Download or read book The Rural Payments Agency and the implementation of the Single Payment Scheme written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-03-29 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The EU Single Payment Scheme replaced 11 previous subsidies to farmers based on agricultural production with one payment for land management. The European Commission gave some discretion to Member States over how to implement the scheme, and the Rural Payments Agency (RPA), which is responsible for administering the scheme in England, opted for the dynamic hybrid model which incorporates elements of previous entitlement and new regionalised area payments based on a flat rate per hectare. A NAO report (HCP 1631, session 2005-06, ISBN 9780102943399), published in October 2006, found that the RPA underestimated the risks and complexities involved in implementing the hybrid model, and the IT system was never tested as a whole before the scheme was introduced. It failed to adequately pilot land registration, and underestimated the amount of work involved in both mapping the land and processing each claim, having to rely on often inexperienced temporary and agency staff to clear the backlog. The difficulties were not picked up early enough, neither by the RPA nor Defra, for corrective action to be taken in time, resulting in the RPA's failure to meet its own payment targets. Delayed payments have cost farmers money in additional interest and bank charges, and caused distress to a significant minority of farmers, particularly hill farmers. The cost of implementing the scheme was budgeted at £76 million but rose to £122 million by March 2006, with further cost increases likely. Following on from a previous Committee report on the RPA (HCP 840, session 2005-06, ISBN 9780215027115), published in January 2006 and in light of the NAO findings, this report focuses on aspects of policy decision-making and political accountability raised by the problems with the Single Payment Scheme. The Committee concludes the Scheme has been a catastrophe for some farmers and a serious and embarrassing failure for Defra and the RPA, and Defra's fundamental failure to carry out one of its core tasks (that is to pay farmers their financial entitlements on time) differentiates this issue from the myriad of botched Government IT projects. There is a need for greater expertise within government in the delivery of such complex IT projects, and the report also criticises the quality of advice given by the Office of Government Commerce and the IT system designed by Accenture as the principal IT contractor. Defra determined the policies which it required the RPA to implement and Defra leadership was at fault for accepting RPA statements that implementing the complex hybrid model to deadline was "do-able". The Committee argues that responsibility for this failure goes wider than the dismissal of the RPA chief executive, and ministers and senior Defra officials should also be held to account, particularly Margaret Beckett (the then Defra Secretary of State), Sir Brian Bender, (the former Defra Permanent Secretary) and Andy Lebrecht (the Director General for Sustainable Farming, Food and Fisheries). It concludes that a departmental failure as serious as this should result in the removal from office of those responsible for faulty policy design and implementation, and it recommends that new guidance on Ministerial accountability is needed in the event of such serious departmental failure.

Download or read book Managing and Using Information Systems written by Keri E. Pearlson and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2019-11-13 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Managing & Using Information Systems: A Strategic Approach provides a solid knowledgebase of basic concepts to help readers become informed, competent participants in Information Systems (IS) decisions. Written for MBA students and general business managers alike, the text explains the fundamental principles and practices required to use and manage information, and illustrates how information systems can create, or obstruct, opportunities within various organizations. This revised and updated seventh edition discusses the business and design processes relevant to IS, and presents a basic framework to connect business strategy, IS strategy, and organizational strategy. Readers are guided through each essential aspect of information Systems, including information architecture and infrastructure, IT security, the business of Information Technology, IS sourcing, project management, business analytics, and relevant IS governance and ethical issues. Detailed chapters contain mini cases, full-length case studies, discussion topics, review questions, supplemental reading links, and a set of managerial concerns related to the topic.

Download or read book Annual Report and Accounts written by Great Britain. Forestry Commission and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 576 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Annual Report written by United States. General Accounting Office and published by . This book was released on 1958 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Financial Report of the United States Government written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Model Rules of Professional Conduct written by American Bar Association. House of Delegates and published by American Bar Association. This book was released on 2007 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.

Download or read book A Second Progress Update on the Administration of the Single Payment Scheme by the Rural Payments Agency written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Public Accounts Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2009 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the third report in 3 years on the subject of administration in England of the £1.6 billion Single Payment Scheme by the Rural Payments Agency and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (HCP 98, session 2009-10, ISBN 9780215542588), and follows an NAO report (HCP 880, session 2008-09, ISBN 9780102963182). The Committee states that oversight of the Single Payment Scheme is a singular example of comprehensively poor administration on a grand scale. With a paucity of good management information in the Agency and the complacent oversight by the Department having acted to obscure the true situation. A focus over the last two and a half years in bringing forward payments to farmers has enabled the Agency to bring its deadline forward by nearly seven weeks, but this is still six weeks off the deadline it had planned and a long way short of the standards set in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Also there has been a negligible attention to the protection of tax payers' interests. The Rural Payments Agency has spent £350 million on a cumbersome IT system that can only be supported at huge cost and which is increasingly at risk of becoming obsolete, with the data held in the system remaining riddled with errors and efforts to recover overpayments having been slow, disorganised and haphazard. The Committee identifies poor leadership within the Agency and a lack of attention by the Department. Each claim costs over six times more to process in England than in Scotland. Further the Department was not able to demonstrate an adequate grasp of the costs of administering the scheme. The Committee states that responsibility rests with the Accounting Officers to resolve this misadministration.

