Capital Production and Efficiency: general guidance

Who is this guidance for

This guidance is for customers who have not claimed for the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) Universal Layer. 

What is this grant

This grant provides funding towards equipment and machinery that can improve efficiency, animal health and welfare, resource use, and health and safety on your farm. The grant contributes up to a maximum 40% of eligible costs. 

Can I apply

You can apply on Rural Payments Wales (RPW) Online, subject to the eligibility criteria. 

How much funding is available

• minimum grant award per application: £500
• maximum grant award per Customer Reference Number (CRN) per financial year: £15,000
• grant rate: maximum 40% of eligible costs (excluding Value Added Tax (VAT)

You may submit more than one application during the financial year, provided the total grant awarded does not exceed £15,000 per financial year. 

When can I apply

Applications can be made throughout the year while it is open. 

How does selection work

Applications are scored against benefits such as:

• resource efficiency
• technical efficiency
• animal health and welfare
• health and safety 

Higher-scoring applications are prioritised for funding. 

Before you apply:

✅ check the item you want is included in the Technical guidance

✅ make sure you can source and receive the item within the claim period

✅ check you have enough remaining grant allowance if you've already received funding in the financial year

Important: do not:

❌ buy any item before receiving your Grant Award Letter (GAL)

❌ buy second-hand equipment

❌ use hire purchase, lease agreements or credit notes

❌ include items used for agricultural contracting activities

❌ part exchange old equipment as part of the purchase

What happens if I'm successful

You will receive a GAL through RPW Online. You must:

1. Accept the grant award within 21 days.
2. Purchase the approved items.
3. Pay for them in full.
4. Submit your claim with supporting evidence before the claim deadline. 

What do I need to submit with my claim

You will need:

• invoices
• evidence the item meets the specification
• bank statements or other evidence showing payment has cleared your bank account ("defrayment") 

What if I can't buy an item

If you no longer want an item included in your GAL, you must notify RPW via your RPW Online account as soon as possible. 

Item removals must be requested at least 60 days before the “final availability date” detailed in your GAL. This is the claim deadline date.  

If delivery problems occur outside your control, contact RPW immediately and provide evidence from the supplier. 

Key deadlines:

• grant award acceptance - Within 21 calendar days of offer
• claim deadline: usually up to 180 days from the grant award offer date, although this may be shorter where applications relate to the current financial year 

Keep your records:

You must keep records for at least 10 years from the payment date. 

• invoices
• payment records
• supporting documents

Remember:

1. Check you are eligible before applying.
2. Don't buy anything until your grant award is accepted.
3. Only buy approved items that meet or exceed the specification.
4. Keep invoices and proof of payment.
5. Tell RPW quickly if there are delivery problems or you need to remove items.
6. Submit your claim before the deadline. 

This guidance is for customers who have not claimed for the SFS Universal Layer. 

Capital Production and Efficiency supports investments that help farm businesses improve productivity, strengthen resilience and make more efficient use of resources. By supporting the adoption of new technologies, infrastructure improvements and enhanced business practices, it aims to help businesses remain sustainable, competitive and better equipped to respond to future challenges.

Capital grant funding is available for equipment designed to enable precision management of soils and manures, and to monitor performance of crops or livestock. 

This in turn will meet a range of priorities including the promotion of high standards of animal health and welfare and improving water and air quality; whilst benefiting productivity by targeting input use, reducing disease risk and enabling safer handling of livestock. Targeted application of inputs, and healthier animals, benefit air and water quality and reduce carbon emissions. 

Please read this guidance document carefully. If you want to apply, please see ‘Section D: The application, selection and grant award offer process’ and the ‘Using RPW Online to apply' guidance’. 

Building on experience and feedback from historical schemes, the following are key changes adopted for this:

• applications can be submitted throughout the financial year; there are no specific application windows
• more than one application and grant award can be live at any one time, subject to certain conditions
• you have the option, where applicable, to apply for funding from the next financial year
• multiple selections will be run throughout the year
• grant awards must be accepted within 21 days of issue

The application form will be available from 28 July 2026 and will remain open until March 2027, when it will be unavailable for a short time to make changes for the next financial year. 

Any changes will be publicised via our website, GWLAD online and, where necessary, we will contact you directly.

We (Welsh Government) want to work with businesses and organisations who are proud of their reputation, what they deliver and their conduct. The following link will direct you to guidance which is designed to highlight and clarify the types of behaviours, cultures and values Welsh Government expects to see ‘lived out’ by its grant recipients.

Welsh Government expectations of grant recipients

You are eligible to apply if you are registered with the Welsh Government and have been issued with a CRN. Please refer to the Welsh Government website for the how to register guidance or call the RPW Customer Contact Centre on 0300 062 5004. 

You must: 

• have at least three hectares of eligible agricultural land in Wales (including common land apportionment) registered with RPW

Or

Be able to demonstrate you undertake over 550 standard labour hours on agricultural or ancillary activities.  

