RPA appeals panels will continue
This article helpfully factually reports
“The Rural Payments Agency’s (RPA) Independent Agricultural Appeals Panels will continue to operate, Farming Minister Jim Paice announced today, after a review found they were a valued service for the farming industry.
The body makes recommendations to Ministers on appeals against the RPA’s decisions on Common Agricultural Policy payment claims. As part of the wider Government programme to review public bodies, Defra began a review of it in December.
Following an informal consultation with industry, the review found that farmers liked having their appeals heard by panel members with practical experience of agriculture and considered them the most effective way of providing impartial advice to Ministers.”
My experience is that outside cracking organisations like Farm Cornwall there is not enough support provided to farmers to manage the downsides of their experiences, where such experiences occur, with the RPA. This is increasingly important in areas where farming relies on off farm incomes to subsidise it, which is separately under threat from issues such as job losses amongst farmers and their partners linked to things like the downsizing of the public sector.