RPA launches five-year improvement plan
Agriculture Minister Jim Paice updated Parliament today on the launch of the Rural Payments Agency바카라 사이트s five-year improvement plan:

Agriculture Minister Jim Paice updated Parliament today on the launch of the Rural Payments Agency바카라 사이트s five-year improvement plan:
바카라 사이트The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is today publishing a plan setting out how the Agency will be transformed over the next five years so that it delivers both vastly improved service to its customers and much better value for money for taxpayers. I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Libraries of the House.
바카라 사이트This is an important turning point for the Agency. The 2013 review of RPA which I published in July 2010 provided an independent, evidenced based view of RPA바카라 사이트s then current state as well as its readiness for implementation of the expected reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (바카라 사이트CAP 2013바카라 사이트). The conclusions offered a stark assessment of the Agency바카라 사이트s capabilities in terms of basic finance functions, customer service, IT, leadership and governance. The negative effects on RPA customers and for taxpayers were as clear as they were unacceptable. I said then that I would not allow that state of affairs to continue and that I would personally drive forward progress by chairing a new Oversight Board.
바카라 사이트Under a new Chief Executive and senior management team improvements are already being seen at RPA. For example, my written statement of 11 January 2012 (col.16 WS) reported that in December 2011 the Agency had made its highest ever proportion of SPS payments in the opening month of the payment window. However, as is made clear in the plan, further work is required in a number of areas (data, controls, IT, organisational structure, systems and people) in order to fully overcome the legacy of the failed implementation of the SPS in 2005. Meanwhile, the challenge of implementing the CAP 2013 reforms, currently under negotiation in Brussels, looms ever closer on the horizon.
바카라 사이트Against that background, the plan comes in two parts. Phase 1, the Strategic Improvement Plan (SIP) involves a series of 45 projects which will run from 2012-2015 and deliver:
- Cleansed data;
- Improved processes and controls;
- Maintained or improved technology;
- Fit for purpose structure and corporate services;
- Better customer service tools;
- Improved people capacity and capability.
바카라 사이트Many of these projects deal with improving underlying processes and data to make RPA바카라 사이트s foundation more solid and the outputs may not be very visible to its customers during the life of the SIP itself. However, these projects will be crucially important in ensuring that the Agency is on a sound footing to deal with the amount of change it faces over the next five years.
바카라 사이트Phase 2, the Future Options Programme (FOP) will take centre stage from 2014-17. The FOP is looking presently at alternative models for delivering some or all of RPA바카라 사이트s business following the CAP scheme changes post-2013. Once the right operating model for the future is established the FOP will assess delivery options, which may include various forms of outsourcing, and then set in train the procurement process; all this activity will take place within the next two years. The objective of the FOP is build on the work of the SIP to provide a much better service to RPA바카라 사이트s customers and much better value for money for the taxpayer.
바카라 사이트Annual RPA business plans will set out in more detail the expected costs and outputs in the year ahead. The business plan for 2012/13 is scheduled to be published in April However, I can confirm now that Defra is investing an addition £21.8 million in the next financial year, with a further £19.1 million provisionally earmarked for the following two financial years. This represents a serious commitment to finally drawing a line under RPA바카라 사이트s unfortunate legacy and putting it in the best possible position to implement the CAP 2013 reforms.
바카라 사이트I will continue to chair the RPA Oversight Board in order to provide the necessary support and challenge to ensure that objective is met.바카라 사이트