Single Payment Scheme claimants should be meticulous in checking their 2012 applications in order to avoid incurring severe penalties.

The warning comes following key changes to the "Land at Your Disposal" rules in the new guidance from the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) for 2012.

Landowners in certain circumstances are at risk of over-declaring the area of land at their disposal and risk having their land excluded from eligibility for payment in 2012 and being barred for three subsequent scheme years.

The RPA test on "Land at Your Disposal" will be more rigorous than before. Who carries out any agricultural activity on this land and what are they doing? Who controls the use of the land and who has access to it?  Who takes the profit from the land? What responsibilities does each party have for meeting the cross compliance conditions, including keeping the land in good agricultural and environmental condition?

The RPA will not consider that a claimant has the "land at their disposal" if the claimant is:

• A landlord where a formal or informal tenancy exists.
• A grazier who only has access to graze or mow the land.
• A contractor.

Cropping licences by which land is leased to another, normally to grow potatoes or other vegetables, appear unlikely to meet the "land at your disposal" criteria. Similar issues are raised with dual use, whereby one party claims single payment and another claims payments under an RDPE scheme (e.g. Entry Level Stewardship). The single payment claimant must be able to show they have the land at their disposal, whilst the RDPE claimant must be able to show they have management control to meet the RDPE rules.

Suzanne Horn, farm business consultant in Strutt & Parker's Morpeth Office, said: "In these situations, farmers' arrangements will be rigorously scrutinised and it is essential to make sure that all agreements have been properly drafted and contain comprehensive information. Detailed written evidence setting out the rights and responsibilities of the parties is paramount in proving that claimants meet the required criteria."

For further advice and information please call Strutt & Parker's Morpeth office on 01670 500871.