Rural Payments Agency deemed a 'failure' as cross-border farmers wait for delayed BPS payments

Farming unions NFU Cymru and NFU have this week written to Mark Grimshaw, the Chief Executive of the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) in England, urging RPA to share data with Rural Payments Wales (RPW).

Welsh and English cross-border farmers are facing delayed Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments as a result of the 'failure' of the RPA to share data in a 'timely fashion' with RPW, the unions explained.

RPW has sent a message to all cross border farmers, for whom they are the paying agency, stating that RPA cannot provide data for English land until January 2017 and that consequently RPW are unable to process their BPS payments. Cross border farmers, for whom RPA is the paying agency will face similar delays in payment, but have not been told of this delay specifically.

'Extremely disappointing'

In the letter, NFU Cymru President, Stephen James and NFU Vice President, Guy Smith, both stress that the current state of affairs is extremely disappointing and worrying for members as winter begins to set in.

Mr James said: “Our members continue to deal with cash flow difficulties and this is highlighted by the recent release of farm income figures in Wales and England, which show three consecutive years of falling income.

“Last April we met with the RPA when we were assured that they would work to improve their sharing of data with RPW in time for the 2016 BPS application year. The evidence to date suggests that these assurances have not come to fruition for the delivery of the 2016 BPS.

The unions are both aware of cases where members are 'suffering hardship', but with RPA data not being available RPW are unable to validate claims and as a result no payment can be made.

'Unfair penalised'

Mr James continued: “Many hundreds of farmers are being unfairly penalised just because their land happens to straddle the border.

“We are seeking urgent assurances from RPA that the issue of validating and sharing data for cross border holdings is being addressed and we want a clear timeline as to when our cross border members can expect payment. This information is vital to help with cash flow and farm business planning.

“We commend Welsh Government for delivering around 93% of BPS payments to Welsh farmers so far, we look for the remaining payments to be made without undue delay. Unfortunately it appears a significant proportion of these are being held up from a lack of the required data from RPA.”

An RPA spokesperson said:

“We understand how important BPS payments are to farmers and that’s why we’re working hard to get money into bank accounts. Learning the lessons of last year, we have taken steps to make sure that we are in a position to share data earlier for BPS 2016 and continue to engage with our colleagues in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.”