Farming leaders call for challenging 2011 SPS payment targets

The NFU, CLA and TFA have urged Defra MinisterJim Paice and the RPAs Oversight Board to set challenging targets for the payment of 2011 SPS claims.

The industry organisations met with the minister yesterday, Monday, to discuss the need to focus on achieving more timely payments for those claimants that continue to be paid late in the payment window each year.

NFU President Peter Kendall, CLA President William Worsley and TFA National

Chairman Jeremy Walker have today issued a joint statement:

We are told that the RPA is in a better place than in previous years; one way to demonstrate this is to set challenging targets for the payment of 2011 SPS claims. These targets must exceed the performance of previous years if they are to have credibility.

The RPA is continuing to work on outstanding payments for 2010, which we believe is its top priority, and it is actively trying to resolve historic problems.

With the 2009 RLR remapping exercise now behind us, and with many more farmers using SPS online, we see no reason why the RPA cannot deliver accurate payments in an efficient manner for 2011 SPS claims.”