Baroness Byford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2015-02-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, following the implementation of the new Common Agricultural Policy information technology system, farmers who are prevented from completing their applications for payments by 15 May will be subject to penalties for late submission.

Lord De Mauley

Under article 13 of EU regulation 809/2014, Member States must require claims to be made by no later than 15 May, and this is the deadline adopted in the UK. Late claims submitted within the next 25 days are subject to a penalty of 1% of the claim for each working day’s delay. Claims already submitted by 15 May can be adjusted after that in some circumstances. We expect that the Rural Payments system, and our provision of support to those who may face any difficulty in applying online, will ensure that all farmers have every opportunity to claim their direct payments by 15 May. There are force majeure provisions for those that fail to submit on time which can apply in limited circumstances.

The Secretary of State is also seeking to make such penalties more proportionate in future.