Farmers failed by Whitehall farce

The Government had little choice but to take control of the RPA. Its mistakes, particularly over the spiralling cost of processing each claim for the payment of European subsidies, have made it a watchword for bureaucratic failure.

The report, prepared for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, is an appalling read and shows how the agency has been unable or unwilling to change.

There are so many reasons this is a cause for concern. The cost of the RPA's work, described last year by the Public Accounts Committee as a "masterclass in misadministation", has run out of control. Today, the impact of such a poor performance is even worse given Britain's austere financial climate.

The impact is also human. At the height of the RPA crisis, thousands of farmers were driven to the verge of bankruptcy because their subsidy cheques were continually delayed.

When these finally arrived, many recipients found they had been underpaid or even overpaid, which meant they faced having to hand back money after it had been invested in the farm.

Stress upon stress has been piled upon farmers who already have to cope with cheap foreign competition, the changing tastes of British shoppers and a previous Government which proved unsympathetic to rural affairs.

The reputation of the RPA has crumbled but Jim Paice, the Agriculture Minister who will chair an oversight board, was right to resist the twin temptations of a new IT system and a re-branding. Whitehall watchers know that such innovations have proved wasteful elsewhere.

Instead, the system will be reformed. There is not long to do this, given the alterations to the Common Agricultural Policy which could be made in two-and-a-half years' time, but it is essential. Mr Paice's career will be entwined with this challenge. If he is successful, it won't just be a boost to his prospects, but to the livelihoods of tens of thousands of British farmers.