The booklet below provides guidance for anyone wishing to claim for HFA 2010. It must be read in conjunction with the SPS Handbook and Guidance for England 2009 and the How to complete your SP5 application form booklets. We advise applicants to read these before completing a claim.

HFA provides dedicated support to beef and sheep farmers in England’s upland areas. It will continue to be available until the end of 2010 under the new Rural Development Programme for England and will be replaced by a new uplands strand of the Environmental Stewardship scheme (Uplands ELS), which will be available from July 2010. Uplands ELS will be administered by Natural England.

As Uplands ELS will not be available on land still in Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA) scheme or Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS) agreements, a transitional payment will be available. Eligibility for this Uplands Transitional Payment scheme will, in part, be determined by the submission of an eligible claim for HFA 2010. Failure to submit an eligible HFA 2010 claim will mean that claimants will not be able to join the Uplands Transitional Payment scheme at any time in the future. If you think you may be eligible for this transitional payment, you must apply for HFA 2010.

European Commission regulations require completed SPS 2009 forms – on which the claim for HFA 2010 is made – to be received by RPA no later than 15 May 2009. Applications received after this date, but before midnight on 9 June 2009, will be accepted but penalties will be applied.

Any applications received after 9 June will be rejected.

Copies of the booklet can be requested from the RPA customer service Centre (CSC) on telephone number: 0845 603 7777. Opening hours are from 8.30 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday. Customers calling the CSC are advised to have their Single Business Identifier (SBI) to hand when they call.