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Rt. Hon. Sir Alan Beith MPLiberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Berwick Upon TweedWorking for you and the Berwick upon Tweed Constituency all year roundin Northumberland and in Westminster |
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Beith slams administration of Single Payment Scheme as a "misuse of taxpayers money"
October 21, 2009 11:00 AM
Farmers have enough to do without having to spend valuable time dealing with errors and delays in the administration of the Single Farm Payment scheme, says Sir Alan Beith MP.
The Rural Payments Agency and DEFRA have shown scant regard to protecting public money in their administration and management of the EU's Single Payment Scheme in England, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).
Commenting on the NAO report into the administration of the Single Payment Scheme by the Rural Payments Agency, Sir Alan Beith, Liberal Democrat MP for Berwick upon Tweed, said:
"Administration costs have spiralled so that we are in the ridiculous situation where the average cost per claim has shot up to £1,743, even though claims can be as low as just a few pounds.
"I've dealt with a very large number of cases of serious errors and appalling delays in the administration of the scheme.
"It is high time the Government listened to the advice of the NAO and adopted an alternative payment system. A Liberal Democrat agriculture minister in a previous Scottish government set up a payment scheme which has forked far better than the system used in England, with hardly any of these problems.
"This report is a damning indictment of the Government's misuse of taxpayers' money."
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