The Rural Payments Agency
has sent a 2005 SFP cheque for a single penny to a north Devon
farmer, raising questions as to whether the agency is using both
time and resources efficiently.
John Day, who farms 110ha near Barnstaple, Devon, received
modulation remittance advice amounting to £0.01. The cheque, which
cost 38p in bank charges to deposit, came out of the blue.
His 2005 SFP payment, which came to nearly £22,000, was paid in
May 2006. "I didn't know we had anything else to come, as we had
already received one lot of modulation for 2005.
"Some farmers haven't even received their full payments yet, and
the RPA is messing around with things like this. Surely there
should be a cut off point when it is deemed uneconomical to send a
cheque," he said.
An RPA spokesman said it would be "too expensive" to amend the
system. "It is unusual that cheques go out for this little. We have
looked at the cost of changing the system and, because it happens
so rarely, it is more cost-effective to leave it as it is."
But Mr Day doesn't think it's cost-effective. "I have a good
mind to bill them for the cost of depositing the cheque. The
administration must have cost £20-30. I would be surprised if more
farmers weren't receiving top-ups of this kind."
The RPA's remittance advice to Devon farmer John
Day.
Mr Day's MP, Liberal Democrat Nick Harvey, said: "It beggars
belief the RPA would waste public money, time and effort to issue
farmers with remittance advice for 1p, but this is what it has
done."