NFU welcomes RPA Chief Executive appointment

NFU President Peter Kendall has welcomed today's news (Wednesday) that Tony Cooper has been appointed Chief Executive at the Rural Payments Agency.

Responding to the Defra announcement, Mr Kendall commented: "We are pleased to see Tony Cooper confirmed in his post after over two years in an interim capacity. Whilst the RPA is still some way from achieving an 'excellent' on its report card, I do recognise that Tony has done a good deal of important re-shaping behind the scenes. I wish him well as he continues the push towards recovery."

Referring to the delivery challenges the current CAP 'Health Check' will bring, Mr Kendall sounded a warning note to Defra Ministers: "I have to trust that ministers and senior officials at Defra have genuinely learned the lessons of 2005-2006. I am really concerned that, on top of the administrative changes that will be required as part of the Health Check, Defra should be considering additional cross-compliance measures to offset the removal of set-aside.

"Quite apart from the question of whether mandatory measures are needed at all, integrating them into RPA systems could seriously threaten SPS delivery in 2009/2010."