On Tuesday, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) announced that it had made BPS payments to  59,000 farmers in England since the Basic Payments window opened at the start of the month.

EU payments worth £822 million have gone out to more than two thirds of claimants, and RPA said the agency remains committed to its target of paying 90% of claimants by the end of the month.  The payments agency stressed that payments have been made to a range of types and sizes, including farm times that struggled with delayed payments under BPS 2015.

Commenting on RPA’s progress in dishing out payments from the £1.68 billion fund, NFU Vice President Guy Smith said, “Although the figure of 68% of claimants paid is encouraging we are mindful [the current total] is only 50% of the money to be paid out. This suggests to us that in terms of NFU members the number paid is going to be much closer to 50% than 68%.

Smith acknowledged that the RPA does appear to be on track to delivering on its payment commitment, but said, “Our concerns remain for those who will still be unpaid by the New Year. We are calling for those so identified, especially cross border and commoners, to be paid a bridging payment if there is no guarantee they will be paid in January. What accentuates the need for this is the fact many commoners are still waiting for full payment from 2015.”