The NFU has said the Rural Payments Agency must pay over 90 percent of BPS claims by the end of December as uncertainty begins to surface over the agency's effectiveness of getting payments out on time.
A lot of uncertainty remains for many farmers ahead of the opening of the BPS payment window this Friday (1 December).
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has promised to pay over 90% of claims by the end of December.
It follows news of the chief executive of the RPA publicly acknowledging the agency's shortcomings on how it manages farm support payments.
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.
But the NFU is hoping the mistakes of the last few years are not repeated, where some farmers have been waiting for their past payments for months.
The farming union on Wednesday (29 November) set out three key asks for the agency to follow, including payments made out to over 90% of claims by the end of December, as promised.
The NFU has asked the RPA to identify those who will be not paid before the end of December and ensuring bridging payments are given to those claimants.
Lastly, it says the agency's must address the problems with claims in previous BPS years, putting in more resource to solve these issues quickly.
'Uncertainty remains'
The NFU has said a lot of uncertainty remains for many farmers ahead of this payment window, particularly in England where there has been no commitment of early delivery of payments.
Welsh and Scottish farmers have heard in recent days from their RPA equivalents giving certainty of early payments.
NFU Vice President Guy Smith said this is a "crucial time of year" for farmers and the RPA cannot leave claimants from England behind.
“We have emphasised the need for slick payment delivery once again to the highest levels of the RPA and Defra. But uncertainty remains,” Mr Smith explained.
“The RPA has set out its own targets, knowing its resource and ability well enough by now, so we are expecting 90% of claims will be paid at the very least. As ever we call on Defra to make sure its agency, the RPA, has the resources and functioning IT to deliver BPS effectively.”
'Common sense'
He said it is "common sense" that those who don’t fall in that minimum of 90% should be able to expect a bridging payment. He said the RPA need to make those people aware of that.
Mr Smith continued: “Addressing the problems of previous years is something I wish I still didn’t have to deal with for this is well overdue. The RPA is dangerously close to compounding problems with payments by not solving the backlog of issues that farmers time and time again are highlighting to us. This does need resources from Defra to solve at this late stage.
“There are the ongoing concerns around the impact of erroneous mapping that has superseded data that was used as the basis of the 2017 claim and considered correct by our members.”
Farmers will see a boost in their basic payments this year after farming minister George Eustice increased entitlement values and greening rates.
Coupled with the favourable BPS exchange rate confirmed in September, basic payments will be worth 25% more on average this year, compared to 2015.
