The Single Payment Scheme

The currency conversion rate for the single payment scheme has now been set at its lowest rate since 2008, however the claim validations are significantly ahead of last year's schedule.

Conversion rate for 2012

The rate for converting the 2012 payment is €1=£0.79805. This was the official European Central Bank rate on 30 September which fixes the value for 2012 payments. The rate is just under 8% less than last year's figure of £0.86665. It is the lowest conversion rate since the £0.7903 seen for the 2008 single payment scheme (SPS). A low figure indicates a weak euro and strong pound. Each euro buys fewer pounds and thus the SPS payment will be lower in sterling terms.

Modulation rates in the UK are unchanged in 2012 compared with 2011. The actual payments can now be calculated in Scotland and Wales for 2012 but in England the calculation of entitlement values is undertaken from scratch each year and the rate can vary depending on how many entitlements are claimed.

The adjacent table shows the actual payment farmers will receive in England based on the 2012 conversion rate. This is after modulation at 19% (ignoring the €5,000 threshold for EU modulation). This is compared to the payment for the last two years on a hectare of arable land (i.e. assuming a full history of arable area payment scheme claims in the reference period). England has now completed its transition to flat-rate regional payments and for 2012 onwards there is no historical element in English entitlements. Thus all entitlements within a region are now paid at the same rate.

Entitlement statements for 2012 have been available to view online since December. Those that made paper applications to the 2012 SPS will receive their statement in January 2013 through the post.

2012 payments

All the GB payment agencies have got a good proportion of 2012 single payments out to farmers. In England, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) achieved its target for the whole of December on the first banking day (3 December). More than £1.38bn was paid (84.6% of the total) to 95,000 farmers (91.4% of customers). Those claimants who are unlikely to be paid in December should have been contacted by the RPA explaining the delay. In Scotland, around 14,200 claimants (approximately 70% of total) received their single farm payments on 3 January. This is an increase of around 4% on 2011. This was worth £303m.The Welsh Government had previously committed to pay 91% of claimants on the first day and appear...