• undertake agricultural or ancillary activities on agricultural land. Agricultural or ancillary activities are defined in the Agriculture (Wales) Act

Agricultural activities include:  

• keeping and breeding livestock. Using land for horticulture, farming arable crops and dairy farming
• using land as grazing land and as farm woodland or for agroforestry
• controlled environment agriculture, growing plants for sale or for sale of part of the plant such as producing seeds
• maintaining land in a state that makes it suitable for the activities above   

Ancillary activities includes: 

• taking action, on land used for agriculture to create and manage habitat, or for other purposes related to nature conservation, to mitigate and adapt to climate change, or to maintain and enhance the resilience of ecosystems 
• selling, marketing, preparing, packaging, processing or distributing products deriving from agriculture 

We will check if you have an eligible Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) claim in the current or most recent previous scheme year to verify if you have three hectares of eligible agricultural land in Wales and that you are carrying out agricultural or ancillary activities.  

If you have not submitted an eligible BPS claim in the current or most recent previous year, you must submit documentary evidence with your application to verify the following:

• you are carrying out agricultural or ancillary activities when you submit the application
• that you meet either the three hectares of eligible agricultural land registered with RPW or evidence to support the 550 standard labour hours eligibility criteria in the last 12 months

Acceptable documentary evidence for 550 standard labour hours is:  

• an accredited accountant’s letter to confirm the business has completed more than 550 hours

Or  

• supporting evidence other than a letter from an accountant will only be accepted as evidence if it provides an equivalent level of assurance. This means that it should be verified by an independent, accredited source, such as a solicitor, with sufficient understanding of the business to confirm the claim of 550 hours work being undertaken

If documentary evidence is not submitted with the application, the application will not proceed to selection until the evidence has been received and may be rejected.

Eligible costs

Only items included in the Technical guidance are eligible for grant funding.

Purchased items must meet or exceed the minimum specification described.

Items are only eligible where the investment would not proceed without grant funding.

Ineligible costs

• second hand equipment
• consumables (items which are likely to be used up or depleted, e.g. Medication to be used in the Auto EID Drench Gun item would not be eligible)
• items purchased for agricultural contracting activities 
• items that have not been correctly and fully defrayed prior to submitting the claim
• items secured under a hire purchase or lease hire agreement or any other form of financial arrangement, including a credit note
• items purchased as part of a part exchange arrangement

The maximum grant award is £15,000 per applicant per financial year. The minimum grant award is £500 per application.

Applications may exceed the £15,000 cap only where inclusion of one additional eligible item causes the total grant value to exceed the maximum. However, if selected, the related claim will be capped to the maximum £15,000 grant threshold.

Please note: Any expenditure approved under the previous Small Grants – Efficiency scheme does not count towards the maximum grant award under Capital Production and Efficiency. 

You can apply and be selected multiple times in a year, however, you can only have two accepted Grant Award Letters (GALs) live at the same time. You will not be able to submit another application until you have submitted a claim for at least one of the GALs.

Consequently, if you have already had a grant award for Capital Production and Efficiency and wish to submit another application for the same financial year, the amount already allocated to you in that financial year will be taken into account. You will only be able to apply for a grant award value up to the remainder. Your application must still meet the £500 minimum grant. 

For example:

The maximum grant award available in a financial year is £15,000. If you have already accepted a grant award of £10,000 for 2026/27, you may still submit further applications. However, the total value of any additional applications in 2026/27 cannot exceed £5,000.

The grant provides a maximum 40% contribution towards capital investments in equipment and machinery (excluding VAT).

The grant will be a maximum 40% contribution against actual invoiced costs up to the maximum referenced costs as stated in the Technical guidance.

For example:

You are offered a grant award for the purchase of a cattle mobile handling system which has a referenced cost of £17,259:

• if you purchase an item that meets or exceeds the specification for £17,259 or more, the grant paid will be £6,903 (40% of £17,259)
• however, if you purchase an item that meets or exceeds the specification for less than the referenced costs (e.g. item purchased for £12,000), the grant will be reduced to £4,800. (40% of the £12,000 invoiced cost)

RPW Online

You can only complete an application for Capital Production and Efficiency by accessing RPW Online.  

Further details regarding RPW Online are available on our website. 

Agents acting on your behalf will need to register as a RPW agent: RPW Online guidance for agents and farming unions.

Submitting an application

The Capital Production and Efficiency application is available through RPW Online. 

Guidance on Capital Production and Efficiency: using RPW Online to apply.

Whilst the application is available, you can apply at any time. Depending on the time of year that you apply you may be given the choice to apply for the current or next financial year. 

Once your first application has been selected and you have accepted the grant award, the application will become available for you to apply again if you wish to apply for additional items.

Depending on when your application is submitted and when the selections are run, there will be times during the year when only one financial year will be available for you to select.  

The deadline for purchasing your items and submitting a claim may then also be less than the maximum 180 days deadline.

For example:

For an application submitted where only the current financial year is available, once selection is run, the claim deadline will be 180 days from the date of your Grant Award Letter (GAL), or 31 March 2027, whichever is sooner.

For an application submitted where you choose the next financial year (i.e. 2027/28), the claim deadline will be 180 days from the date of your GAL. 

