Helen welcomes payments to farmers
Helen has welcomed a government announcement that farmers will soon start receiving payments under the new Single Payment Scheme (SPS).
She said, “Many local farmers have been extremely worried that the payments they need would be further delayed. Some faced financial ruin due to the continuing postponement of payments and associated extra costs. [1]
“The Government has now announced that payments will definitely begin before the end of February, with the bulk being made in March. These payments will be made in full and there will be no need to use the proposed contingency system. This is good news for local farmers.” [2]
For the minority of cases which are still unresolved, the RPA has committed itself to their resolution in the shortest possible timeframe.
Helen added, “It’s fair to say the Rural Payments Agency failed to plan properly for the administration of the new system. I know that this has caused a lot of worry to local farmers and I have done all I can to press their case with Ministers. I will continue to monitor the situation.”
Notes
[1] The Single Payment System was introduced to replace a vast number of farm subsidies. The new system is based on farming the land rather than the amount of food produced. Initially its first payment was due in November, but the payment date has been steadily put back. As a result, payments, which can amount tens of thousands of pounds per farm, have been stopped under the old regime, but not yet started under the new.
[2] The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Jim Knight): On 19 January 2005 the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) announced that payments under the new CAP Single Payment Scheme (SPS) were expected to commence in February 2006, well within the EU regulatory window of 1 December 2005 to 30 June 2006. Over the past year, staff at the RPA have worked exceedingly hard to ensure that this expectation was turned into a reality.
At the Efra Select Committee hearing on 11 January my noble Friend Lord Bach made clear that payments would begin, in line with the RPA’s forecast, before the end of February and that an announcement would be made by the end of this month on whether they would be full or partial payments. Having considered the latest progress reports on the processing of farmers’ claims I am pleased to confirm today that the RPA will now proceed to make full payments. The contingency system to make partial payments will not, therefore, be invoked.
The RPA will now proceed to definitively establish entitlements on 14 February, details of which will be communicated to individual farmers within two weeks of that date. This will allow for the trading of entitlements to commence in preparation for the 2006 scheme.
Where 2005 SPS applications have been fully validated, payments will start before the end of February, with the bulk being made in March. In the minority of cases where queries remain unresolved, the validation process will continue beyond March, but farmers may be assured that the RPA will make every effort to complete the task in the shortest possible timeframe.
I hope this statement will provide some reassurance to the farming industry about the progress of the scheme. I want to acknowledge the co-operation and patience of everyone who has made a claim.
Filed under: Uncategorized on February 2nd, 2006
