Thursday, 29 Mar 2007 08:29
Countryside Alliance: Double whammy of RPA failure
Thursday, 29, Mar 2007 12:00
The Countryside Alliance has warned the countryside faces a "double whammy" after funding for rural projects was cut to pay for the problems surrounding the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).
The environment, food and rural affairs select committee today published a critical report into the RPA's failure to manage the single payments scheme (SPS) for farmers.
The department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) faces fines of up to £305 million from the European Union for its failures and has cut budgets for environmental projects.
Chief executive Simon Hart, said: "It is simply not acceptable that the countryside is expected to pay twice for the incompetence of Defra.
"The secretary of state David Miliband must urgently raise the cost of his predecessor's incompetence with the Treasury. Gordon Brown cannot allow the countryside alone to pay the price for this fiasco."