Rural Payments and Services

THIS NEWS RELEASE WAS ISSUED BY THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT ON 13/05/2015

Performance improved.

Improvements to the Rural Payments and Services website have been set out by Scotland’s Chief Agricultural Officer.

The system will be used to deliver almost £4 billion in Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) support over the next five years alone.

In an update, David Barnes revealed that:

- since the public launch of Rural Payments and Services in January 2015 the online system has been available 99 per cent of the time it should have been and has received nearly 3 million views and has been visited by 49,797 unique users.

- since the start of the Single Application Form (SAF) window in March 2015 a print facility requested by stakeholders has been installed and high priority issues with the SAF - such as inactive land parcels application appearing, problems with land calculation and validation errors, the LFASS check box unticking itself - have been fixed.

- since a major update was installed at the end of last month, the average load time for SAF application pages improved by more than 60 per cent, from a peak of 19.13 seconds in the last week of April to just 7.4 seconds in the first week of May.

The Chief Agricultural Officer said:

“I am pleased to say that Rural Payments and Services has been performing much better recently as a result of action taken by my team to improve the service – particularly the speed at which it runs.

“Since the website launched, it has been constantly monitored by my team who have been working flat out to sort any issues that arise, and I understand the frustrations that farmers, crofters and agents have been experiencing with Rural Payments and Services since the start of the SAF window.

“We have been getting really positive feedback about the major update we installed at the end of April which has massively sped up the system. Feedback is hugely important to us, and my team have been in daily contact with the NFUS and other industry stakeholders, especially farmers’ agents - who are heavy users of the system - as we continually work to improve the service.

“As well as suggested improvements, we have been getting a lot of praise for the new system which is designed to help farmers spot errors in their applications, for example in relation to the new greening rules, before they submit them. This should lead to fewer errors and penalties.

“As the Rural Affairs Secretary has highlighted, the sheer complexity of the new Common Agricultural policy (CAP) is causing implementation challenges right across the UK and Europe – and as a consequence Scotland, along with 15 other Member States, has extended the SAF deadline.

“I continue to encourage as many people as possible to apply online so they can benefit from this – although we realise that the digital route does not suit everyone.

“That is why our implementation plan always included the option of paper applications for those who choose to apply that way. Remember that everyone must register for the Rural Payments and Services website before submitting their form - regardless of whether applications are made online or on paper – and the extended SAF window will close on June 15, 2015.

“As the Cabinet Secretary said last week, this year - unusually - inspections will start before the end of the SAF window.

“Inspections are fundamental to ensuring that CAP money is paid where it is due. Whilst it’s always been possible to start inspections while the SAF window is open, it’s not something we’ve done before in Scotland but we will this year because of the extension to the SAF window.

“The likelihood of being selected for inspection will not be affected by when the SAF was submitted. In line with the rules on how inspections are targeted, for any of the tiny number of businesses that fit the criteria it is simply a matter of when, and not if, there will be an inspection. Therefore there is no benefit in delaying getting your SAF in once it is finalised.

“It’s important to be aware that once a business has been notified of an inspection, it will not be possible to make any further amends to that SAF. So if anyone who has already submitted a SAF thinks they might need to amend it, they should contact their Area Office as soon as possible. Of course, only a small percentage of farms are inspected each year, as required by Europe, and so the vast majority of farmers and crofters will notice no difference.”