RURAL PAYMENTS AGENCY (RPA)

The RPA plays an important role in delivering Defra’s food and farming agenda. The Agency empowers agricultural and rural communities to create a better place to live. In particular:

• We create thriving rural communities and help enhance the countryside for future generations.

• We understand the value of balancing the needs of farming, food and the environment particularly both at a national, regional and local level.

• We create innovative services that not only deliver for farmers and land managers but also deliver value for money.

• We improve our services, year on year, by trusting and empowering our people and putting our customers at the centre of our focus.

Our people are at the heart of our success – their capability, experience and dedication underpin everything that we do.

What do we do?

• Funding under the transition from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) through:

  • Pillar 1 (Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Trader) which provides support for farmers’ incomes. This is in the form of certain market support measures and also direct payments to farmers in return for carrying out agricultural activities and complying with standards on, for example, food safety, animal welfare, environmental protection and land maintenance.

  • Pillar 2 (Countryside Stewardship; Environmental Stewardship; and Rural Development Schemes) which provides funding for rural development programmes in England. This includes activities for making agriculture more competitive, sustainable resource management, combating climate change and improving quality of life and economic opportunities in rural areas.

  • Specific support measures for farmers affected by the flooding in 2019 and 2020.

• Livestock identification and traceability through the British Cattle Movement Service.

• An assurance programme which focuses on maintaining the highest standards of animal health and welfare; food quality; environmental outcomes; mitigating disallowance while reducing the administrative burden on rural businesses.

• The provision and integrity of English land data of around 2.5 million parcels of land which covers 9.7 million hectares.

• Transformation support the development of future farming post leaving the EU.

• Confirmed Delivery Partner for the end to end administration of ELM National Pilot and the Productivity Grant Service.

• Customer Contact Centre providing a range of services for the Defra Group.

How we do this:

We have around 2,800 people working in 36 sites across the country.

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