Anna Logan is an NFU adviser on the Basic Payment Scheme.
She writes:
And that’s just what we saw when NFU head of policy Andrew Clark, along with Keith Wellings (RPA CAP guidance lead), and myself arrived at Newmarket racecourse on Friday April 24 to update members on BPS, and not to watch the horses!
More of our staff blogs...
Tom Lander, NFU food chain unit - Where next for the groceries code?
Tom Lander, NFU food chain unit - Where next for the groceries code?
Susan Archer, NFU specialist advice team - Answering the call on BPS
Matt Ware, head of government and parliamentary affairs - Counting the manifesto matches as polling day approaches
Ruth Mason, chief food chain adviser - The rise of the discounters...should we worry?
Catherine McLaughlin, chief adviser for animal health and welfare - No 'one-size fits all' on animal disease
The aim of the two sessions was to update members on BPS, making them aware of recent changes to the application process and to run through the BPS application form – highlighting the differences with the old SPS application and pointing out where the pitfalls might be.
Andrew kicked off the presentation, running through the initial findings of our BPS member survey moving onto CAP simplification and the timetable ahead after 2016. I then took over and gave a quick re-cap on how we’ve arrived where we are now, with the new ‘paper assisted’ approach for 2015.
I made everyone aware of all the deadlines for 2015 and that they need to still register for BPS, if they wish to receive their 2015 BPS payment.
I then moved on to the actual BP5 application form, taking members through it section by section. I stressed the areas and subtle differences claimants need to watch out for compared with last year’s SPS application form with also the added complication of greening to take account of.
This took the majority of the time and triggered a huge amount of questions from the audience. It was valuable having Keith there, to hear first-hand of our member’s queries and frustrations.
I hope that everyone that attended these two meetings went away feeling it had been worthwhile and didn’t regret missing two hours they could have spent on the farm.