5th Report - Common Agricultural Policy: payments to farmers
- HC No.
- HC 405-i
- Published
- 10 May 2016
- Items
- 0
- Government response
- Government response published 13 September 2016. Read the government's response ↗
Select committee: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Common Agricultural Policy inquiry
Closed
Opened 23 Jul 2015
Closed 13 Sep 2016
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Inquiry scope (the committee's words)
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) must keep its commitment to paying 90% of farmers their full Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) entitlements in December 2016 after failing to meet its payout targets this year, says the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee in its report on Common Agricultural Policy. Scope of the inquiry The EFRA Committee intends to keep a watching brief over developments in the Common Agricultural Policy throughout the life of this Parliament, with a view towards contributing policy ideas ahead of negotiation for the 2020 CAP reform. With payments under the new CAP system due to be made to farmers from December this year, with the EU Commission seeking ways to simplify the CAP and with complex changes to the mix of direct payments and payments related to environmental measures, CAP, already the biggest item in Defra’s budget, is likely to remain a key topic for the Committee, and the intention is to take evidence and report on individual aspects of the policy as they emerge. The Committee would welcome communications on any aspect of the CAP at any time. Calls for evidence on particular topics, or oral evidence sessions on particular topics, will be announced in due course.
Where it stands
The inquiry is closed, opened 23 July 2015.
The committee has published 1 report, most recently 5th Report - Common Agricultural Policy: payments to farmers on 10 May 2016.
The government's response
Published 13 September 2016.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government accepts that the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme rollout was difficult and that more should have been done to warn farmers, and it sets out how the Rural Payments Agency intends to improve in 2016 while declining some of the Committee's specific proposals.
- On payment performance, the Chief Executive of the RPA has stated an "aspiration" to pay 90% of BPS 2016 claims by 31 December 2016, and new performance indicators are being developed and "will be published shortly".
- The government does not adopt the Committee's call for early part-payments or interest-free loans, saying part payments "require the same degree of checking and verification as full payments", which can cause bigger delays. It points to bridging payments for 2015 claims.
- On communications, the government agrees it must communicate "openly and clearly", and says the RPA will improve its approach, including clearer communication of likely payment times and better-equipped helpline services. Communications targets for 2016 are "currently being developed".
- On extending the 2016 application window, the government says the option was not used in England because extending the deadline "would have increased the risk of processing delays, with no clear benefit".
Reports
All reportsEvidence
- 3 oral evidence sessionsLatest 23 March 2016
Recent activity
- 2nd Special Report - Common Agricultural Policy: payments to farmers: Government response to the Committee's Fifth Report of Session 2015-1613 September 2016, Report published
- 5th Report - Common Agricultural Policy: payments to farmers10 May 2016, Report published
- Oral evidence session23 March 2016, Oral evidence
Reports
Oral evidence sessions
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