Delinked payments: replacing the Basic Payment Scheme

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) replaced the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) in England with delinked payments in 2024. The 2023 scheme year was the last year of BPS.

any land or entitlements to receive delinked payments

to apply to receive delinked payments, in 2024 or later years

RPA will pay delinked payments each year from 2024 to 2027. The amount you receive will decrease each year as we apply progressive reductions. This is explained in ‘How delinked payments are calculated’. 2027 will be the last year of delinked payments.

Check if you’re eligible for delinked payments

be eligible - this means you must have claimed, and been eligible for, BPS payments in England in the 2023 scheme year (or inherited eligible land after 15 May 2023). Read the BPS rules for 2023 for information about eligibility for BPS

Your reference amount will normally be your average BPS payment in the reference period, which is the BPS 2020 to 2022 scheme years. If you did not claim BPS in the reference period, you will only have a reference amount if BPS reference data has been transferred to you.

So long as you are eligible for delinked payments, the value of your payments for 2024 to 2027 will not be affected if:

you change what the land is used for, after BPS 2022 (the last year of the reference period).

You can receive delinked payments even if you choose to stop farming after the BPS 2023 application deadline (15 May 2023).

You will not be eligible for delinked payments if you have received a payment under the Lump Sum Exit Scheme.

Your delinked payments will be based on a ‘reference amount’. We use your BPS 2020, 2021 and 2022 payment information as the reference data to calculate your reference amount.

Your reference amount will be the average of the BPS payments made to your business for these scheme years, including any young farmer payment or greening payment.