria below will still apply.
Agreements eligible for an extension
Your HLS extension must meet these criteria.
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Your HLS agreement must not have expired or been terminated on or before the date you accept the extension, and RPA has received your acceptance.
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You have requested the extension and agree to meet its terms and conditions. For more information about domestic terms and conditions, read the 2022 addendum to terms and conditions.
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You cannot claim for any further capital works during the extension to help you meet your agreed outcomes.
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You must have completed any outstanding land transfers before the start of the extension. You are responsible for completing all paperwork - including form RLE1 by that deadline.
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You must have resolved any breach in your existing agreement before the start of the extension. You must have responded to all requests for information relating to the breach from Natural England or RPA and put right any issues.
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You have no unmanaged areas of SSSIs or scheduled monuments (SMs) on your land that need new management.
Assessment of environmental benefits
Natural England will assess your current agreement to make sure it’s eligible for an extension. The assessment is based on the options in your current agreement. Natural England will make its recommendation based on these benefits.
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The options in your current HLS agreement remain appropriate for the ES priority target features on your holding.
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At the time of the assessment, you are on track to meeting the required outcomes of your agreement based on the success indicators.
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If land within your agreement is an SSSI, the current land management is still appropriate for that SSSI. If you have SSSI land, Natural England must provide consent that the land can be managed without amending the agreement or the need for additional capital works.
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Your agreement has 80% or more of the priority habitats under management options. It’s unlikely Natural England will agree to extend your agreement if the percentage falls below 80%.
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RPA will only consider an extension for these agreements if there are genuine practical or administrative barriers, which would prevent the additional habitat from being managed under another scheme.
Extensions will not be available on holdings with unmanaged SSSIs or SMs that need to be under scheme options.
Additional rules
The following rules will also apply to HLS extensions.
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You cannot use an extension offer to add, remove, or replace options or land in the current agreement.
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RPA will remove Permissive access options HN1-HN7 from the agreement before making the extension offer.
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You keep all educational access items.
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RPA will remove any incomplete capital works from the agreement.
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Extensions are available for HLS, ELS/HLS, OELS/HLS and UELS/HLS agreements.
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RPA will not extend an agreement if there are no remaining HLS options available, for example after permissive access is removed.
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You will need to submit a new supplementary land ownership and control form, with your acceptance declaration, that’s countersigned by your landlord if:
- there are any changes to management control under the landlord’s consent for 2024 agreement year
- your current arrangements expire during the extension period -
You will need to submit a new shared grazing and common land form with your acceptance declaration if:
- there are any changes to the commons supplementary arrangements for the 2024 agreement year
- your current arrangements expire during the extension period
Changes to boundary restoration options for extended agreements
If you have any of the following options in your agreement, RPA will send you an ELS base map with your revised extension agreement documents:
- UB14, OB14, EB14, UOB14: Hedgerow restoration
- UB15: Stone-faced hedgebank restoration
- UB16: Earth bank restoration
- UB17, UOB17: Stone wall restoration
You must mark up the length of boundary you will be restoring for the extension period on the map. This can be up to a maximum of 40 metres each year. You must keep the map for your records, as you may need to show it during a site visit. You cannot include lengths of boundary previously restored under the agreement. If you do not have any additional lengths of boundary to be restored, contact RPA.
How woodland will be affected by HLS extensions
If you have woodland options HC7 or HC8 in your current agreement with a combined area greater than 3 hectares (ha), RPA will remove these options along with any supplementary options from your extended agreement. The woodland parcels will remain in your extended agreement without HLS payments (ELS payments will continue, if applicable).
If the HC7 or HC8 individual land parcels are larger than 0.5ha, but together are 3ha or less, then the HC7 or HC8 can remain in the agreement.
Any HC7 or HC8 options on parcels less than 0.5ha will be extended regardless of the total area of HC7 or HC8 on the agreement and do not count towards the 3ha limit.
However, if you wish to secure funding for ongoing management of these woodland parcels where HC7 or HC8 have been removed from the agreement, you will need to do the following:
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To apply for CS Woodland Higher Tier, you need a Forestry Commission (FC) approved Woodland Management Plan (WMP). You can apply for CS funding to prepare the plan through the Woodland Management Plan grant.
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Request the removal of those parcels from your extended HLS agreement by contacting RPA after FC have approved your WMP or given approval in principle.
