Memorandum submitted by HSBC Bank plc
(RPA 02)
RURAL PAYMENTS
AGENCY: INVITATION
TO COMMENT
Further to your letter of 3 November requesting
information to support an investigation being undertaken by David
Taylor MP and Roger Williams MP, I am pleased to provide the following
comment.
— While we are aware that the
RPA is unable to make payments under the Single Payment Scheme
at the start of the payment window we are not able to comment
on the reasons for this, the technical and IT issues involved
or the impact the RPA's own change programme may have had.
— We can confirm that that the
delay in making the payments will have an effect on farmer cash
flow patterns. In the expectation that all eligible farmers will
receive their payments by the end of June 2006 we would expect
to provide virtually all our customers with the necessary additional
banking facilities to bridge this gap.
— We would not expect to see any
marked change in the levels of bankruptcy as a result in the delay
in making the payments for our own customers. At worst we would
be able to count the number of likely cases on the fingers of
one hand.
— We do not have the data necessary
to make a precise calculation but would estimate the delay in
making the payments will cost UK farmers approximately £10
million for every month after December 2005 until the SFP is received.
This is based on the interest value on a total payment of £3
billion.
Steve Ellwood
Head of Agriculture
November 2005
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