Farmers are urging the Rural Payments Agency to simplify the BPS application process magnified this year by erroneous mapping changes, inaccurate hedge data and general delays.
The NFU conducted a survey of its members which shows that for the second year running farmers have experienced issues in applying for their Basic Payment Scheme.
It has shown that nearly half of its members (48%) struggled to submit their claims with ease.
Farmers have experienced significant delays in getting assistance over the phone from the RPA, as well as concerns about changes to their land parcels leading to consequent anomalies.
The NFU has now called for an increase in support to applicants to address ongoing communications failures.
Commenting on the findings, NFU Vice President, Stuart Roberts said the survey shows farmers "struggled again" this year with mapping and rule changes.
“There also remains some underlying clear messages from our members of the need for better communication during the application, processing and payment stages,” Mr Roberts said.
“The theme of communicating better was top of the agenda when I met with the new RPA Operations Director Andy King last week and we both agreed to work together to ensure improvements are made to communications going forward.”
Online frustrations
The survey also showed a continuing trend towards online applications, which helps the RPA process claims.
However, some farmers are struggling to communicate online to the RPA the many aspects of their claim, forcing some to submit paper letters.
The NFU has thus called for the RPA to introduce an option to submit supplementary documents via email next year.
Mr Roberts added: “Many members this year have needed to submit paper mapping changes or produce covering letters to explain many aspects of their claim. All this additional information submitted by post puts further strain on stretched RPA resources.
“The ability to email the RPA supplementary documents would be a good step forward for next year. Being able to get through easily on the phone or perhaps an improved electronic correspondence system would also help members and the RPA alike.”
'Problem areas'
The survey follows the release of statistics earlier this year showing "problem areas" in the RPA's performance, which led the NFU to urge the agency to "think differently".
The NFU’s annual BPS survey, released in January showed a substantial amount of farmers awaiting payments or complaining of incorrect payments.
The farming union said the survey is an opportunity to directly urge RPA Chief Executive Paul Caldwell to deal with "problem areas".
The survey showed that 86% of farmers said they had been paid from BPS 2017. However, 4% of these said they think they have been paid incorrectly.
It highlighted that 74% of unpaid farmers from BPS 2017 have not received any reasons from the RPA for non-payment.
The survey also showed that 5% of farmers still have outstanding problems from BPS 2015 and 9% from BPS 2016.
