BCMSblamed for late livestock aid payments
BCMSblamed for late livestock aid payments
By John Burns
South-west correspondent
THE vice-chairman of the NFUs livestock committee has called for heads to roll at the British Cattle Movement Service because of continuing delays in livestock subsidy payments.
The Rural Payments Agency admitted last week that farmers were owed £63m in 2001 livestock scheme balancing payments. It blamed delays on the need to cross-check claims with information held on the BCMS database.
Devon farmer Richard Haddock said he had got three different stories when he talked to DEFRA, RPA and BCMS about the delays.
"It is clear to me that many of the payments are being held up because BCMS is claiming it has no record of some of the animals on which claims have been made for support payments. The fact is their system was set up for disease control purposes, not for cross-referencing with the RPA."
Mr Haddock, who runs more than 300 suckler cows, said there had been several occasions when he sent batches of calf registrations to BCMS electronically, but no passport was sent for one calf in each batch.
"And we have cows which BCMS says do not exist. We have successfully claimed suckler cow premium on them over the past eight years and in that time they have been physically inspected three times by ministry staff."
FARMERSWEEKLY Inter- actives Talking Point recently carried a series of items on mix-ups and errors on the cattle database run by BCMS.
Several farmers, who tried to meet their obligation to check that that information held was correct, reported inputting mistakes.
The RPA announced this week that after sustained pressure from the NFU and other industry representatives, extra staff and resources would be allocated to clear the backlog.
Some of the work from the Exeter office in Devon is to be transferred to other offices, mainly Newcastle-upon -Tyne.
But the delays are leaving farmers unable to pay bills without incurring extra interest and arrangement fees for extending overdrafts.
One producer who is furious about this is Ian Pettyfer, who runs suckler cows and sheep with his son Jim in Devon.
In a letter to DEFRA permanent secretary, Brian Bender, Mr Pettyfer said the situation had become quite unacceptable.
"To have a delay this year after all the problems and expense we suffered in the past 12 months is quite intolerable. We have a mortgage instalment to meet and bills accruing interest," he said.
Officials at the British Cattle Movement Service were unavailable for comment. *