How to apply
This section explains how to submit your online application, what information you will need and what happens after we receive your application
Apply for the CPSG by filling in the application form in the online portal on the Countryside Productivity page on GOV.UK.
Before starting the application, read through the guidance in this handbook carefully. You will also need your business details to hand, (as registered in the Rural Payments service) to help you complete your application.
Please do not submit an application unless you are serious about purchasing the items if you are awarded a grant. This may prevent others from being successful in securing a grant.
If you have any queries or are having difficulties using the online application, email [email protected] or call us on 03000 200301 and follow the options for the Countryside Productivity Small Grant scheme. We may, in exceptional circumstances be able to supply an alternative means of application.
Please complete all relevant questions and do not move away from the webpage or close the internet browser until you have submitted your application. You won’t be able to save and return to your application later. Your online application should take no more than 10-15 minutes to complete.
Only use the ‘next’ and ‘back’ buttons shown at the bottom of the page in green to navigate through the application. Do not use your browser back button.
If you enter information which is incorrect or in the wrong format, a prompt will appear telling you how to correct this. You won’t be able to move to the next page until you have filled in all the mandatory information. Please see our You Tube clip on how to apply online
You will need the following information before going on the portal (tick list):
- your Customer Reference Number (CRN)
- your Single Business Identifier (SBI) Number
- the email address listed in the Rural Payments service
- your correspondence email address if different to that registered in the Rural Payments service
- your business name in the Rural Payments service
- the postcode and address for your business in the Rural Payments service
- to make sure you have permission to make Legal changes or Full permissions for the business in the Rural Payments service
- the amount of land in hectares of any holdings you farm, associated with your SBI
- the number of animals you keep, which species, sex and age
- your County Parish Holding (CPH) number if you keep animals
- the number of people you employ
- if you received previous CPSG Round 1 and 2 funding, the amount received
To start your application click the ‘Apply now’ button.
To make sure you are a genuine user / a human visitor and in order to prevent automated spam submissions, you must tick the box before you can continue with your application.
Click ‘Next’.
Please provide details on this page of the total previous CPSG grants received.
Has the farm business received grant funding from previous rounds of the Countryside Productivity Small Grant scheme?
Confirm by either selecting ‘Yes’ or ‘No’
If ‘Yes’, how much grant funding have you received in previous rounds? Confirm the amount of grant received. This will then calculate the amount of grant you are eligible to apply for.
We will check the amount you have entered is correct against our records.
Click ‘Next’.
Please provide details on this page of the person completing the application. This information will be used to identify you as a RPA customer.
If the information provided does not match the information registered with us, your application will be rejected.
Are you an agent applying on behalf of your customer?
Confirm by selecting ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ from the list.
If you enter No, to using an agent, enter your Customer Reference Number (CRN) - as registered in the Rural Payments service. This is the unique 10 digit individual identifier that you were given when you registered in the Rural Payments service.
Please see our YouTube clip on how to find your CRN number using Verify
how to find your CRN number using Verify.
If you are not registered on Verify, please call the helpline on 03000 200 301 and select the options to speak to the Rural Payments team.
Read the guidance on updating details in the Rural Payments service on GOV.UK.
Email address - as registered in the Rural Payments service: Enter and confirm the email address registered in the Rural Payments service. This must be the same email address. Emails must follow the standard format [email protected].
Do you want to use an alternative correspondence email address?: Confirm if you wish to use an alternative correspondence email to that provided above, by selecting ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ from the list. Emails must follow the standard format [email protected].
Correspondence email (if different to above): Enter and confirm the email address you wish us to send any correspondence to.
If you enter ‘Yes’, you are confirming you are an agent.
An agent applying on behalf of a farm business, should provide your own:-
- agent Customer Reference Number (CRN) - as registered in the Rural Payments service: enter and confirm your CRN, the unique 10 digit individual identifier that you were given when you registered in the Rural Payments service.
- agent email address - as registered in the Rural Payments service: enter and confirm the email address registered in the Rural Payments service. This email must match what is registered to the CRN in the Rural Payments service and will be used in all correspondence for this application.
You must have permission to make legal changes or have full permissions for the business. If you are unsure whether you have the correct permission, you can check by signing in to the Rural Payments service.
Click ‘Next’.
Please provide details of the business applying for the grant. These must be the details already registered for the farm business in the Rural Payments service.
Single Business Identifier (SBI): Enter and confirm the main 9 digit SBI number that you were given when you registered in the Rural Payments service.
Name of business: Tell us the full name of your business. This is the name used on your annual financial accounts and/or your business bank account and must match the business name registered in the Rural Payments service.
Postcode of business: Tell us the postcode of your business address. This should be a valid UK postcode, be entered in capitals and using the standard format LLN NLL.
You must make sure that the main SBI, CRN and business details registered in the Rural Payments service exactly match with the main SBI, CRN, applicant business name, and postcode entered on the application. If they don’t, please update them as we won’t be able to process your application and it will be rejected.
Click ‘Next’.
Please select your title from the list and give us your first name and surname. For RDPE monitoring purposes, we have to ask your gender and age range, but this has no bearing on your application. If you’d prefer not to give us this information, select ‘prefer not to say’ from the lists.
Click ‘Next’.
Please give the full postal address of your business and provide at least one phone number.
Click ‘Next’.
Confirm if your grant requested items will be located and operated in Cornwall or the Isles of Scilly, by selecting ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ from the list. If you select ‘Yes’, we’ll check the location of project postcode in your application so you can qualify for the 10% uplift to funding. If we cannot verify your location as being in Cornwall or the Isles of Scilly, your grant offer will be reduced to 40% if grant funding is offered. Postcodes will be verified using the information held on the Defra mapping system on magic.gov.uk.
Confirm if the grant funded items will be located and operated at the same business address provided in the previous section, by selecting ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.
If you select ‘No’, you will need to give us the main UK postcode(s) of where the grant requested items will be located and operated. Enter the postcode in capital letters, using the standard format LLN NLL.
Click ‘Next’.
Business type: Choose the best fit for your type of business from the list.
Business activity: Choose the best fit for the type of activity carried out by your business from the list.
Click ‘Next’.
Business size: Please tell us the size of your business. This will depend on the number of full-time equivalent (FTE)* employees it has and its financial performance.
Anyone who works a minimum of 30 hours per week counts as 1 FTE employee. A person working 30 hours a week for 3 months of the year would be a 0.25 FTE employee. If a business partner or director works more than 30 hours per week they still count as 1 FTE employee.
Use the table below to calculate the size of your business:
| Business size | Number of FTE employees | Annual turnover or balance sheet total (This is ‘total assets’ only.) |
|---|---|---|
| Micro | Fewer than 10 and | €2m (about £1.6millon or less) |
| Small | Fewer than 50 and | €10m (about £8.5million or less) |
| Medium | Fewer than 250 and | €50m (about £42.5million or less) annual turnover OR €43m (about £36.5million or less) annual balance sheet total |
Number of Employees: please tell us the number of FTE employees your business has. If the partners or directors of your business receive a salary, you should include these in your total. Please enter a zero ‘0’ if you don’t have any employees.
Click ‘Next’.
We will need some details about the land you farm.
Enter the amount of land in hectares of any holdings you farm, associated with your SBI. These details can be approximate if you are unsure of the exact areas.
Click ‘Next’.
Over the next 7 screens, you will need to select the equipment you want grant funding for, by choosing from the items in the list.
The application is split into the following item categories:
- cattle equipment
- sheep equipment
- pig equipment
- general livestock equipment
- precision farming equipment
- resource management equipment
- other general equipment
To start adding items, select the item you want to request from the list. If you want more than one of the same item, type the number of units in the ‘quantity’ box.
You can add additional items in each category by clicking on the ‘Add item’ button at the bottom of each page. For some items, there are restrictions on the number you can buy. See Annex 3 for details.
To remove an item from your application, click the ‘Remove item’ button to the right of the item you wish to remove.
To move to the next category of items, click ‘Next’.
You can only apply for the items listed in Annex 3 which meet the minimum specification. There have been a number of changes made to the specifications since Round 2 to make them as clear as possible. Some equipment eligible in previous rounds may not be eligible in this round. Please read Annex 3 carefully before completing your application.
When you select an item, the ‘Total cost’ field will show the standard cost for that item. The ‘Total grant amount’ field will show the amount of funding you can receive for that item. These costs cannot be changed and you must be able to fund the remainder of the costs yourself.
You will be able to see the sub-total of the items as you add them to your application in the calculator on the right hand side of the page.
You cannot apply for less than £3,000 or more than £12,000 of grant. If your application is approved, you must buy, pay for in full, install and submit a single claim for all of the items in your application by midnight on 31 May 2021 to receive your grant.
If you do not buy and install all of the items you applied for, your whole claim will be rejected.
When you have entered all the items you wish to purchase, click ‘Next’
If you have applied for animal items over the next two screens you will need to provide us with animal numbers.
Enter details of the bovine animals you keep.
Add the average number of animals you keep on your farm in each category. If you don’t keep any animals in a particular category, leave the field blank.
Click ‘Next’.
Enter the details of other animals you keep.
Add the average number of animals you keep on your farm in each category. If you don’t keep any animals in a particular category, leave the field blank. We need animal details to make sure you meet the eligibility criteria. For example, if you are buying items for cattle, you must be a cattle farmer.
Click ‘Next’.
If you have applied for livestock items you will need to enter livestock details and a County Parish Holding (CPH) number where you record animal movements, using the format, for example 08/123/4567. If applying for livestock related items and you currently keep no animals, please explain why in the comments box.
