Susan Maudsley, 60, from near Settle, who had expected subsidies in excess of £10,000 in 2005 and 2006, is a striking example of continuing chaos at the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).

The RPA admitted last summer that it was at fault in her case – and yet officials are even refusing to pay out her 2006 subsidy until the previous year has been resolved.

Shadow Agriculture Minister Jim Paice called the case "an outrage" that showed Ministers at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) were still failing to get a grip on the RPA which has come under fierce fire over the late payment of subsidies to thousands of farmers.

Mrs Maudsley, whose son farms beef and sheep on her land, branded the episode "an absolute farce" and said she would love to "go face to face" with former Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett, who is widely blamed for overseeing the disaster.

"All I've got in two years is £89, which makes me very angry," she said. "After protesting that £89 was nowhere near our agent's estimates, the RPA wrote to me last July agreeing that they had got it wrong and promising to deal with it.

"But I haven't heard anything since, and if I call them up I get nowhere. It's a shambles. If other countries can get it right, why can't we?"

Mrs Maudsley added: "Fortunately, I run a caravan site on the land, so I'm not in dire straits like many others who are struggling and relying on this money to make it through the year.

"I just hope that Mrs Beckett drops in with her caravan one day – I'd love to go face to face with her and tell her what I think of her. She just passed the buck and let someone else pick up the pieces."

Skipton and Ripon MP David Curry, who has been lobbying Farming Minister Lord Rooker and the RPA on behalf of Mrs Maudsley and other constituents, said he had seen "no improvement whatsoever" in the farm payments situation.

"The problem isn't just that the RPA can't sort out the difficult cases, it's that they can't even sort out the simple ones," he said.

"There's no dispute about the facts in Mrs Maudsley's case, so I'm at a loss to see why nothing has been sorted out. Countless farmers are still in difficulty over the scheme."

Chris Windle, of Skipton-based chartered surveyors Windle Beech Winthrop, which handles the claims of 850 Yorkshire farmers including Mrs Maudsley, said: "It's still absolutely crazy at the RPA. Having admitted they made an error they've done nothing to correct it and Mrs Maudsley's having to wait for what we calculate is over £20,000.

"They won't give her a penny of 2006 money until 2005 is resolved, but they're the very same people who are failing to get to grips with the thousands still waiting for 2005 top-up money.

"We've received no updates or anything – and I suspect that there are many others in the same boat as her."

An RPA spokesman refused last night to discuss Mrs Maudsley's specific case. But he confirmed that she was still waiting for both years' claims to be resolved when he said he could "advise we hope to complete the processing of Mrs Maudsley's 2005 and 2006 claims as quickly as possible". The spokesman also insisted that unresolved 2005 cases waiting for top-ups worth more E100 were being dealt with as quickly as possible.

He said: "The RPA has dedicated teams working on 2005 claims that need to be redefined."

n The Yorkshire Post Fair Deal for Farmers campaign aims to put pressure on the Government to sort out the rural payments mess and give our farmers an even playing field with their counterparts in Europe.

Are you still struggling to get your farm subsidy payment? Contact the Yorkshire Post's newsdesk on 0113 2388 427 or email us.


Bungling staff win £250,000 in bonuses

BUREAUCRATS responsible for the farm payments disaster have been rewarded for the last 12 months of ineptitude with nearly £250,000 in bonuses.

Ministers revealed last night that since the full extent of the meltdown at the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) emerged in March 2006, scores of officials have received bonus cheques worth between £10,500 and £500.

While the RPA's overall performance led to misery in the countryside – stressed farmers were forced to turn to loans and overdrafts that cost them at least £22m in bank charges – only one senior civil servant paid with his job for the debacle.

Former Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett and her then top civil servant at the Department of Environ-ment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) found themselves promoted for their handling of the Single Payments Scheme.

In a Commons statement, Defra Minister Barry Gardiner said RPA staff received bonuses of £243,072 in 2006-07 and £249,025 in 2005-06 – for performance in the 12 months including the mishandling of the 2005 claims.

In 2004-05, they were awarded £323,567.

The latest RPA update on 2006 claims said more than 10,000 farmers were waiting to be paid.