2nd Special Report - Common Agricultural Policy: payments to farmers: Government response to the Committee's Fifth Report of Session 2015-16

This is 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".

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error