Rural Payments Agency

In my written statement to the House on 16 March, I told the House that the Rural Payments Agency had advised me for the first time on 14 March that it would no longer be possible to make the bulk of single payment scheme payments by 31 March, and that in the light of this unacceptable situation a new chief executive would be appointed. I fully understand and share the anxieties that these events will cause to the farming community, and deeply regret that this unacceptable situation has arisen. I received an initial report from the acting chief executive, Mark Addison, on the situation at the RPA on 21 March. There are substantial problems facing the RPA in getting SPS payments out to farmers—much greater than had previously been reported to Ministers. As I know the House and the farming community would expect, speeding up those payments remains the overwhelming priority of Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Ministers and of RPA staff. However, it remains essential that actions taken now in response to these problems are carefully considered but also sure-footed, to avoid making the problems still worse in the future. Mr. Addison’s report identified some initial steps to take, which should enable us to speed up payments without losing sight of the need to manage properly the disbursement of a large sum of public money. These are the initial steps that I have sanctioned: focusing resources in the RPA on making the 2005 payments as fast as is legally possible; removing disproportionate checks from the payment authorisations system to speed up the flow of payments once claims have been validated; prioritising work on the validation of claims to release the maximum value of payments as quickly as possible as opposed to the maximum number of claims, which is an action that will mainly benefit historical customers; centralising key mapping work at the most productive office, Reading; reviewing what further steps can be taken to simplify the process to allow decisions to be made later this week; strengthening the RPA’s capacity in key areas; and changing the RPA’s structure to streamline command and control. The Minister with responsibility for sustainable farming and food—my noble Friend Lord Bach—and the RPA’s acting chief executive have invited senior representatives of the industry to weekly meetings, the first of which took place on 22 March, so that close contact can be maintained. They will also urgently engage with the banks and other key stakeholders. The team at the RPA is central to the success of those steps. I am confident that with Mark Addison at the helm we have the right people in place for the job, and their work and commitment remain key to delivery. The staff of the RPA have worked with absolute dedication throughout, often in the face of considerable difficulties, and I know that the whole House hopes and expects that they will continue to do so.