Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) data: EIR release
Information request and response under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.
Information requested
Data regarding the 2023, 2024 and 2025 scheme years for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS).
For each of 2023, 2024 and 2025 scheme years, please provide the following information, broken down by claim value bands (e.g., £0–£10k, £10k–£50k, £50k–£100k, and £100k+):
1. Payment Speed by Claim Value: The percentage of BPS and AECS claims within each value band that were paid within the first 30, 31-60, 61-90, or 91+ days of the payment window opening.
2. Repeat Inspections: The percentage of agricultural holdings that have received 0, 1, 2 or 3+ physical inspections in scheme years 2022-2025 collectively, categorised by the value band of their claim.
3. Post-Inspection Delay: The average (mean and median) number of days between the date a physical inspection was completed and the date the final payment was issued, broken down by claim value band.
4. Risk Selection Criteria: Any internal documentation or "weighting" guides used by RPID’s selection algorithm that specifies how "claim value" or "previous inspection history" influences the risk score for selecting a farm for inspection.
I would prefer to receive this information in an electronic format (Excel or CSV). To the extent that 2025 data is not yet available, please provide information up to the end of December 2025. If a specific part of this request would exceed the cost limit, please focus on 2023 and 2024 data, and prioritise items 1 and 2.
Response
The requested data has been collated and shared via the attached excel document, please note there is a tab for each data request and an overview of the provided data.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Correspondence Unit
Email: contactus@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG