Bills for overpaid farm subsidy
The fiasco-ridden Rural Payments Agency, dogged with problems since it was brought in to distribute farm subsidy, has said it will bill farmers for money it has overpaid. The fiasco-ridden Rural Payments Agency, dogged with problems since it was brought in to distribute farm subsidy, has said it will bill farmers for money it has overpaid. Although 10 per cent of farmers across the country have yet to receive any money for 2006, the RPA said it was "obliged" to recover overpayments. It is the latest publicity disaster for the agency which has lurched from crisis to crisis since it was founded in 2001. John Brown, pictured, who farms at Bagley, near Ellesmere, said Shropshire was suffering more than most. He said: "While I can understand that the RPA has to chase overpayments, the system is essentially flawed and this is only adding insult to injury." Read the full story in today's Shropshire Star
In January last year the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee published a highly critical interim report into the agency's IT systems and activity and two months later the chief executive, Johnson McNeil, was sacked when a deadline for calculating Single Payment Scheme entitlements was missed.
"Our priority has always been to continue to make payments," said chief executive Tony Cooper. "But we are obliged to recover overpayments.
"It is difficult to ask for further understanding from the farming community. But farmers can help us by making sure forms are correct, signed and getting them back to us as soon as possible."
John Brown, pictured, who farms at Bagley, near Ellesmere, said Shropshire was suffering more than most.
"A lot of the 10 per cent of farmers who haven't been paid for 2006 are in Shropshire because of the cross-border payment problems," he said.
"While I can understand that the RPA has to chase overpayments, the system is essentially flawed and this is only adding insult to injury. Unfortunately we are stuck with it."
In an interview with the Farmers' Weekly, Mr Cooper apologised for the problems but said progress was being made.
"The service we've provided to farmers has been far too hit and miss," he said.
"The external view is - why is it all taking so long? Well, our people now know I'm in a big hurry - and I am - to sort things out and make improvements."
Since arriving in the post last year, Mr Cooper has changed the way the RPA operates, assigning case-workers to each farmer instead of "routine, factory-like processing".
By Farming Correspondent Nathan Rous
