DEFRAstrikes delay farm aid
DEFRAstrikes delay farm aid
By Alistair Driver
and Isabel Davies
INDUSTRIAL action has severely delayed support payments to farmers. Only half the farmers in England received arable subsidy cheques in the three weeks since payments started on Nov 16, the Rural Payments Agency has admitted. Scottish farmers are also suffering delays.
The agency usually manages to pay 60-70% of payments during the first few weeks of them coming available. NFU deputy director general, Ian Gardiner: "This is a serious problem and we are worried The real question is whether the delays are accumulating. As each week goes behind the problem could be getting worse."
Former MAFF staff within DEFRA are striking because they are paid less than work colleagues transferred from the old Department for the Environment. The strike is affecting regional offices across the country as well as payments.
Rebecca Kimber, a chartered surveyor with David James and Partners, Somerset, said it took her four attempts to get a reply when phoning the DEFRA regional office at Exeter. She was then told to call back later. She said: "In the light of all that has happened to farmers in the past year I cant believe they have the bloody gall to go on strike."
The Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department said it would be able to make only 70% of its arable payments by Christmas. It blamed foot-and-mouth and a new "payments system". *
In a statement blaming foot-and-mouth and the "development of a new payments system", SEERAD said it would schedule to issue the remaining payments by the end of January 2002.
NFU Scotland policy manager, Peter Loggie, said he was told by officials that the aim had been to pay 95% of aid by the end of year. The fact that only £50m had been paid represented a shortfall of more than £25m of the target, he said.