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Apply for a standalone Higher Tier Woodland Only agreement. If you do not already have a plan approved by FC, you need to allow for the time it takes to write a WMP and get it approved. Allow at least 7 weeks for FC to approve your plan in support of your Higher Tier application.
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Submit your draft plan no later than 31 December to allow enough time to get it approved and make a Higher Tier application. You should also allow for time to apply and receive any WMP agreement if you are applying for funding.
Woodland Creation grant options HC9 and HC10 will be extended.
Land with SSSIs
If you are offered an HLS extension and you have SSSI land in your agreement, existing SSSI consent from Natural England may not cover the extended period of your agreement. If you have not reapplied for this consent, you must immediately fill in and submit Natural England’s consent on a SSSI form under section 28E of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended). This is to allow the agreed operations on your SSSI land to continue.
Email the completed form to ProtectedSites@naturalengland.org.uk, or post it to Natural England, County Hall, Spetchley Road, Worcester WR5 2NP.
If your agreement has been extended previously, you may have existing SSSI consent that will cover this extension. Please refer to the SSSI consent document issued previously by Natural England to make sure the dates cover this extension.
RPA will be unable to extend your agreement without the appropriate consent from Natural England, where this is required.
If you have ay queries about your SSSI consent, please contact your Natural England advisor on 03000 603 900.
Educational access options
Educational access options will be extended. You will need to continue to record and submit a record of these visits, as currently required under the terms of your agreement.
Greening and Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs)
Greening requirements were removed from the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). This means that you do not need to consider the overlap of HLS options with EFAs.
When a site visit is needed
Natural England will carry out an initial assessment to see if your agreement may be suitable for extension before it is due to expire. If it is, a Natural England adviser will contact you to decide if your agreement still meets the rules and continues to provide the environmental outcomes it was set up to deliver.
The adviser may arrange a site visit to confirm your agreement is suitable. A site visit may not be necessary if Natural England already has sufficient knowledge of your agreement. If your agreement includes SSSI land, a visit will take place.
How to accept an agreement extension offer
If your current agreement meets the criteria, a Natural England adviser will recommend that RPA offer an extension to your agreement for 4 years. We expect Natural England to complete assessments and make recommendations by December 2023.
RPA will decide whether to extend your agreement and if suitable, will prepare an amended version of your agreement. To extend your agreement, RPA will remove any incomplete capital works and any options ineligible for extension.
RPA will send you an extension offer with amended agreement documents and a declaration for you to sign if you want to accept the extension.
RPA will offer you an extension to your agreement for 4 years if:
- your current agreement is due to expire in 2024
- you continue to meet the criteria
You should contact RPA if there have been any changes to your circumstances. Also, consider whether any changes to your circumstances affect any consents you currently have, for example, SSSI consent.
You will need to sign and return the declaration, and RPA must receive it by the date shown on the covering letter (usually 20 working days). You must send your signed original declaration to the address in your offer letter. Emailed and photocopied declarations will not be accepted.
You must also include any other consents and documents, if required, with the signed acceptance declaration. For example:
You will receive confirmation that your declaration has been received. RPA will record the receipt of your signed declaration and your HLS agreement will continue until the new end date. Don’t forget, you will need to submit an annual claim in the normal way. RPA will let you know when the claim form deadline is announced.
Scheme breaches in agreements extended in 2024
If RPA find a scheme breach on an agreement extended in 2024, they may reduce the 2024 ES payment, but will not recover or apply penalties for previous years.
If a breach is identified within the original period of the agreement (prior to the start of any extension period), the terms and conditions as agreed at the time of application will apply. Depending on the severity of the breach, RPA may look to recover some, or all of the payments previously made under the agreement.
If you disagree with RPA’s decision
If you’re unhappy with a decision or service you’ve had from RPA, follow its complaints procedure.
You will need to raise any query as soon as possible because it may not be possible to extend your agreement after the end date of your HLS agreement, regardless of the final decision.
How RPA handles your data
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the data controller for personal data you give to RPA. For information on how RPA handle personal data read the RPA’s personal information charter.
Contact RPA
Email: ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk
Telephone: 03000 200 301
Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm. Find out about call charges.
Last updated 10 October 2023 + show all updates
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Guidance updated to confirm the rules on extending HLS agreements have changed and customers may be eligible to extend their HLS agreement from 2024 for 4 years.
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Added 'Scheme breaches in agreements extended in 2023' section to explain the policy around scheme breaches.
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Information about the Expression of Interest exercise has been removed. Only a small number of customers were initially contacted as part of the EOI pilot exercise.
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First published.