Before applying you should carefully consider how quickly you are able to source, purchase and take delivery of the item/s you wish to apply for. If you feel you are unable to complete all activity in the current financial year and a future financial year is available to you, you should select this when prompted before you start the form. 

It is your responsibility to ensure that the application is correctly completed and that the information provided in support of the application is accurate.

If your application is not eligible, you will be informed via your RPW Online account. 

If you have any questions about completing your application, please contact the Customer Contact Centre on 0300 062 5004.  They will provide help and support, including digital assistance if required.

Withdrawal of applications 

Once you have submitted an application for Capital Production and Efficiency you can withdraw your application at any time before you have been offered a grant award. You can do this via ‘My Messages’ in your RPW Online account. 

If you have selected the wrong items or have changed your mind about the items that you have selected or have missed items that you wanted to select, you must withdraw your application and apply again.   

Scoring and selection 

The indicative budget allocation is £2m for financial year 2026/2027 and £5m for financial year 2027/2028. 

Each capital item has been scored against four criteria, and the following weightings have been applied:

Applicants who have claimed the SFS (Sustainable Farming Scheme) Universal Layer will always be prioritised over those who have not claimed SFS Universal Layer. An additional weighting will be applied to prioritise those applicants. 

The resultant score for each individual item is given in the Technical guidance. 

The system will automatically calculate the application score by averaging the number of points against each individual item. 

All applications will be scored and ranked. A threshold score will be set based on the available budget and the highest scoring applications will be offered a grant award.

The purpose of this scoring is to allow Welsh Government to rank the applications against the funding available for each financial year.

The highest value application will be selected first.

Where applications have equal scores and are of the same value and rank up to the available budget threshold, Welsh Government reserves the right to either select or reject these applications, depending on budget availability.

The table below shows when selections will be run and which financial years will be included in the selection (all selections are subject to available budget)

The last date that you will be able to submit an application for selection for 2026/2027 financial year is 11 December 2026.

If your application is selected, you will receive a GAL. 

If your application is eligible but not selected, you will be informed via your RPW Online account, and your application will be considered for the next selection. If you do not wish to have the application considered in a future selection, you may withdraw your application.  Any application not selected by the final selection for that financial year will be rejected and you will be informed via your RPW Online account. 

Please note: Grant values for items could change for the 2027/28 Financial Year. These changes will not have an impact on grant awards that have already been accepted. 

Grant Award Letter (GAL)

The Grant Award issued will be for a maximum of 180 days.  You claim must be submitted by the “Final Availability Date” in your grant award letter. This is the claim deadline.

You must accept your grant award within 21 calendar days of the date of the offer via the blue button on your RPW Online homepage. 

You must not purchase the items included in your application until you have been offered a grant award. 

If you do not accept the grant award within 21 calendar days, the award offer will be automatically withdrawn. 

Full details of when your grant award must be accepted and when the items must be purchased and claimed for will be in the GAL.

We will issue a reminder via your RPW Online account prior to the acceptance deadline date. 

We cannot accept changes to the items on the GAL (i.e. replacing one item with another) once it has been issued. 

Once you have accepted your Capital Production and Efficiency grant award, you are entering into an agreement with Welsh Government and become an agreement holder for the purposes of the Agriculture Support Schemes (Eligibility, Enforcement and Appeals) (Wales) Regulations 2025. 

The Capital Production and Efficiency grant award is subject to a range of relevant legislation (see Section K). Welsh Government and the agreement holder must act in accordance with that legislation.  

The offer of a grant award is made subject to terms and conditions, which will be set out in the Grant Agreement letter (GAL) and include those set out below.

Failure to meet the terms and conditions of the grant award could result in the cancellation of your grant and / or the recovery of sums already paid, or a reduction of the amount of grant payable.

Conditions

The award is made on the basis of statements and declarations made by you or your representatives. The making of false or misleading statements is an offence. 

Any person who makes a false declaration or fails to notify Welsh Government of a material change to the information given in this application may be liable to prosecution. A false, inaccurate or incomplete statement or failure to notify Welsh Government of any material changes to the information given to Welsh Government may result in termination of the grant award and/or recovery of any payments. 

Welsh Government may need to update the rules and conditions to take account of changes made to the Government of Wales Act 2006.

You agree to abide by any changes following notification by Welsh Ministers.

You agree to comply with all applicable domestic, or international laws or regulations or official directives.

No alterations may be made to the project, including the location of the activity, without the written approval of Welsh Government.

Equipment purchased with grant aid may not be disposed of, transferred or sold during the lifetime of the grant award and for five years from the grant award end date, without prior written consent of Welsh Government. 

You are required to read and understand the relevant guidance notes.

You have given details that are true, accurate and complete to the best of your knowledge and belief on the applications and any supporting documentation.

You acknowledge that neither Welsh Government nor any adviser appointed by Welsh Government shall be responsible for any advice given, including, without limit, any advice given in relation to the grant award and you are solely responsible for all business decisions undertaken.

You are required to comply with the rules on eligible costs as detailed in the guidance.

