More than 80,000 (93%) farmers in England have now received their 2016 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) money.
This means the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has paid 93% of eligible claims more than two months ahead of its end of March target.
The payments are worth £1.48 billion and include a range of 2016 BPS claim types and sizes, including cross border, young farmer, those inspected and farmers with common land.
Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom said: “I know how important these payments are to farmers and I am pleased that the RPA is ahead of schedule meeting their target of making 93% of payments well before the end of March.
“This is good progress. However I am very clear that the Agency will remain fully focussed on paying all remaining eligible claims as quickly as possible.”
Important for farmers
BPS Operational Delivery Director Paul Caldwell said: “We know how much these payments matter to farmers and the progress made so far underlines our commitment to getting money into bank accounts as quickly as possible.
“We’ve worked hard to make sure farmers receive their payments, but we know there is still more work to do. I remain absolutely focused on ensuring the Agency continues to pay every eligible claim.”
The RPA has also placed some outstanding BPS 2015 claims on hold until the bulk of this years’ have been issued.
The National Farmers Union has continued to highlight issues with BPS 2015 claims. Although many of these have been resolved, the Union says that 'far too many' farmers, where there has been a complex claim or questions about the land data provided, have still not received their full 2015 claim or answers to their questions.
