Thousands of SP5e forms are still outstanding

Thousands of farmers who applied for a national reserve allocation on their single farm payment form have not yet returned an SP5e form, despite the deadline being Nov 4.

The Rural Payments Agency has confirmed that although it set out 17,000 SP5e forms to farmers in England during the first two weeks of October, only 4225 had been returned by Oct 24.

Johnston McNeill, RPA chief executive, said: “We want to ensure that all NR applicants are given the opportunity to present their case in full, including relevant supporting information.

“However, we need to urgently process applications and farmers can help us make payments as early as possible within the payment window by sending in the necessary information before Nov 4.”