The arrival of single payments in the bank accounts of Scottish and Welsh farmers this week must have been a huge relief. But there’s no early Christmas present for the vast majority of English farmers, who will have to wait for weeks for their money.
While the later timetable for English payments was predicted and planned, it still feels like an unlevel playing field in which the English are put at a distinct disadvantage.
The RPA has promised to handle 75% of English applications by the end of January and 90% by the end of March. Yet 80% of Welsh farmers should have had their payment this week, with £183m of claims being processed. The Scottish Government should have paid out £223m this week, covering most producers in the region, and it has pledged to handle 95% of applications by the end of December.
The timing just before Christmas is good for confidence building and planning, as cash flows are tight and there are still many farmers with serious business concerns as they look ahead to 2009.
But the legacy of past RPA misdemeanours still haunts the English system. Few can forget the real pain of 2005/6 when the introduction of new IT and a more complicated payment scheme caused chaos and brought in tens of thousands of new applicants.
Three years on and the RPA still seems to be catching up, despite all the promises. The situation this year certainly looks better than last, but let’s not tempt fate simply because farmers have got such low expectations from the whole process.
No sector should be treated like a second-class citizen and it’s time the RPA raised its game and found a way to match the performance of the Scottish and Welsh.
Gordon Brown has had a lot to say about government doing the right things for small business in times of adversity by paying promptly. His daring rescue plan for the banking sector required fresh, innovative intervention – exactly the kind of response that’s required to inject new vigour into government agencies, too.
The RPA describes its mission as "to be a customer-focused organisation delivering high-quality services". That’s a bold statement for an agency that since its inception has struggled to deliver anything to deadline and in a way that suits the customer.
Belief in the RPA remains woefully low, so some effort to restore faith in the system has to be a priority. Hopefully, the agency will pull out all the stops to honour its pledges and prove us all wrong this time.