Mark Grimshaw, the newly-appointed CEO of the Rural Payments Agency, spoke at NFU Council this morning.
Mr Grimshaw, who took over the role in January, spoke openly about the problems of the past and the challenges the agency faces in the future.
It was a determined and candid presentation, which he began in a light-hearted manner, asking Council where the nearest exit was. This helped to break the silence of a packed meeting room.
Mr Grimshaw spoke about his background in RAF engineering, at Cable and Wireless and his years at the Child Protection Agency. "Customers have always been at the heart of everything I've done," he said.
And after years of change at the top of the RPA, he was keen to point out that he was there to stay by taking on the role of a permanent Defra director. He said: "I recognise that one of the key failings of the RPA in recent years was the lack of permanency in the leadership. I have appointed a customer director for the main board of the agency - putting the customer at the heart of everything we do starts at the top."
"We have listened to criticism and we are putting things right, we will be making some real improvements over the next few years. There will be no sugar-coating of the tough issues, I will ensure everyone at the RPA delivers."
He announced that he would be working on a five-year plan for the agency, talking to farmer representatives and organisation as part of the process.
Questions were asked by many members, two of whom had still not received their SFP this year.
On 2011 scheme payments, he said: "I'm not in a position to commit to specific targets, but we'll be setting realistic expectations for our customers based on feedback and discussion with stakeholders. We want to start to put the legacy issues behind us while keeping the European auditors on side.
"We will aim to resolve outstanding issues on complicated claims much earlier. At the beginning of the payment window the agency will be focussed on processing the large, difficult cases, putting moves in place so that genuine farmers receive their SPS early."
Online transactions were highlighted as the future for accurate and successful claims. More than 31,000 2011 applications were carried out online (double the previous year) and over 80% of cattle movements are now reported online via the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS). Closing, Mr Grimshaw said: "There are significant challenges ahead for the industry and the agency. By working together with can improve our ability to respond to market conditions. I look forward to developing and delivering our plans for the next few years."
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