The Rural Payment Agency’s current remapping exercise could further increase the number of outstanding subsidy payments to farmers, the NFU has warned.
The union’s vice-president, Guy Smith, urged the RPA to “up its game” ahead of an “inevitable increase in communications” resulting from the current remapping exercise.
In the past the RPA has used satellite aerial imagery to update its mapping system, and it is understood that errors in its implementation caused processing times for Basic Payment Scheme applications to increase by around a third.
Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Kent were thought to be the areas worst affected.
With concerns that farmers will face similar delays this time around, Smith encouraged NFU members to check their updated mapping in the coming weeks, as the opening of the 2017 payment window approaches in December.
He said: “The stretch on manpower at the RPA is continuing to impact on the service provided to our members.
“Due to a clear lack of resource, many farmers who have been trying to contact them over 2015 and 2016 claim issues going back as far as last spring, are only met with a wall of silence.
“The RPA seems to have undertaken a stealth policy which minimises outbound contact as much as possible. This seems self-defeating as it will only lead to more frustration and further inbound correspondence from farmers, which could be avoided.
“Back in the spring, the RPA launched a payment query form to help manage outstanding 2015 and 2016 claim queries, but our members continue to report to us that they have not seen any activity on the back of completing these forms.'
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