皇冠体育app

Agriculture Minister Jim Paice updated Parliament today on the launch of the Rural Payments Agency鈥檚 five-year improvement plan:

鈥溁使谔逵齛pp Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is today publishing a plan setting out how the Agency will be transformed over the next five years so that it delivers both vastly improved service to its customers and much better value for money for taxpayers. I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Libraries of the House.

鈥淭his is an important turning point for the Agency. 皇冠体育app 2013 review of RPA which I published in July 2010 provided an independent, evidenced based view of RPA鈥檚 then current state as well as its readiness for implementation of the expected reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (鈥楥AP 2013鈥�). 皇冠体育app conclusions offered a stark assessment of the Agency鈥檚 capabilities in terms of basic finance functions, customer service, IT, leadership and governance. 皇冠体育app negative effects on RPA customers and for taxpayers were as clear as they were unacceptable. I said then that I would not allow that state of affairs to continue and that I would personally drive forward progress by chairing a new Oversight Board.

鈥淯nder a new Chief Executive and senior management team improvements are already being seen at RPA. For example, my written statement of 11 January 2012 (col.16 WS) reported that in December 2011 the Agency had made its highest ever proportion of SPS payments in the opening month of the payment window. However, as is made clear in the plan, further work is required in a number of areas (data, controls, IT, organisational structure, systems and people) in order to fully overcome the legacy of the failed implementation of the SPS in 2005. Meanwhile, the challenge of implementing the CAP 2013 reforms, currently under negotiation in Brussels, looms ever closer on the horizon.

鈥淎gainst that background, the plan comes in two parts. Phase 1, the Strategic Improvement Plan (SIP) involves a series of 45 projects which will run from 2012-2015 and deliver:

• Cleansed data;
• Improved processes and controls;
• Maintained or improved technology;
• Fit for purpose structure and corporate services;
• Better customer service tools;
• Improved people capacity and capability.

鈥淢any of these projects deal with improving underlying processes and data to make RPA鈥檚 foundation more solid and the outputs may not be very visible to its customers during the life of the SIP itself. However, these projects will be crucially important in ensuring that the Agency is on a sound footing to deal with the amount of change it faces over the next five years.

鈥淧hase 2, the Future Options Programme (FOP) will take centre stage from 2014-17. 皇冠体育app FOP is looking presently at alternative models for delivering some or all of RPA鈥檚 business following the CAP scheme changes post-2013. Once the right operating model for the future is established the FOP will assess delivery options, which may include various forms of outsourcing, and then set in train the procurement process; all this activity will take place within the next two years. 皇冠体育app objective of the FOP is build on the work of the SIP to provide a much better service to RPA鈥檚 customers and much better value for money for the taxpayer.

鈥淎nnual RPA business plans will set out in more detail the expected costs and outputs in the year ahead. 皇冠体育app business plan for 2012/13 is scheduled to be published in April However, I can confirm now that Defra is investing an addition 拢21.8 million in the next financial year, with a further 拢19.1 million provisionally earmarked for the following two financial years. This represents a serious commitment to finally drawing a line under RPA鈥檚 unfortunate legacy and putting it in the best possible position to implement the CAP 2013 reforms.

鈥淚 will continue to chair the RPA Oversight Board in order to provide the necessary support and challenge to ensure that objective is met.鈥