Thousands of farmers still waiting for BPS payments

Thousands of farmers still don’t know if they will receive their full BPS payments in the next few days or have to rely on bridging payments.

Farmers Weekly understands the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) had a big push towards the end of last week to get as many of the 3,000 outstanding payments as possible out before the 31 March deadline.

That money will not arrive in bank accounts until later this week, by which time it will be clearer how many applicants are in line to receive bridging loans.

See more: BPS 2017: How to apply

The RPA has indicated that bridging loans, worth 75% of the total claims, will be sent out “from the beginning of April”, to those claimants who have not received their BPS.

It is expected that this will apply to well over 1,000 producers.

Still waiting

An RPA spokesman said: “We understand how important BPS payments are to farmers and are working hard to get money into bank accounts as quickly as possible.

“That’s why we will be issuing bridging payments for eligible farmers who have not received their full BPS 2016 payment by the 31 March.

“We will make bridging payments based on our payment records and will send farmers a remittance advice noting this as a ‘bridging payment’.”

The RPA says it has paid 96% of farmers, surpassing its target to pay 93% of farmers by the end of March.

It says more than 83,000 farmers have now received 93%, or £1.56bn, of the total fund value.

The RPA announced at the end of January the 93% target had been met early. However, this means only 3% of payments have been processed in the following two months.

BPS Watch – keeping tabs on payments

Ongoing delays in 2015 support payments caused huge cashflow problems, stress and anxiety for thousands of farmers.

That is why Farmers Weekly has launched “BPS Watch”, designed to hold Defra and the Rural Payments Agency to account for their promises.

Our initiative – which will also cover Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – will focus on farmers and feature regular stories and payment updates, as we strive to keep government departments and agencies on track.