Head of Rural Payments Agency is finally axed (From Gazette & Herald)

Head of Rural Payments Agency is finally axed

I HAVE no doubt that loud applause rang round the Chamber of the House of Commons last Thursday when Margaret Beckett announced that she had removed Johnston McNeill, the chief executive of the RPA, from his post and there would be hollow echoes of those cheers around the rest of the country.

I, for one, was appalled when I saw his original appointment to head up the Government Agency which was meant to introduce the Single Payment Scheme with speed and efficiency but which, in the end, has only produced a catalogue of disasters and broken promises.

Johnston McNeill, I am afraid, failed the agricultural industry just as he previously failed the meat hygiene service.

The final straw that broke McNeil's back was his admission that the bulk of payments are not now likely to be made by the end of March.

This compares to Wales and Scotland where not only have farmers received a hefty advance last December, but their administrators have declared they will meet the target of March 31 for paying the balance of the money.

The newly-appointed chief executive of the RPA will be Mark Addison who has previously been acting Permanent Secretary, as well as Defra's director general of operations and service delivery, and who is described by Ms Beckett as having "outstanding experience and abilities" - he will need them.

In an attempt to wash over the debacle, Ms Beckett has announced there will be a full review of the RPA and its functions. What a shame this couldn't have been done a year ago.

If we behaved in business like the Minister and her team we would no longer be operating and neither should she.

Current SP payment position

As of March 14, the RPA had paid some 7,500 claims which approximates to six per cent of the total. Bearing in mind that these early payments will be for the simpler validated claims, the prognosis is not good for the rest of us. At current rate of progress it is going to be early June before final settlements are made for the 2005 claims which is disgraceful.

On a practical note there are quite a lot of errors filtering through the system and if you have any doubts about your Entitlement Statement please take advice.

Entitlements and RLE 1 forms

There has been a lot of confusion over the transfer of Entitlements and we were getting calls before the weekend of farmers having been told by the RPA that March 19 was a crucial date if they wished to effect a transfer.

As far as I know this is incorrect and here are some pointers on this particular subject:

If you are struggling for time then RLE 1 forms can be collected from the local RPA office at Northalleton.

The RPA office at Northallerton will be open on Saturday, April 1, and Sunday, April 2, from 8.30am to 5pm.

To make an effective transfer the RLE form must be lodged with the RPA at least six weeks prior to the effective date.

So that means if you wish to make a claim for the 2006 season on May 15 you need to hand over the form to the RPA by Sunday, April 2.

The March 19 date has become confused because of the interaction with the 10-month rule. To my mind it is a technicality and can be overcome but if you are worried, again seek advice.

There are ways round this by putting into place temporary occupational tenancies so the 10-month period can start earlier than April 30.

If you use an agent to do your work, then you will need to sign a new authorisation form (SP9) as the RPA has decided not to allow the 2005 authorisations to stand!

Argentine beef crisis

The Argentine President announced last Wednesday that beef exports would be suspended for 180 days because there was basically not enough for their own people to eat. He was critical of the beef industry saying, "We are not interested in exporting at the expense of the Argentine people's hunger and their pocket books".

Last year beef exports from Argentina rose to a record 596,000 tonnes and clearly there is a lot of unrest at their own domestic dinner tables.

What I fear is that our increasing dependence upon imported meat can be subject to the same type of arbitrary decision at any time in the future.

When will our Government realise there has to be a viable agricultural industry in this country?

The epidemic that never was

Do you remember Wednesday, March 21, 1996? This was Black Wednesday when Stephen Darrell announced the possible link between BSE in cattle and CJD in humans.

There followed a period of total panic when top BSE scientists led by Richard Lacey predicted a million dead by 2016. A decade on and having wasted £4 billion on slaughtering healthy cattle we still do not know the causes of the two diseases.

What we do know is that only 150 people have died and the incidence curve has declined virtually to zero.

Casualty stock

The constant flow of red tape never seems to make our lives easier and an incident at Monday's market demonstrated one small but wasteful consequence.

A black heifer was standing in pens awaiting sale with its own social group when something must have happened and its leg was broken right down on the bottom joint.

Because of the accident it was deemed to be a casualty and under the new regulations all casualties over 24 months of age have to be brain stem tested to see if there is any trace of BSE.

As by this time it was early afternoon the only abattoir with brain stem testing facilities had ceased work for the day.

In another part of the regulation it states that the brain cell has to be taken within two hours of slaughter. We could therefore do nothing else but humanely dispatch the heifer and throw it in the bin. It really is total wasteful nonsense.

MHS strike

I have just got notification from the MHS that their Unison members intend taking industrial action next Tuesday, March 28, and that it will inevitably lead to some abattoirs being affected.

I delved a little deeper and find it hard to accept that the decision to strike was taken by a 79 per cent majority on a 28 per cent turnout. This means that the Union is prepared to put our meat industry at risk on a 22 per cent mandate of its membership, is that really democracy?

Market report

A fine show of quality cattle met a firm trade from throughout from the usual cross section of six-day status buyers. Forward 136 cattle, including 36 bulls and 16 cows. 2,227 sheep including 432 ewes. Light steers to 135p G I Marwood, Harome, ave 112.6p; heavy steers to 126p J L Gray, Grindale, ave 114.5p; light heifers to 136p J L Gray, Grindale, ave 121.9p; medium heifers to 122p G I Marwood, Harome, ave 104.3p; heavy heifers to 148p G I Marwood, Harome, ave 114.5p; light bulls to 121p J & A M Craggs, Ebberston, ave 110.4p; heavy bulls to 119p J & A M Craggs, Ebberston, ave 109.2p; black and white bulls to 97p D Kirby Ebberston & W Nattrass, Lockton, ave 88.6p; black and white cows to 83p J & K Gibson, Muston, ave 63.97p; standard hoggs to 128.9p P Goodwill, Howthorpe, ave 114.6p; medium hoggs to 130.9p C Southwell, Burton Fleming, ave 118.2p; heavy hoggs to 130.4p D Shepherdson, Wykeham, ave 113.8p; overweight hoggs to 113.2p P Clarke, Farlington, ave 106.6p; ewes to £65 L Clubley, Middleton on the Wolds, ave £45.20.

Updated: 09:12 Wednesday, March 22, 2006