The RPA reports to be working well and is in operational/processing mode. The focus at present is on payment processing and to process CS applications ahead of the new agreements beginning on 1 January 2021. The RPA aims to get as many agreement offers out by the end of this year as possible.
Payment performance has improved, with most historic payments (pre-2019) now cleared and more than 99% of 2019 payments made. The RPA has processed a good percentage of CS and ES payments for this year ahead of the payment window opening this December, making progress on last year’s figures.
Defra and the RPA are working on the transition period, currently determining what changes are able to be implemented from 2021 for the CS offering and projections for the likely future demand of CS. The NFU is feeding into this work.