Direct line for commoners still waiting for farm payments

Yorkshire has a high number of common land farmers. The Rural Payments Agency has vowed to settle their outstanding payment claims as soon as possible.

Despite a vast improvement in the number of claims settled compared to this time last year, about 550 ‘commoners’ remain unpaid, two months after the payments window opened.

An IT problem which has prevented land maps from being viewed has slowed the progress of commons claims, the Foundation for Common Land said.

The group is continuing to press the government and the RPA to secure improved functionality but in the meantime, to lessen some of the frustration for affected farmers, commoners will be put directly through to the Agency’s expert commons team when they call the RPA helpline.

Julia Aglionby, executive director of the Foundation for Common Land, said: “This is a most welcome development as it has been frustrating for commoners not to be able to speak to someone who understands their claim.”

There is particular concern for the timeliness of payments being made to common land farmers this year after they were among those made to wait the longest for their 2015 claims to be settled and consequently faced some of the worst cash flow problems.

An RPA spokesperson said: “We know how important BPS (Basic Payment Scheme) payments are to farmers and that’s why we’re working hard to get money into bank accounts as quickly as possible. More than 85 per cent of eligible BPS 2016 claims containing a common land element have now been paid.

“Past years have taught us that claims with a greater degree of processing complexity, such as those with a common land element, were likely to take longer to process and pay. Learning lessons from 2015, we have provided a dedicated team to support those who farm common land as we remain focused on paying the remainder of eligible claims.”

More than 93 per cent of all farmers eligible to claim under the 2016 BPS have been paid by the RPA - a performance that represents a major improvement on last year’s scheme which saw thousands of farmers receive late and inaccurate payments.

An interim chief executive was appointed by the RPA last week following the departure of former boss Mark Grimshaw after six years in the job.

Paul Caldwell, formerly the Agency’s BPS operational delivery director, has been placed in temporary charge.