Welsh ministers have signed off changes to the farm subsidy appeals system that clear the way for higher charges from 1 January 2026. The Agricultural Subsidies and Grants Schemes (Appeals) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 were approved by the Senedd on 2 December and update how fees can be set for appeals linked to older CAP-era schemes.

The government has already flagged the new price points. From 1 January, Stage 2 appeals to the Independent Appeals Panel will cost £220 for a written hearing or £290 for an oral hearing, with fees refunded if an appeal is accepted in full. Tuberculosis compensation appeals are excluded from the increase.

Ministers say the shift is about covering the panel’s running costs rather than raising revenue. Welsh Government guidance puts the Independent Appeals Panel’s day rate at £875 for three members, typically dealing with three oral appeals or four written appeals in a day.

Right now, farmers pay £50 for a written Stage 2 appeal or £100 for an oral hearing, and the fee is repaid if the appeal is wholly or partly successful. Stage 1 remains free and there’s a 60‑day window to lodge an appeal after the decision letter. Those headline figures have been in place for years and apply until 31 December 2025.

In the Senedd debate, Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca‑Davies called the regulations “an important step in modernising the appeals process”, framing them as part of a wider tidy‑up ahead of the Sustainable Farming Scheme. The motion to approve the appeals regulations passed alongside other agriculture SIs.

For readers across North Wales and the North West who buy and sell stock across the border, the detail matters. Welsh appeals tied to legacy CAP schemes such as the Basic Payment Scheme will no longer sit under the old £100 ceiling for fees; from New Year they move to the same £220/£290 structure as everything else under Rural Payments Wales. That brings consistency across schemes and years, but it does mean some smaller disputes become pricier to contest.

For comparison, England’s Rural Payments Agency charges nothing to appeal SFI and Countryside Stewardship decisions, while Basic Payment Scheme disputes attract a sliding fee: £100 for cases under £2,000, £250 for £2,000–£10,000 and £450 above £10,000, all refundable if successful. Wales’s new flat rates will be higher than England’s for the smallest BPS cases but lower at the top end.

Northern Ireland operates a £200 charge for an Independent Panel Assessment, refunded where the decision is changed, giving another point of reference for cross‑border businesses trading into Ulster markets.

What should farm businesses do now? Build the new fees into cash flow planning, keep decision letters and timelines tidy, and weigh up whether a written or oral hearing suits the case. In Wales the Stage 1 review remains free, the Stage 2 fee applies from 1 January, and the 60‑day clock still matters.

The appeals update lands alongside wider subsidy changes. On the same day, the Senedd signed off new regulations to taper and then close BPS between 2026 and 2028 as Wales shifts to the Sustainable Farming Scheme, underlining that 2026 will be a year of transition on both payments and process.