How to get paid under an Environmental Stewardship agreement

Guidance for Environmental Stewardship agreement holders on how to claim an annual or capital payment.

The final deadline for submitting your annual revenue claim has now passed.

We will not pay claims that are submitted after 11.59pm on 1 September 2026, unless exceptional circumstances apply.

Make a claim for capital works under HLS

Contact RPA to request a capital works claim form. You can claim:

You’ll need to complete the VAT declaration: Higher Level Stewardship if you are not registered for VAT with HM Revenue and Customs.

It’s important that your bank account details are up to date and valid or RPA will not be able pay you. To amend your bank account details, sign in to the Rural Payments service and select ‘view and amend bank details’ on the business overview page.

Your grant and subsidy payments are paid before tax is taken off. You may need to tell HMRC about these if you or your business pay UK tax. For more information, read HMRC’s Business Income Manual BIM40451 - Specific receipts: grants and subsidies: introduction - HMRC internal manual. If you have an accountant, you should also discuss this with them.

You must notify RPA in writing before you make any changes to your agreement. This is in addition to completing your claim form. Check your Agreement holders’ information: Environmental Stewardship for details of the requirements and deadlines for making changes.

Your payments may be affected if you do not meet the requirements and deadlines in your handbook.

You can contact RPA by query form, email or post.

Complete a query form in the Rural Payments service. To do this, sign in to your Rural Payments account and go to ‘Create or view a query’.

Include ‘Environmental Stewardship’ in the email subject line.

Rural Payments Agency (ES)
PO Box 390
Worksop
S80 9HD