Investments should be completed within the timetable agreed with Welsh Government. You should not deviate from this without prior written agreement from Welsh Government.

Failure to claim the funding within the availability period will mean it ceases to be available to you. 

Claims must be submitted via the RPW Online grants claim form and be supported by all supporting documents as required.

Claims must be submitted in accordance with the timetable set out in the GAL. You must not deviate from the agreed timing and value of your claims without prior written agreement from Welsh Government.

Grant can only be paid on expenditure that has been defrayed, that is, on payments that have cleared from a bank account.

You undertake to meet any obligations in relation to obtaining planning permission, where necessary.

You must confirm that none of the items covered by the application are replacements under an insurance claim.

You must provide confirmation that no other public funding has been sought. If it is found that you have received public funding from another source your claim may be rejected, payments may be recovered and penalties may be applied.

Records concerning the application and claim for this grant, including all original invoices and any other related documents, must be retained for at least 10  years after the project end date.

You must undertake to meet any statutory obligations such as Health and Safety; employment; hygiene; environmental management and protection; animal or crop health and welfare that apply during the time of this grant award.

All consents, licences and permissions have been granted where required

You must allow officers, representatives of Welsh Government, or their duly authorised agent the Auditor General for Wales or their representatives access to inspect land and any relevant equipment, facilities and all records and information needed to establish your eligibility and the accuracy of the information provided in relation to the grant award. On request, you must provide them with information and / or access to original documentation in relation to the investment.

You must maintain adequate insurances to cover against the risks which may arise in connection with any property or any activity undertaken in delivery of the purposes. We reserve the right to require you to provide proof of your insurance. 

Welsh Government may need to share some information about your grant award with other organisations, and you agree to any necessary disclosures or exchanges of information. 

Welsh Government may also obtain information about you from certain other organisations or provide information about you to them in order to verify the accuracy of the information, prevent or detect crime and protect public funds. These other organisations include government departments, local authorities and other bodies as appropriate.

The publication and disclosure of information by Welsh Government will be in accordance with the obligations and duties under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Data Protection Act 2018, the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and the Agriculture Support Scheme (Eligibility, Enforcement and Appeals) (Wales) Regulations 2025. Other information provided may also be disclosed where permitted by law. 

The information provided in the application is subject to the Privacy Notice. The Privacy Notice explains Welsh Government’s processing and use of your personal data and your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

In accordance with the governing legislation, you must notify RPW as soon as reasonably practicable, of any change of circumstances which might reasonably be expected to affect your ability to meet the eligibility criteria and/or grant award conditions. This should be within 60 days of the relevant change of circumstances. 

Where you have notified us, we may take one or more of the following actions: 

1. amend, remove or replace a condition either temporarily or permanently
2. amend, remove or replace any requirements or timescales either temporarily or permanently 
3. apply sanctions and/or reduce payments 
4. require you to repay some or all previous payments made

Welsh Government may accept that you were prevented from fulfilling certain obligations due to a course of events amounting to exceptional circumstances. Further details are set out in Section H.

Withdrawal of grant awards 

If you accept a grant award and wish to withdraw your grant award you must notify RPW via your RPW Online account at least 60 days before your grant award end date. 

If you do not notify RPW you wish to withdraw your grant award and subsequently do not claim any items, you will be excluded from submitting further applications for Capital Production and Efficiency for a period of one year from the date of the claim submission deadline.

Removal of items 

If you wish to remove items from your grant award, you must notify RPW via your RPW Online account at least 60 days before your grant award end date. 

If you remove items from your grant award, the value of these items will become available to you should you wish to submit another application for items within the same financial year. 

If you do not notify RPW you wish to remove items and you subsequently fail to claim all items included in your grant award, sanctions may apply (see section H).

Claims

A claim is not considered valid unless it has been submitted via the RPW Online grants claim page with all supporting documentation. 

Capital Production and Efficiency is only available to claim using the grants claim page on your RPW Online account. 

Payments will be made following the successful validation of your claim. Claims will only be paid when Welsh Government is satisfied the relevant expenditure has taken place and the items are in-situ.

Payment will be made by electronic transfer to your bank account.

In order to receive payments, you must:

• have accepted a grant award within 21 calendar days of the offer date and adhere to all the requirements
• ensure you have only purchased items listed in your Grant Award Letter (GAL) after you have been offered a grant award
• ensure that you have purchased all of the items listed in your GAL (see Section G for Withdrawal and removal of items)
• ensure all items purchased are on the premises at the time you submit your claim and, where applicable, are installed in situ and fit for operational use in accordance with the grant specification within six months of claim submission
• submit the claim and supporting documents using the Grant Claim page on your RPW Online account within the timescale specified in your GAL

Late claims and/or supporting documents will be accepted up to a maximum of 10 working days after the claim deadline. Late claim penalties will apply (see Sanctions below).

The late claim period is not applicable for the purchase of items included in your GAL. All items must be purchased, fully defrayed and on your premises by the claim deadline. 

We will issue a maximum of two reminders for any outstanding claims via your RPW Online account prior to the claim submission deadline.

