RPA spends £1,000 a week on entertainment

The beleaguered agency has also been accused of offering ‘little value for money’ after spending upwards of £130 million on consultants, contract workers and advisors over the past five year years.

It has also paid out more than £2 million in staff bonuses since 2005.

The figures, which add to a damning Defra review of the agency’s competencies last week, were revealed by Defra in response to a parliamentary question from Tim Farron, Liberal Democrat MP for the rural constituency of Westmorland and Lonsdale in Lancashire.

Mr Farron said the data threw a fresh light on ‘the wasteful legacy of the Rural Payments Agency under the previous Labour government’, although an RPA spokeswoman said costs were being scaled back under the new administration.   

Entertainment costs, which relate to refreshments for meetings at all RPA sites, have been cut in half since 2006, but Mr Farron said they were still too high.

“Farmers up and down the country will find it hard to stomach the fact that the RPA were throwing away nearly £1,000 a week on entertainment at a time when many farmers were left counting the pennies as a result of the RPA’s ineptitude.

“Questions must also be asked as to exactly what sort of ‘advice’ the RPA were getting from their consultants. Given that over five years they wasted nearly £130 million, it’s safe to say it wasn’t advice on taxpayer value for money,” he said.    

The figures may come as little surprise after a Defra review concluded last week that the agency, which hands more than £2 billion to farmers every year, was ‘poorly run and unfit for purpose’.

The review has heralded a shake-up of the agency.

Two weeks ago RPA chief executive Tony Cooper resigned and last week it was confirmed the chief operations officer, Steve Pearce, and finance director Robin Moulson would depart when their temporary contracts expire in the autumn.

Jim Paice, the Farming Minister, has taken over the reigns of the agency and pledged to ‘deliver improvements’.

An RPA spokeswoman said efficiencies were already being driven through the body which has reduced its running costs by 22 per cent over the last two years. The agency has also committed to reduce expenditure on contractors and recruitment in its 2010/11 Business Plan.

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