Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average waiting time is for applicants between between being invited to apply online by the Rural Payments Agency to secure a Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreement and securing a signed agreement.

The scheme is in an early stage “private beta” rollout where delivery times would be expected to be longer than normal. So far, the average time from invitation to apply to the Rural Payments Agency offering an agreement to the customer is around 90 daysfor what are 10-year agreements.

The length of time taken to reach agreement includes customer action and can vary considerably depending on a number of factors, including the complexity, specialist advice, site assessment, and time taken to agree management options.