Agency pays 93 per cent of farmers ahead of schedule
THE MUCH-MALIGNED Rural Payments Agency has announced that it has now paid 93 per cent of farmers their direct support payments – more than two months ahead of its end of March target.
More than 80,000 farmers in England have now received their 2016 Basic Payment Scheme money, the Agency said.
The payments, made under the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy, are worth a total of £1.48bn and include a range of claim types and sizes, including cross-border, young farmer, those inspected and farmers with common land.
Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom said: “I know how important these payments are to farmers and I am pleased that the RPA is ahead of schedule meeting their target of making 93 per cent of payments well before the end of March. “This is good progress. “However I am very clear that the Agency will remain fully focussed on paying all remaining eligible claims as quickly as possible.”
It is the second target the agency has met, having delivered on its promise to pay 90 per cent of farmers by the end of December.
The annual payment window opened on December 1 and the performance is a vast improvement on last year when a botched online applications process led to severe delays and miscalculations, some of which are still being resolved now.
Farming groups and MPs demanded a far better performance, with the agency’s chief executive Mark Grimshaw having been called before the parliamentary Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee to give regular updates on preparations for 2016 payments.
Farmers of common land were among those who were disproportionately hit by last year’s payment delays, but at the start of January the RPA said over threequarters of commoners had received a payment.
Paul Caldwell, BPS operational delivery director at the Agency, said: “We know how much these payments matter to farmers and the progress made so far underlines our commitment to getting money into bank accounts as quickly as possible.
“We’ve worked hard to make sure farmers receive their payments, but we know there is still more work to do. I remain absolutely focused on ensuring the Agency continues to pay every eligible claim.”