MP calls for a fairer Rural Payments system for local farmers

After meeting with local farmers from around South Lakeland on Friday, local MP Tim Farron is today calling for a change to the Rural Payments system to prevent the hardship of delayed payments in 2010.

Tim spoke with local famers to discuss the challenges facing the farming industry on both a local and national level. The Rural Payments Agency was a key theme of the meeting, following the delay in Rural Payments to local farmers in 2010.

After last year's satellite mapping complications in Cumbria and Lancashire, farmers across the South Lakes were some of the last to receive their payments, waiting up to 4 months to receive this vital part of their income. As a result, Tim is calling on the Rural Payments Agency to ensure that those who were the last to be paid in 2010 are the first to receive their payments in 2011. Furthermore, Tim believes that those whose payments are complicated should be given a partial upfront payment to prevent them falling into hardship.

Commenting, Tim said; "The Single Farm Payment ensures that local farmers are able to continue to provide food for our tables and to protect our environment. However, when these payments are delayed this can have a serious impact on our local farmers.

"I have called on the Rural Payment Agency to consider the impact these delayed payments can have on a farmer's income, and to compensate for this hardship by making those who suffered in 2010, the first to receive their payment in 2011."