The chief executive of the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has publicly acknowledged shortcomings in the agency on how it manages farm support payments.
At this week's Northern Farming Conference (8 November), Paul Caldwell warned that it will take time to improve the way the agency handles the payments, but said every decision he has taken has been about getting the most money out to the most farmers as possible.
Mr Caldwell said the RPA is now working through “legacy” issues from the difficult opening years of the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS).
He has promised at least the same level of performance as last year, which he said was much improved on 2015.
Paul Caldwell was made the permanent Chief Executive of the RPA in July, after the previous head, Mark Grimshaw, announced his resignation in January after more than six years in the job.
Mr Grimshaw was the target of severe criticism and has been held responsible for late BPS payments.
The RPA's IT systems were quickly put to blame, used to administer payments. It meant approximately 12,500 farmers were waiting for payments worth a total of £300m four months after the first payment window opened.
60 farmers still awaited payments they were entitled to two years ago in August this year.
Nevertheless, farmers are now waiting just three weeks before this year's BPS payments are due to start in England, on 1 December.
Frustration
Mr Caldwell admitted to the conference that customer service had to improve, which led to frustration for many farmers as a result of inaccurate payments made by the RPA.
He explained: “I understand entirely the importance of timely payments. I understand that it is all about cashflow.
“One of my commitments is to make sure that our decisions – when we take them – are based around what it is that gets the most cash out to the most people as quickly as possible.
“I also recognise that in making sure that we are getting those payments out the door quickly can sometimes feel like we are not listening and despite our efforts it has taken a lot longer than I would have liked to be able to stabilise that position.
“I have gone on record as saying that our performance this year should match that of last year.”
