Frequently asked questions
- What areas should be recorded for a Higher Level Farm Environment Plans (FEPs)?
- Can I undertake a FEP electronically?
- What is the basis for the FEP payment?
- What are the FEP payment bands?
- Where a farmer has multiple existing CSS/ESA agreements and one of these is nearing the end of its 10 years, it is intended that RDS will offer termination of all the agreements on the holding and amalgamate them into a single HLS agreement. In this case, would a FEP be carried out on all the land to be entered into HLS, or only on the area under the agreement that is about to expire?
- If a FEP and HLS application lead to a one year management plan (e.g. for historic parks) does another FEP have to be completed?
- Does the applicant have to get a new HLS application form if additional land is found by the FEP surveyor?
- Should long-term set-aside or arable reversion be recorded as an arable or grassland feature in part 2 of the FEP ?
- How should arable field margins with rare arable plants be recorded in the FEP?
- How should large scale historic features e.g. H04 that cover more than one field be recorded ?
- How should sink holes be recorded?
- For Woodland SSSIs does part 3.10 (supplementary table for woodlands) need to be completed ?
What areas should be recorded for a Higher Level Farm Environment Plans (FEPs)?
Generally, areas of standing and running water should not be registered on the RLR. However, the Farm Environment Plan (FEP) allows all 'area based' environmental features on a farm to be recorded to a digitised parcel number. If a FEP surveyor finds that significant standing water environmental features such as eutrophic and mesotrophic lakes are not digitised then they can contact the RPA and get them digitised. However, they should note that the only reason for doing so would be if the inclusion of the additional area takes the FEP area into a higher payment band (See para 2.5 HLS Handbook). If the surveyor decides to do this they should mark clearly on the IACS 22 that they are requesting digitisation of this area for the purposes of a HLS FEP.
If registration does not affect the payment then it is not essential that the area is included on the RLR. However, it is essential that such features are recorded on the FEP as point features. Although features such as lakes can be digitised for the purposes of the FEP they cannot be included in the HLS application as no options can be applied to them.
Can I undertake a FEP electronically?
Yes the form can be downloaded from the website http://defraweb/erdp/schemes/es/default.htm .
What is the basis for the FEP payment?
Based on CSS upland survey experience and consultation with partners, it has been agreed that the payment for carrying out the FEP will be £320 per day. This will be paid to the farmer based on the size of his farm. The payment rate is estimated to be 80% of actual cost. It has also been agreed with the Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers (ALGAO) that payment will be made for archaeological searches. A flat fee of £75 for farms less than or equal to 50 ha; £150 for farms above 50 ha.
What are the FEP payment bands?
The banding is set out in the table below.
| Farm size (ha) | Total payment |
|---|---|
| Less than 6 | £395 |
| 6 - 15 | £555 |
| 16 - 50 | £715 |
| 51 - 149 | £1035 |
| 150 - 200 | £1110 |
| 201 - 500 | £1430 |
| 501 - 1000 | £1750 |
| 1001 - 1500 | £2070 |
| 1501 - 2000 | £2390 |
| 2001 - 2500 | £2710 |
| 2501 - 3000 | £3030 |
| Over 3000 | £3350 |
Where a farmer has multiple existing CSS/ESA agreements and one of these is nearing the end of its 10 years, it is intended that RDS will offer termination of all the agreements on the holding and amalgamate them into a single HLS agreement. In this case, would a FEP be carried out on all the land to be entered into HLS, or only on the area under the agreement that is about to expire?
A FEP would need to be carried out on all the land to be entered into HLS.
If a FEP and HLS application lead to a one year management plan (e.g. for historic parks) does another FEP have to be completed?
No. A FEP should be completed prior to the one year agreement. Any alterations to the FEP that need to be made following the one year agreement can be made by us on Genesis.
Does the applicant have to get a new HLS application form if additional land is found by the FEP surveyor?
If ANY land that hasn’t been registered on the RLR is found and the applicant wishes to include it in their HLS application then they must register it with the RLR AND get a new application pack from us from showing the additional land. It is not possible to manually add fields to the HLS application form.
If land is found that contains a FEP feature then it must be registered on the RLR and included in their FEP. However if they do not want to apply for any ELS or HLS options on it then they do not need to get new application forms.
Should long-term set-aside or arable reversion be recorded as an arable or grassland feature in part 2 of the FEP ?
They should both be recorded as the appropriate grassland feature, for example ‘grassland for invertebrates’ or ‘semi-improved grassland’. If the field only meets the ‘improved grassland’ definition then it does not need to be recorded in part 2 but should be marked on the map. If a grassland feature is recorded then it should be noted in the ‘Notes column’ whether it is arable reversion or long-term set-aside.
How should arable field margins with rare arable plants be recorded in the FEP?
The feature ‘A01 Arable’ should be recorded in part 2 and in the notes column the names of the rare plants should be noted. A list of plants that indicate a field margin of high conservation value: ‘Plant and Animal Species in the FEP,’ is available as a download on the FEP internet page http://defraweb/erdp/schemes/hls/fep-handbook/default.htm
How should large scale historic features e.g. H04 that cover more than one field be recorded ?
They should be recorded in part 2 of the FEP form for every field that they cover. This may mean that there are several rows of data for the same feature. The feature may not be in the same condition in every field so this will allow us to record this and potentially apply different options to different parts of the feature.
How should sink holes be recorded?
There isn’t a FEP feature code for these natural geological features. Any that are found should be noted in Part 4 of the FEP form (Other relevant information). An indication of their number, where they are found and their condition should all be recorded. It may be helpful to mark them on the map, but if there are a lot on the holding marking them on the map may make the map difficult to read.
For Woodland SSSIs does part 3.10 (supplementary table for woodlands) need to be completed ?
These tables serve 3 purposes: to provide information to help build a suitable agreement; to help monitor progress of any woodland options and to provide information on the character and condition of farm woodlands to the Forestry Commission.
If these requirements can be meet by information that is already held by English Nature (EN) then these tables do not need to be completed by the FEP surveyor. However each case should be checked with the local EN Conservation Officer.
Page last modified:
28 September, 2005
Page published: 3 March, 2005