Supporting documentation

You must submit the following with your claim:

• invoices for all claimed items
• evidence that the purchased items meet or exceed the specification
• evidence of defrayment of expenditure for all claimed items

Each individual item and its cost need to be clearly identified on the invoice.

It is your responsibility to ensure the purchased items meet or exceed the specification in the Technical guidance and you must submit documentary evidence confirming this. 

For example:

If you are claiming for a cattle mobile handling system comprising of:

• a race 
• crush with an internal width of no less than 720mm 
• sides to open to give access to the animal
• pen for a minimum of 25 cattle. (24months+) 
• integrated road legal trailer
• rump bar operated from outside the crush and race 
• full length adjustable head yoke
• fully galvanised or powder paint coated metal

The invoice must show the cattle mobile handling system meets each one of these requirements. 

If the invoice does not show this, you must submit a detailed specification confirming the requirements are met. 

You should provide the following additional information, where appropriate:

• name of the manufacturer, model number, serial number, etc. if not included on the invoice
• detailed specification list, if not included on invoice, or a description of the item explaining how it meets the specification

You must submit bank statements as evidence of defrayment of expenditure for each item of equipment in your GAL.

You can submit the invoices and bank statements by scanning them and sending them via “My Messages” in your RPW Online account.

Items not delivered

If you are within 60 days before your grant award end date and you have been advised by the supplier/manufacturer that they cannot deliver the item(s) before the claim deadline, you must notify RPW via your RPW Online account. You should provide proof of ordering within a reasonable timescale and documentary evidence from the supplier to confirm they cannot supply the item by the claim deadline.   

All circumstances will be considered on a case-by-case basis. 

Please note, requests to remove an item when submitting a claim will result in a sanction.

Sanctions

It is your responsibility to make sure the claim submitted is eligible and accurate and submitted with supporting documentation.

Your claim will be incorrect and penalties will apply if:

• you have not submitted a claim and supporting documents by the claim deadline set out in your GAL
• you submit your claim and/or supporting documentation after the claim deadline set out in your GAL
• you have purchased items before the grant award is accepted
• you have not bought all the items listed in the GAL and you have not requested the removal of items
• any of the items claimed are listed under ‘Ineligible Costs’ in section B
• you have bought items that do not meet the minimum specification set out in the Technical guidance
• utems have not been fully defrayed
• not all items claimed are present at a visit to your premises

Late claim penalty

If your claim and/or supporting documents are received within the late claim period, a late claim penalty of 1% per working day will be applied to your payment. 

Any claims and/or supporting documents received after the late claim period will be rejected. 

Penalty for unclaimed and/or ineligible item(s)

If you fail to claim all the items included in your GAL, payment will be reduced to the amount of items claimed. 

However, if the value of unclaimed items is determined to be more than 10% of the eligible costs of the grant award, an amount equivalent to half the value of the unclaimed items will also be deducted from your payment. 

Where a claim contains item(s) that do not meet the specification, have been purchased before you received the GAL, have not been fully defrayed or are not present on the premises at the time of claim or an inspection, payments will be reduced to the amount of items purchased that are deemed eligible. 

If the value of ineligible items is determined to be more than 10% of the eligible costs of the grant award, an amount equivalent to half the value of ineligible items will be also deducted from your payment.

Where your claim includes both unclaimed items and ineligible items the value of these will be added together to calculate the payment reduction and whether a penalty will apply. 

For example: 

An agreement holder has the following items included in their GAL worth a total grant value of £6,847.80. 

The cattle calving gate, worth £282, is not claimed. The total amount claimed is £6,565.80 (of a total grant value of £6,847.80). 

As the difference between the amount claimed and the total value of the grant award is less than 10%, the total payment due is £6,565.80. 

However, if the cattle calving gate, worth £282 is not claimed and the Sheep handler, worth £1,680 is deemed ineligible, the value of the eligible claim is £4,885.80 (£6,847.80 -minus £1,962 (£282 plus £1,680).  

As the difference between the eligible claim and the grant award is greater than 10%, an amount equivalent to 50% of the ineligible/unclaimed items is deducted from the claim. 

Therefore, the total payment due is £3,904.80 (£4,885.80 eligible claim value minus £981 (50% of £1,962).  

Exclusion

If you do not claim any of the items included in your GAL, you may be excluded from submitting further applications for Capital Production and Efficiency for one year from the date of the claim submission deadline and grant award end date. 

Obvious error 

Welsh Government operates an obvious error provision in accordance with the legislation governing the support and may be recognised based on any overall assessment of the particular case, provided the applicant or agreement holder has acted in good faith. 

As a general rule, an obvious error may be detected from information given in the documents and information submitted as part of and in support of applications or payment claims, including supporting documents and relevant notifications, and as a result of coherence checks against other relevant information held by Welsh Government.  In such cases, applications for support or payment claims may be corrected and/or adjusted at any time after their submission.

