The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has already surpassed last year's performance on Single Payment Single (SPS) by making more payments than ever before on the first banking day of the payment window.
CLA President Henry Robinson said: “Farmers and land managers rely on the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) operating efficiently in order to run their business. It is positive that the system has been working effectively in the first week after the window for payments opened.
“The RPA must stay focused as it manages the significant complexity of the new CAP rules and the new CAPIS IT system. It is vital that these standards continue to improve even faced with these challenges, or businesses across the countryside will suffer.”
The Agency paid out £1,370,328,624 to 96,669 SPS customers. This equates to 95 per cent of all SPS customers and 91.4 per cent of the total estimated fund value. The target was for 93 per cent of customers and 86 per cent of total estimated fund value to be paid out by 31 December.
Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss said: "Over the last four years the Rural Payments Agency has improved beyond recognition and I am delighted that once again almost all farmers received their CAP funding on the first day of the payment window. I congratulate everyone involved at the Agency in achieving another record-breaking performance in the final year of the Single Payment Scheme.
"Food and farming is an economic powerhouse of our economy, worth £100 billion and employing one in eight people. I am determined to do everything I can to help this vital industry to thrive. That is why we are making the new CAP rules as simple and flexible as possible so that farmers can concentrate on continuing to provide high quality British food."
Mark Grimshaw, RPA Chief Executive, said: "This performance shows just how far we have come in our drive to become a trusted, efficient and effective organisation and I want to thank our people and our industry partners who worked so hard to achieve this outcome.
"It delivers on our Business Plan pledge to continue offering the best service possible to farmers by maintaining our high performance, whilst preparing to deliver on new CAP policies and a new rural payments system next year.
"If farmers want to be paid as early as possible next year, then I would urge them to register on the new rural payments online service as soon as invited to do so. That’s because for this, the first year of Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), there will be lots to do as we gather new information and ask farmers to check that the details we hold are still correct. Once all their details are correct on our new online service it will be a lot quicker to apply in future years."