This information will be checked against the information we hold in the Rural Payments service, Animal Movement Licensing System (AMLS) and Cattle Tracing System (CTS) to check that you are a farmer.
Click ‘Next’.
Please check all the details on the summary of your application so far are correct, including applicant and business details and the list of items you are requesting grant funding towards.
The summary will show the total grant amount you can claim if your application is successful.
Click ‘Next’ for the declaration.
To continue to improve the success of our schemes, we may want to contact you in the future. If you are happy for us to do this using the contact details provided in your application, please select ‘Yes’ from the list. If you’d prefer us not to contact you, select ‘No’.
Please read the declaration carefully and tick the box to confirm you agree with the terms and conditions in Annexes 1 and 2 of this handbook, before clicking the ‘submit’ button.
In some cases, grant support may be refused in full. This may happen if we find that:
- a serious non-compliance by the applicant / grant beneficiary has occurred
- the applicant / grant beneficiary has provided false evidence
- the applicant / grant beneficiary has not provided the necessary information due to negligence
If your application of grant support is refused in full, this may apply in the calendar year of notification, plus the following calendar year. Support may also be refused for other RDPE schemes. We will notify applicants / grant beneficiaries and they will have the right of appeal against such a decision.
Click ‘Next’.
A confirmation screen will show your unique 6 digit reference number. Please make a note of it as we will use this when we contact you about your application.
Select the option to print a copy of the summary page from your application and keep a copy for your records. This will be your only opportunity to do this.
Once completed, you can close the webpage.
See Annex 5 for more CPSG Hints and Tips.
The earlier you submit your application, the more chance you have to correct any errors and resubmit your application.
You will receive an automatic email from [email protected] with your unique 6 digit reference number.
If you don’t receive an email within a few minutes, please check your junk or spam email folders. If an email does not arrive, it is possible that we haven’t received your application. If this is the case, you will need to complete and submit a new application.
Verification check
We will assess all applications using the information you provide, to check that both you and your application are eligible.
We will complete an initial verification check and where possible, will tell you, that your application has not been accepted, before the closure of the portal, if the information provided doesn’t match that in the Rural Payments service.
If the details you provide do not match those in the Rural Payments service, your application cannot be accepted. This will be because:
- the CRN is not linked to the SBI number
- the email address does not match
- the postcode does not match
- the business name does not match
- you or your agent do not have the correct permissions
- the amount of previous Round 1 and 2 funding does not match our records
If you submit your application before the closing date, we will tell you before the closure of the portal if the information provided doesn’t match that in the Rural Payments service. You can then re-enter your application on the CPSG Online Portal by the closing date of midday 4 November 2020.
If the portal is closed and we can’t verify the details from your application against Rural Payments, you will be given 5 working days to email the correct information to us. You can make no other changes to your application.
Application scoring
Once the portal has closed, the items in your application will be scored, based on how much they meet the following criteria:
- technical efficiency
- animal health and welfare
- health and safety
- resource efficiency
We will decide as soon as possible after the closing date of the application window. We can’t give updates on individual applications until they have all been assessed and scored.
You must not order, buy or pay a deposit (even if refundable), for any of the items in your application before you receive confirmation that your application has been approved. This will make your application and claim ineligible.
If your application is approved, we will email you a Grant Funding Agreement (GFA) confirming your grant award and a claim form template. If you wish to accept your GFA, you will need to log into the acceptance portal to confirm your decision. You will then be able to order or buy your items straight away.
Please order your items as soon as you receive confirmation your application has been approved. This allows manufacturers time to deliver your items in time for you to claim for them by the deadline of 31 May 2021.
The list of items in the GFA cannot be changed and all the items selected must be purchased if you wish to proceed with your claim. You must buy, pay for in full (with the funds having left your bank account), install and claim for all items by midnight on 31 May 2021. If you do not buy and install all of the items you applied for, your whole claim will be rejected.
You must keep accurate records of all spend (receipts and invoices) on which you wish to claim grant as you will need these to scan and submit with your claim.
If your application is rejected, we will send you an email to tell you why. This could be because:
- your application did not meet the minimum score threshold for the round
- we could not verify the link between the CRN and SBI number you provided, using the information held in the Rural Payments service
- we could not verify the email address or postcode or business name you provided and it/they did not match those registered in the Rural Payments service
- we could not verify your agent was authorised to submit an application on your behalf and the details did not match those registered in the Rural Payments service
- you’ve received funding for one or more of the items in your application under a Fruit and Vegetables Producer Organisation Operational Programme or another RDPE scheme including LEADER
- you are not a farmer or horticultural business
You can appeal against our decision in a limited number of circumstances. Read the ‘How to appeal section of our Complaints procedure page on GOV.UK.