More on the Rural Payments Agency

"RPA was established in 2001 as an executive agency of DEFRA as the single paying agency responsible for CAP schemes in England and other schemes throughout the UK. We are a customer-focused organisation that pays valid claims accurately and on time, and we work closely with DEFRA on policy decisions to develop and improve our payment delivery.
We employ people at a range of locations: at our corporate headquarters in Reading, offices in Exeter, Northallerton and Newcastle-upon-Tyne and in smaller offices around the country. We look for people who identify with our aims and have specialist skills. Our customer focus also demands good communication and interpersonal skills because people often ring us up who are really, really, dreadfully pissed-off."

RPA website 2008

The RPA have now sent our form back for one of Ebor Forestry`s largest local authority clients for the third time because the legally entitled signatory named on the form doesn`t correspond with their records in spite of the fact that on the same form we have informed them that the legally entitled signatory has now retired and the new legally entitled signatory is Mr X and thus replaces the previous legally entitled signatory who was a Mrs Z and by the way Mr X hasn`t signed part F to confirm that Parts A to E are correct and that Mrs Z is now Mr X.


I of course immediately sent the relevant dog-eared, coffee-cup stained document to the relevant senior officer of the local authority for the appropriate signature so that we can continue playing our bureaucratic games with our chums at Crockery Hill and at least have a go at doing some forestry again.

I am now informed that the bone-headed idiots at L---s City Council (Live it. Love it) have lost the aforementioned RPA Creg001 form and that it never reached Mr X after all and could we send another form for signing.


If only we were on piece work for form filling in.


Has anyone got a black Biro?