The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has set out its performance targets for 2012/13 and aims to build on the recent figures for the Single Payments Scheme (SPS).
Pledges include a minimum of 91 per cent of SPS claimants receiving funding by December 2012 and achieving an 80 per cent customer approval rating across the year.
In 2011/12 RPA said it turned in its best-ever performance on SPS payments, paying out 95.4 per cent of the fund to 96 per cent of claimants by the first week of March - three weeks ahead of schedule.
Chief executive Mark Grimshaw said: “Farmers and food producers rely on RPA support to make their businesses more competitive and, thereby, our rural communities more sustainable. For their sakes, there will be no let-up in our drive to improve performance for our customers and the tax-payer in 2012/13.“
The plans also reveal what will be achieved in year one (2012/13) of the RPA’s five year strategy that was first announced in February. These include strategic improvements in preparation for Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms.
Country Land and Business Association (CLA) president Harry Cotterell has welcomed the RPA’s business plans. He said: “The RPA has greatly improved and is now starting to work with farmers rather than against them. This business plan is very welcome and presents a confident strategy on how they will deliver a better service to support British farmers and food producers, especially when dealing with new CAP schemes."
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