Fears for SPS delivery as RPA mapping chaos continues

THOUSANDS of farmers are struggling to fill in their 2010 single payment forms after the Rural Payment Agency failed to send out correct RLR maps.

Around 8,000 farmers are still without maps - some of those have been inspected and are waiting for their first maps, while others are waiting for edited maps to be returned.

There are also farmers with corrected maps that still contain errors, turning the SPS claim process into a nightmare.

Richard Wordsworth, NFU single payment scheme advisor, said it was ‘an extremely frustrating time’, adding he had received a number of calls from worried farmers.

“The RPA didnt allow enough time to complete the mapping update and there are now some big issues,” he said.

The problems have become so serious the NFU has demanded the RPA speak to its Council when it meets on Tuesday next week (April 20) to give an update on the situation.

Claire Collyer, SPS expert at the Country Land and Business Association, said there was ‘serious disquiet’ among CLA members too.

She said farmers were still receiving ‘corrected’ maps with glaring errors, including one farmer who had been given a plot of land 100 miles from his holding.

She said: “We expected this to be completed by the end of December or January. We are now four months on and the deadlines keeps on moving and slipping.

“When we ask the RPA if they will get the maps out on time or if they have a contingency in place they say everything is fine, when clearly it is not.”

A spokesman from the RPA tried to reassure farmers saying the despatch of confirmatory maps to farmers should not stop them submitting their SPS applications before the May 17 deadline.

“Any farmer whose maps do not arrive before the end of April is asked to check the information that has been pre-printed on their SPS application form using any previous RLR maps, the SPS 2010 Guidance and the SPS 2010,” said the spokesman.

The Agency website now has a list of Frequently Asked Questions to help farmers through their mapping update and single payment applications.

Farmers have also been encouraged to phone the RPA customer service centre to help them make sense of their maps.

The mapping saga began in July last year when Farmers Guardian revealed new maps were being sent out many with glaring errors raising fears it could have serious implications on SPS delivery.

There are now fears within the industry of a repeat of the 2005/06 debacle when just 15 per cent of payments were sent out to farmers by the end of the financial year, leaving many businesses struggling to survive.

16 April 2010