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The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has called upon the Secretary of State for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, David Miliband MP, to put an end to the
wait for money still owed to England’s farmers.
The group is calling for the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to
learn from its mistakes and end the misery for smaller businesses in the rural
economy.
The FPB’s late payment adviser Paul Gregory explained: "It’s about time someone
stood up and took responsibility for what is still happening to farmers and
firms in England’s countryside.
"Months after the Government made yet another promise to deliver, the wait for
payment continues.
"We have seen a regular pattern of promise followed by failure and it is time
for the cycle to be broken."
A National Audit Office report published in October showed that the failure of
the Rural Payments Agency to deliver last year’s Single Farm Payments
efficiently, is costing English farmers and firms who work with them millions of
pounds in interest charges.
The report estimates the figure is around £20 million, but Mr Gregory thinks
that the sum paid to farmers under late payment legislation should be much
higher.
"Given that the rural economy in England has had had to wait much longer than
that in Scotland or Wales, firms who have been hit by delayed payment should
receive interest for those months at the Statutory Right to Interest to cover
overdraft costs.
"That would mean 8% above base rate, and not the Government’s offer of 1% above
base rate.
"It was this Government which legislated that SRI was the rate that should apply
to late payment.
"The Government has a duty to lead by example when it comes to payment practice.
"This shambles is not just an embarrassment, it is a sign to every large
business in the UK that it is OK to let the little guy suffer."
The Government faces a fine of around £130 million from the European Commission
for its handling of the scheme.
In a debate in the House of Lords last month, Conservative Peer Lord Plumb made
the point that excuses have run out for the failure to deliver payments.
Source:
RedAlert
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