Exceptional circumstances

Exceptional circumstances are defined as unusual circumstances which are outside the control of the applicant or agreement holder, were unforeseen and could not be avoided, despite all due care and except at the cost of excessive sacrifice on their part. Examples that may be recognised include: 

• natural events, such as prolonged adverse weather conditions, flooding, or animal or plant disease
• serious illness, injury or death affecting the business  
• unforeseen loss of management control of land, for example where a tenancy is terminated or because of compulsory purchase
• financial circumstances such as bankruptcy  
• evidenced supply chain problems 
• criminal damage by a third party, such as arson or vandalism

For Welsh Government to consider and accept an event as exceptional circumstances, details must be received in writing within 60 days of the applicant or agreement holder, or someone acting on their behalf, being in a position to do so.  

An event may directly affect just one member of a farm business or organisation, however, it should be explained how the events impacted on the ability of everyone in the business or organisation as a whole to meet their obligations. Additional documentary evidence may be requested and should be provided as appropriate.

The exceptional circumstances provision is available in respect of:

• late submission of an application or claim  
• late notification of supporting documentation in respect of an application or claim
• the right to payment in respect of certain eligible areas declared on an application or claim but no longer available to the applicant or agreement holder because of an exceptional circumstances event  
• the inability to comply with requirements, including eligibility conditions
• penalties applied to claims. The requirement for partial or full re-imbursement of payments received 

Each notification will be carefully considered on a case-by-case basis.  

Offences

Offences Regulation 19 of The Agriculture Support Schemes (Eligibility, Enforcement and Appeals) (Wales) Regulations 2025 establishes offences in relation to certain aspects of financial support provided for under those regulations. That regulation and those offences are applicable to Capital Production and Efficiency. Examples of offences include at any time giving false or misleading information, failing to provide information, evidence or copies of records when requested and preventing or otherwise obstructing an inspection, including failure to provide reasonable assistance in the completion of an inspection. 

Where it is established, you have committed an offence in accordance with the regulations your grant award may be withdrawn in whole or in part.

Unacceptable behaviour 

Welsh Government officials, individuals or organisations carrying out duties on behalf of Welsh Government, should not be subjected to aggressive, abusive or offensive behaviour or unreasonable demands and persistence from applicants or agreement holders or their representatives. This also applies to members of the Independent Appeals Panel.

Managing Unacceptable Behaviour of Welsh Government Customers explains what we consider unacceptable behaviour. 

Unacceptable behaviour may lead to the withdrawal of payments and/or the rejection of applications or claims.

Recovery of previous payments 

If it is found incorrect payments have been made, those payments may be recovered in whole or in part. 

Where you are required to re-pay monies you will be notified of the debt in writing by Welsh Government. Where a debt remains outstanding, the full amount will be automatically recovered from the first available future agricultural support payment that becomes due to you, or any other support established under the Agriculture (Wales) Act 2023.

Welsh Government’s verification of grant award conditions may include site visits to a sample of agreement holders to ensure the items are on the premises and in situ where appropriate.

You must allow officials from Welsh Government, or their representatives, to inspect the items purchased within five years of the grant award end date. 

If you refuse to allow a visit or obstruct an officer or fail to give reasonable assistance, Welsh Government may recover previous payments.

You must keep all records and information you need to evidence that you have provided complete and accurate information and have complied with the grant award undertakings for 10 years from the last payment of the funding.

You will also be required to:

• supply any information about your Capital Production and Efficiency grant award within a period determined by Welsh Government
• make available to Welsh Government, its authorised persons or its agents, records, accounts, receipts and other information including access to computer data relating to your Capital Production and Efficiency grant award. Permit Welsh Government to remove any such document or record to take copies or extracts from them

Legislation changes (including changes in interpretation)

The rules for Capital Production and Efficiency are based on the Agriculture (Wales) Act 2023 and the Agriculture Support Schemes (Eligibility, Enforcement and Appeals) (Wales) Regulations 2025 No. 1308 (W219).

Legislation may change from time to time, and you will be required to abide by any changes to the rules following notification from Welsh Government.

Changes to rules or grant award

We may need to make changes to the rules and/or your GAL for a number of reasons. For example, we may need to update the management conditions to take account of the latest scientific advice or amend rules to take account of any changes to legislation. We will publicise changes on the our website and, where necessary, contact you directly.

Appeals procedure

The ‘Independent Appeals Process for Rural Grants and Payments’ allow you to request a review if you feel Welsh Government has not reached a correct decision according to the rules and guidance, following acceptance of your grant award. There are no grounds for appeal at the application stage.

The appeals process consists of two stages:

• stage 1: review by Welsh Government officials
• stage 2: review by an Independent Appeals Panel (if you are dissatisfied with the stage 1 response).

The Independent Appeals Panel makes recommendations to Welsh Ministers, who take the final decision, which concludes the process.

Appeals, including supporting evidence, must be submitted via RPW Online within 60 days of the date of the letter outlining the decision you wish to appeal against.

Appellants or their representatives must not make direct contact with members of the Independent Appeals Panel. We may consider this to be Unacceptable Behaviour in accordance with the managing unacceptable behaviour of Welsh Government customers guidance. Unacceptable behaviour may lead to the withdrawal of payments and/or the rejection of applications, claims or appeals.

