Farming News - NFU reveals latest SPS team progress
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NFU reveals latest SPS team progress
The latest data from the Nation Farmers’ Union Single Payment Scheme Team shows the RPA is on track to resolve all top-up payments for 2010, though 40 per cent of earlier underpayment cases remain outstanding.
The RPA said last week that it had resolved all 2010 SPS claims awaiting top-up payments. The agency said in such cases up to 95 per cent of the claim value had been paid earlier in the year and any outstanding monies should either now be with affected farmers or be with them very soon.
However, the NFU team said it is aware of a number of other cases where balance payments remain outstanding. Furthermore, the SPS team revealed there are still a small number of claims where no payment has yet been made for SPS 2010.
The RPA countered that these cases are either affected by Probate or have legal or technical issues preventing payment; the agency said it is continuing to work on such cases.
SPS 2005-2009: Underpayments
The NFU team also revealed that, for some time now, it has been liaising with the RPA over the small number of farmers still awaiting money from earlier scheme years. In recent weeks, the RPA has also been making a number of top-up payments to this group and has now cleared more than 60 per cent of cases. The agency said the remainder are still being investigated.
The NFU revealed some of the cases include monies outstanding for more than one year and may also include overpayments, as well as underpayments. Some have been outstanding for two years or more.
The union said payments being made may have been calculated by the RPA computer systems or manually. The agency should be issuing a correct claim statement, showing the breakdown of the entire payment due for the year in question, alongside a remittance advice slip.
Where the payment made is net of any overpayments, the RPA would in addition issue an overpayment demand letter, with invoices together with claim statements.