On Monday, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) announced that the online rural payments service had opened to allow farmers and other claimants to begin their applications for the 2016 Basic Payment Scheme.

Claimants can now check and change their personal and business details on the site. RPA said that farmers and agents will be able to complete their declarations and submit applications from mid-March onwards.

However, around 15,000 payments are still outstanding from the 2015 year. Last week, two separate reports from government committees made scathing assessments of the delays and called on RPA to commit to measurable targets for the next scheme year.

Last year, the deadline for applications was pushed back after the Agency was forced into a U-turn over its ‘digital by default’ policy by IT issues affecting mapping aspects of the process, and reverted to accepting paper applications.

Commenting on Monday, RPA chief executive Nick Grimshaw said,  “We have developed the Rural Payments Service for 2016 so it’s now possible, for the first time, to see and transfer land and entitlements online. Going online and checking details early means information should be updated in time to show on 2016 BPS online applications which will be available in mid-March.

“I’d also like to remind farmers there will be help and support for anyone who needs it throughout the BPS 2016 application window.”

On Monday, the Agency announced that, as of last Monday (29 February), 82% eligible recipients had been paid (71,700 farmers). The Agency said it has been keeping farmers up to date on when certain types of claim will be paid out, though farming unions have been critical of the level of contact with farmers with outstanding claims. An Agency statement promised that “Almost all eligible farmers will receive their payments by the end of March with a few thousand of the more complex cases taking slightly longer, as they did under SPS.”

More information is available from RPA here.