Download or read book Cold Comfort written by Great Britain. Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2009 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report sets out the results of investigation into complaints, using two representative case studies, about the administration of the 2005 Single Payment Scheme in England, including the Rural Land Register. The Ombudsman made five general findings of maladministration: the Rural Payments Agency did not meet the legal obligation to determine entitlements by 31 December 2005; Defra & RPA failed to heed the warning information of their own systems and from the Office of Government Commerce; RPA's and Defra's public statements in early 2006 failed to recognise the internal concerns they had; on 30 January 2006 Defra officials and Ministers considered RPA's position - the best case scenario was 70% of payments to be made by the end of March 2006 and they decided to tell Parliament that RPA would make the 'bulk' of payments by the end of March 2006; RPA was the only body ina position to estimate how much more digital mapping work it would have and its planning for the mapping process fell far short of getting it right. In short the Ombudman's principles of getting it right, being open and accountable and being customer focussed were not adhered to

Download or read book Streamlining Farm Oversight written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-12-12 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) has made some progress in following up the recommendations of the Farming Regulation Task Force, which called for a new approach to the culture of regulation. But farmers consider the rate of improvement continues to be slow. Eighty-four per cent of farmers surveyed believe oversight bodies should co-ordinate their activity more. The cost of complying with regulations is on average around a tenth of a farm's net profit. The NAO estimates that, during 2011-12, nine separate government bodies made at least 114,000 visits to English farms. More than half of these were to carry out disease surveillance and testing and 30 per cent to check for farmers' compliance, at a total cost of £47 million. The bodies inspecting farms often collect the same information separately and there is only limited sharing of intelligence which would help with the better targeting of resources. The current approach will not deliver the scale of change expected by the sector, and contrasts with the progress made in Scotland where oversight bodies have come together to identify redundant activity and cut one in six farm visits. Defra has not collected sufficient data to understand the scale, nature, and effectiveness of English farm oversight activity. It does not routinely collect or analyse data on the overall number and pattern of farm visits, or on levels of compliance across all regulatory regimes. Alternatives to physical inspections might be more widely adopted as a way of improving compliance.

Download or read book House of Commons Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee Departmental Annual Report 2012 13 HC741 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-01-07 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Committee has examined the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) annual report and accounts for 2012-13 (HC 40, session 2013-14, ISBN 9780102985672). Defra is one of the smallest of Government Departments but it has faced among the most substantial budget cuts, which are set to continue up to 2016. Defra relies on a large number of arms length bodies to deliver many significant areas of policy. Ministers must clarify how further budgets cuts of over £300 million over the coming 2 years will impact on the funding provided to these agencies and the ability of the Department to respond to emergencies, exemplified by the flooding over Christmas and the New Year. Among the most significant challenges facing the Department in the next 12 months is implementation of the new Common Agricultural Policy, and there are risks that the introduction of a new digital system for delivering payments to farms will cause problems for those farmers who do not have access to rural broadband. The Committee found that the results of the Defra staff survey revealed an increased lack of confidence in the management and leadership of the Department, issues which must be addressed. Further challenges facing Defra in the coming year include policy relating to bovine TB and badger culling, its proposals on biodiversity offsetting, the introduction of plastic bag charging, and examining the role and potential of GM technology in food production.

Download or read book Draft Marine Bill written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Draft Marine Bill : Coastal access provisions, 9th report of session 2007-08, Vol. 2: Oral and written Evidence

Download or read book Annual Report on Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions 2018 written by International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2019-04-16 with total page 3724 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Annual Report on Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions has been published by the IMF since 1950. It draws on information available to the IMF from a number of sources, including that provided in the course of official staff visits to member countries, and has been prepared in close consultation with national authorities.

Download or read book Annual Report for Fiscal Year written by Commodity Credit Corporation and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Annual Report of the Commodity Credit Corporation written by Commodity Credit Corporation and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Departmental Annual Report 2005 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2005-12-20 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: departmental annual Report 2005 : Fourth report of session 2005-06, Vol. 2: Oral and written Evidence

Download or read book Agriculture Rural Development Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Appropriations for 2016 written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 1606 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Vehicle and Operator Services Agency written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2010-03-11 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report examines the extent to which the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (the Agency) is effective in targeting high risk vehicles and whether its approach to enforcement is appropriate for today's world. The Agency has successfully increased by over 25 per cent the number of dangerous vehicles and drivers that it removed from the roads in recent years. There is scope to do better by bringing the Agency's working practices up to date to reflect current road traffic patterns and the opportunities afforded by technology and working with others. More needs to be done to address the significant risk to road safety posed by foreign commercial vehicles. They appear to contribute little in the way of revenue and pose a particular challenge in terms of enforcing regulations. The Department for Transport and the Agency have not done enough to secure access to HM Revenue and Customs' Freight Targeting Database which would allow the Agency to target non-compliant vehicles and drivers as they enter the country and so prevent them from travelling on Britain's roads. The Agency needs to develop its targeting systems further so that they reflect better the known risks to road safety. Likewise the location of staff and checksites needs to reflect more closely current traffic patterns. The Department's new Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) compliance strategy is under development and provides an opportunity to make better use of data to analyse risk and to target resources more effectively.