Farmers should record SFP calls
FARMERS HAVE been advised to keep a record of answers given by the single farm payment helpline because of concerns about the quality of the information they are getting.
A number of producers have complained to FARMERS WEEKLY that they have been given contradictory or incorrect information by the helpline.
An adviser who asked not to be named, said: “The level of frustration is rising by the day. They are not answering the questions farmers are asking.”
Writing on Farmers Weekly Interactive, a reader called Jim said: “I have rung the RPA and the Entry Level Stewardship scheme helplines six times with the same question and I have had six different answers or interpretations of the rules.”
Martin Howarth, NFU policy director, said the union had “quite a lot of evidence” that some farmers had been given incorrect advice.
“We are recommending to farmers that anyone who gets any advice, should keep a record of it; if there is a problem later on, the more evidence they have the better.”
“If producers fill in their form and are still uncertain about something, they should also send a covering letter,” Mr Howarth said.
In an open letter to farmers, RPA chief executive Johnston McNeill claimed that the helpline had been set up to deal with “specific questions”.
He insisted that the agency did not have the resources to help farmers complete the form page by page or offer business advice.
“Calls on these subjects will only jam our phone lines and prevent those with specific questions from getting through,” he said.
An RPA spokeswoman told FW that Customer Service Centre operators were using a detailed knowledge base to answer questions and the knowledge base was updated daily.
“Where an operator is unable to deal with a specific query they will arrange for a more experienced member of staff to call back. All new operators are fully trained in the use of the knowledge base,” she said.
The spokeswoman added that the RPA was keeping a record of each caller’s number, duration and date of the call, and the version of the information available at the time of taking the call. It would also have a taped record of some calls taken.
“As with previous schemes, RPA will of course use the obvious error provisions (see below), but if farmers have particular issues about their application, they should send in an accompanying letter setting out the necessary details. Customers are advised to keep a copy of their application form and the covering letter for their records.”
What are obvious error provisions?
Under EU rules the agency is allowed to classify some mistakes in applications as an obvious error.
The RPA says that the obvious error provisions will give them “some flexibility”.
Where the agency is convinced that the farmers acted in good faith and there is no risk of fraud, these mistakes can be corrected without reduction at any time.
Obvious errors include boxes not being filled in or arithmetical mistakes.