Paice promises to 'revitalise' RPA

Mr Paice said the Defra-commissioned review presented a chance for the agency to put its past behind it and move forward to ensure it can cope with a new CAP payment system post-2013.

Mr Paice will have a key part to play in his role as chairman of the RPA’ Oversight Board, while the agency will also have a fresh management team in place. Chief executive Tony Cooper announced his resignation ahead of the review’s publication, while chief operations officer, Steve Pearce, and finance director Robin Moulson will depart when their temporary contracts expire in the autumn.

Mr Paice said: “One of the themes that come through the review over again is the failure of leadership and management. I have been very critical of the RPA as a Shadow Minister and I have received umpteen complaints from farmers about service they have been given.

“But now I have got the chance to do something about that. This report gives me the basis on which to try to lead the RPA forward,” he said.

He stressed that he would be personally accountable for how the RPA progresses from this point.

 “We have got a report that is critical in a number of ways but it also makes it clear that RPAt is not broken and can be revitalised. That is my challenge as chairman of the board in co-operation with a new leadership team and the RPA’s staff,” he said.

Mr Paice said the key priorities were to give the taxpayer better value for money, including cutting the average cost of processing each claim, and provide a better service to farmers in terms of ‘accuracy and timeliness’.

Mr Paice pointed out that the RPA has made significant progress in delivering payments more quickly in recent years.

He said some steps were already being taken to move the agency forward, such as changing the management, reducing staff numbers and improving financial controls.

But he warned there was nothing that could be done in the short-term about one of the biggest factors in its poor performance – an IT system, which he said was ‘frankly, not fit for the job it is supposed to do’.

With a brand new CAP system coming in in 2013, it would be ‘madness to tear the system up and replace with something that would only be needed for two years’. He indicated that the intention was, however, to overhaul the system once details of the post-2013 reforms are known.

“I’m afraid we are going to have to stick with the current system for now,” he said.

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