The Rural Payments Agency has fallen short of its pledge

Sadly it is no surprise that the Rural Payments Agency has fallen short of its pledge to make the new Basic Payment to the “vast majority of farmers by the end of January”.  

By January 27 approximately 70 per cent of claims had been made but this represents only about 60 per cent of the total payments, indicating that the majority of claims left to be paid are the larger ones.

The NFU said: “Our top priority is to get money owing paid out to farmers as soon as possible. We are also working with the RPA to try to ensure that lessons are learnt and 2016 sees a far smoother delivery. For the latest on BPS and our work on behalf of our members visit www.nfuonline.com/bps.”

My experience support sthe evidence above in that there was a flush of payments made very early in December to small or simple applications where no changes were made to the mapping information and since then the number of farmers being paid has dwindled with many of the bigger and so called more “complicated” claimants left waiting.

That is not to say the RPA staff are not working hard because I have had emails from them on Sundays, but they are only just starting to process some of the information which was submitted last June.  

One of my recent communications from the RPA was about a plan submitted with the application form which has obviously been lost. I was able to scan a copy of the plan I had retained on file and email it straight back to them, but the plan should not have been lost in the first place and it had taken seven months to discover it was lost.  

This of course will result in a delay in my client receiving his payment and he will not want to pay me for my time dealing with the RPA’s inefficiency.  So everyone seems to be losing out, which is a familiar tale for anyone involved in dealings with the RPA over the years.

NFU vice-president Guy Smith said it was impossible for farmers to run their businesses without knowing when they would be paid, adding: “Defra and its agencies must be more transparent and clear as to when they think this money will go out, rather than hiding behind a veil of confusion.”

In a recent press statement, the RPA chief executive, Mark Grimshaw said: “We understand the importance of BPS payments for farmers and our priority has always been to pay as many farmers as quickly as possible.”

Mr Grimshaw went on to say the RPA is working seven days a week to make payments and that a wide range of claims had been paid to small, medium and large enterprises. He also said claims would continue to be paid as they were checked and completed - let’s just hope those checks can be completed quickly because it will not be long before many will be starting to think about this year’s claim.

James Stephen MRICS FAAV
Partner
Rural Practice Chartered Surveyor, Wells
T: 01749 683381
E: james.stephen@carterjonas.co.uk

My chat with Prince Charles and the Grosvenor Estates manager Edwin Christian

Prince Charles takes relentless criticism and teasing in the media but his work for our countryside has earned my respect.

In 2010 he founded The Prince’s Countryside Fund to ensure a sustainable future for rural Britain and I was invited to its fifth anniversary celebrations at Highgrove, Charles’ country home near Tetbury.

My firm Carter Jonas gives financial aid to this charity which has distributed more than £6 million in grants to 135 projects benefiting 160,000 people living and working in our rural communities.

We are proud to provide this money as part of our support for the farming community and I was impressed by Charles’ profound concern over the current crisis facing our dairy industry.

As well as its normal grant application process, the charity operates an emergency fund for stricken rural communities in times of need, which last year helped farmers hit by the disastrous floods on the Somerset Levels.

During July’s National Countryside Week a further £800,000 of grants was allocated to rural projects across the UK.

Projects funded range from apprenticeships for budding hill farmers, training for young people to gain employment in the rural economy, community transport schemes in isolated rural areas and projects to educate school children about where their food comes from and why the countryside matters.


In addition, The Prince’s Countryside Fund runs a bursary project with Land Rover. All the fund’s projects focus on supporting the people who care for our countryside and make it tick.

Supporters of the fund at Highgrove included TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh, Countryfile presenter Ellie Harrison and former England rugby star Phil Vickery.

James Stephen MRICS FAAV
Partner
Rural Practice Chartered Surveyor, Wells
T: 01749 683381
E: james.stephen@carterjonas.co.uk