Miliband’s sps statement to the commons helpful says NFU

The NFU has described as ‘helpful’ the Secretary of State, David Miliband’s clarification of some of the outstanding issues in relation to the 2005 and 2006 Single Payment Schemes (SPS).

In an oral statement to the House of Commons today, Mr Miliband announced the Government will pay interest to farmers on all 2005 payments in England that are outstanding after the June 30 legal deadline.

In addition Mr Miliband indicated his willingness to consider a part payment system for the 2006 SPS. The NFU has been lobbying for this decision since it became clear the 2005 fiasco would impact on the 2006 delivery.

Peter Kendall, president of the NFU said: “It’s good to get an acknowledgement from the Secretary of State that this year’s problems have caused real distress.

“The announcement that the Government will pay interest is welcome in that it goes someway towards recognising the costs of late payments. However, interest at 1% over base bears no relation to the true cost of delayed payments to the farming industry.”