Rural Payments Agency: Basic Payment Scheme

Nick's Question on the Ministerial Statement

Nick Herbert (Arundel and South Downs) (Con)

The important thing is that farmers can submit their claims on time and that the Government have rightly taken action to enable them to do so. In learning the lessons, will my hon. Friend recall that a decade ago only 15% of farmers were being paid on time by the Rural Payments Agency? Under this Government, that figure is now 98%, so he should take no lessons from the Labour party.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (George Eustice)

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right; the Labour party, when in government, allowed chaos to continue year after year. We have acted swiftly to ensure that farmers can get their applications in on time this year.

You can read the Hansard of the full debate here.