Further details of the appeals process and how to submit an appeal using the online appeal form can be obtained from the Customer Contact Centre or our website at: Rural Grants and Payments appeals: guidance.

Complaints procedure

Complaints will be dealt with under Welsh Government’s procedure on complaints. Further advice on how to make a complaint can be obtained from:

You may also choose to contact:

What is monitoring and evaluation 

Monitoring is the collection of data, both during and after scheme implementation to improve current and future decision making. See the Green Book (on gov.uk).

Monitoring and evaluation are closely related, and a typical evaluation will rely heavily on monitoring data. 

Evaluation is the systematic assessment of the design, implementation and outcomes of the scheme. It involves understanding how the support scheme is being, or has been, implemented and what effects it has, for whom and why.

Evaluation also involves identifying what can be improved and how, as well as estimating the overall cost-effectiveness and policy impacts.

Monitoring Data alone cannot answer all evaluation questions. Evaluation will therefore draw on a mix of both quantitative and qualitative methods in line with the Magenta Book (on gov.uk). 

Why monitor and evaluate

Monitoring and evaluation are an important way of identifying lessons that can be learnt to improve both the design and delivery of future SFS support. 

Monitoring and evaluation of the SFS

The SFS will be monitored, evaluated and reported by Welsh Government, through: 

1. the legal requirements of the Agriculture (Wales) Act 2023 focussing on the Sustainable Land Management (SLM) objectives; and,
2. evaluation of the scheme

Agriculture (Wales) Act 2023 requirements

Under the Act, Welsh Ministers have a statutory duty to monitor, evaluate and report progress on the contribution towards achieving the SLM objectives of any support given by Welsh Government. 

Monitoring plays a vital role that enables Welsh Government to be accountable by measuring its performance against the SLM objectives and the purposes of support. Reporting provides the Senedd and the public with appropriate transparency to enable them to track progress and achievements.

The act sets out a clear monitoring and reporting framework at both the SLM objective and support scheme levels. It contains five levels of reporting:

• the Multi-Annual Support Plan (MASP) is a five year forward plan setting out how Welsh Ministers intend to provide support during the plan period to contribute to achieving the SLM objectives. The first Multi-Annual Support Plan (MASP) was published in December 2024
• the SLM indicators and targets statement sets out how Welsh Ministers will measure progress towards achieving the four SLM objectives. The SLM indicators and targets statement was published in December 2025
• the Annual Report details the financial and non-financial support provided under Section 8 of the Act during each financial year.  The Welsh Ministers also publish details of support provided under other powers. The first Annual Report was published in March 2026
• an impact report will be published every five years by the Welsh Government evaluating all the support provided. This will include an assessment of its impact and effectiveness of the support in achieving the purposes for which the support was provided, and its contribution to achieving objectives. The first impact report will be published in December 2030, reporting on the period up to the end of December 2029
• a Sustainable Land Management Report will be published every five years to assess the effectiveness of the actions taken by Welsh Ministers in accordance with the duty to achieve the SLM objectives. It will assess cumulative progress towards achieving the SLM objectives (since the SLM duty came into force) as well as progress made during the reporting period. It will also evaluate progress against the SLM indicators and targets and set out whether each target has been achieved. The first SLM report will be published in December 2026, reporting on the period up to the end of December 2025

The Agriculture Support Schemes (Eligibility, Enforcement and Appeals) (Wales) Regulations 2025 No. 1308 (W219)

These regulations make provision in respect of support schemes under which Welsh Ministers provide support. Regulation 8 requires a person receiving support under a support scheme to provide information or evidence to Welsh Ministers that may be needed in order to, for example, check that the agreement holder continues to meet the eligibility criteria and verify compliance with the scheme’s conditions:

Regulation 8. An agreement holder must provide, in such manner and at such times as Welsh Ministers specify, such information or evidence as the Welsh Ministers may require to:

1. check whether the agreement holder continues to meet the eligibility criteria for receipt of support
2. verify compliance with the conditions subject to which support is provided 
3. monitor the extent to which the purpose of the support scheme has been, or will be, achieved, and
4. check whether the agreement holder continues to meet the eligibility criteria for receipt of support

5. review or evaluate:

   (i) any of the activities carried out by the agreement holder under the support scheme, and 

   (ii) the success of the support scheme as a whole 

There is a direct link between monitoring of the support provided under a scheme established pursuant to section 8 of the act and the reporting framework contained within the act. To satisfy the reporting requirements all support issued will be monitored to capture the impact and effectiveness of that support, as well as to apply appropriate and effective fiscal management. 

Evidence submitted by applicants / agreement holders will be used to monitor the impact of the support schemes across the agricultural sector in Wales, including assessing the contribution of supported actions towards the SLM objectives. This may include data collected through inspections, declarations or scheme administration and will be subject to compliance with data protection legislation and scheme privacy notices.  

Evaluation of the SFS

The SFS is the primary, but not the only mechanism of support provided by Welsh Government to meet the SLM objectives.The SFS will provide a significant proportion of the monitoring, reporting and evaluation framework, ensuring the effectiveness and value for money of the scheme itself can be assessed.   To support evaluation scheme participants may be asked to take part in research activities. The information and feedback gathered through these activities will play a role in shaping future development of the scheme, helping to ensure it remains effective, responsive, and beneficial for the agricultural industry in Wales.

A future monitoring and evaluation strategy will set out how Welsh Government intends to assess how SLM objectives and schemes including the SFS will be assessed in terms of value for money and the outcomes it delivers for Wales, including economic, social and cultural outcomes.  

The strategy will recognise the long-term nature of the outcomes sought and identify interim measures which can demonstrate progress considering performance and management data from Welsh Government, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and other service providers.

What this means for you and your data

Welsh Government may share information you have provided in connection with your SFS - Optional claim (including personal data) with third party contractors to enable monitoring and evaluation of the scheme. 

As a result, you may be contacted and asked to take part in research activities. The purpose of the research will be outlined; however, participation is voluntary. Any participation will help us to ensure that schemes remain effective.

Contractors will use any data provided only for the purpose of carrying out research activities on behalf of Welsh Government and strictly in accordance with UK GDPR.

Welsh Government will be the data controller for any personal data you provide in relation to your grant application or request for grant funding. The information will be processed as part of our public task (i.e. exercising our official authority to undertake the core role and functions of Welsh Government) and will help us assess your eligibility for funding.

Before we provide grant funding to you, we undertake checks for the purposes of preventing fraud and money laundering, and to verify your identity. These checks require us to process personal data about you to third party fraud prevention agencies.

If we, or a fraud prevention agency, determine that you pose a fraud or money laundering risk, we may refuse to provide the grant funding you applied for, or we may stop providing existing grant funding to you.

A record of any fraud or money laundering risk will be retained by the fraud prevention agencies, and may result in others refusing to provide services, financing or employment to you.

In order to assess eligibility, we may also need to share personal information relating to your application with:

• Natural Resources Wales (NRW)
• Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)
• Veterinary Medicine Directorate
• Welsh local authorities
• Food Standards Agency (FSA) Wales
• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs  (Defra)
• other UK Government Agriculture Offices
• regulatory authorities, such as HM Revenue and Customs, local authorities, Health and Safety Executive and the Police

We may also share your information with organisations which deliver training, knowledge transfer and innovation advice and support on behalf of Welsh Government for the purposes of appropriate targeting of support.

Your information, including your personal information, may be the subject of a request by another member of the public. When responding to such requests Welsh Government may be required to release information, including your personal information, to fulfil its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Environmental information Act 2004, the Data Protection Act 2018 or the Agriculture Support Schemes (Eligibility, Enforcement and Appeals) (Wales) Regulations 2025.

We will publish details of the amounts paid to agreement holders who have received support under the Agriculture Support Scheme (Eligibility, Enforcement and Appeals) (Wales) Regulations 2025.  Data will be published for all beneficiaries and will include the full name, post town and post code area and district where the agreement holder is resident It will include details of the amounts and schemes for which payment has been made. However, this will not apply for those agreement holders receiving relevant support less than £1,250.00 in the financial year.  

We will keep personal information contained in line with our retention policy. If successful in your application, then your personal data will be kept for seven years after the date when you, as grant recipient, are free from all conditions relating to the grant awarded and all payments have been made. If you are unsuccessful, your details will be kept for one year after the date you provided them.

Under the data protection legislation, you have the right:

• to access the personal data Welsh Government holds on you
• to require us to rectify inaccuracies in that data
• to (in certain circumstances) object to or restrict processing
• for (in certain circumstances) your data to be ‘erased’
• to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) who is the independent regulator for data protection

For further details about the information Welsh Government holds and its use, or if you want to exercise your rights under UK GDPR, please see contact details below:

The contact details for the Information Commissioner’s Office are:

Should you have any queries regarding this privacy statement please contact the RPW Customer Contact Centre.

Privacy notice: Welsh Government grants.

Enquiries: Customer Contact Centre

For all enquiries, please contact the RPW Customer Contact Centre

Enquiries can be submitted via RPW Online at any time.

Our Regional Offices are open to the public strictly by appointment only. If you need face to face support the RPW Customer Contact Centre can make a ‘Digital Assistance’ appointment for you to attend a Regional Office where a member of staff can guide you through your application and/or claim. 

Welsh Government website

For all of the latest Agricultural and Rural Affairs information, visit our website. By visiting the website, you can also sign up to receive the Rural Affairs e-newsletter which delivers the latest news directly to your e-mail inbox.

Gwlad

The Gwlad e-newsletter is Welsh Government’s e-newsletter for farm and forestry businesses and all those involved with agriculture in Wales. It contains news stories, guidance and information in an accessible, easy-to-read format.  

To keep informed and up to date with all the latest agriculture news and developments in future we would encourage you to sign up to receive the Gwlad e-newsletter. You can do this either at Announcements or at Subscribe to farming and forestry news.