Review of CAP Administration: Final Report
SECTION 7: CONCLUSIONS
7.1 This Review has addressed the first three elements in the terms of reference:-
- to review the management administration in Scotland of payments made under the Common Agricultural Policy,
- to consider options for change and improvement in processes and structures, within the EU regime,
- to make recommendations.
The fourth and final element - as appropriate to oversee the implementation of the recommendations - remains outstanding, but by its nature follows completion of the report.
7.2 The analysis responds to the key drivers also specified in advance. To a greater or lesser extent, all of these drivers imply change to existing procedures. The general impression is that while such procedures have broadly met requirements hitherto, increasingly they will neither meet future requirements nor provide the standard of service which is increasingly expected, or required under legislation.
7.3 Customer care was identified as a weakness - despite a range of action in response to the Red Tape Review. Systems are still perceived as being laborious, difficult and cumbersome, with too much emphasis on penalties and the need to fulfil detailed rules to the letter. In most instances the latter cannot be avoided, since they reflect EU legislative requirements, but as reflected and recommended in Section 3 on Communications, External and Internal, much more can be done to improve the standard of service offered.
7.4 A key feature in improving service to farmers, is the move to electronic service delivery. This is also the key to significant reductions in administrative costs. While a programme of provision of electronic services is well advanced, uptake remains poor. A high level of uptake is of course crucial in capturing the further benefits - both improved service to customers and reduced administration cost. The recommendations of Section 4 of the Report therefore concentrate heavily on improving uptake.
7.5 A further important element in efficient and effective administration of the CAP Schemes, is an appropriate structure and organisation. While the Review found that radical re-organisation or structural change was not merited in terms of requirements of the business, a number of key shortcomings in business decision making and internal communications were identified. The recommendations of Section 5, while not radical, are nonetheless important in addressing these shortcomings. Continuation of an Area Office structure round Scotland was identified by producer stakeholders as important in the whole process of external communication. Having said that the uptake of electronic services is also identified as important in the structure of delivery ie the balance of activity carried out at Area Office as opposed to HQ or other single sites. An important recommendation, therefore, is that this matter be kept under review - with decisions largely governed by electronic service uptake.
7.6 Closely allied to the structure and organisation is the need for better management information particularly in relation to costs. The new system set up, and reported at Section 6, provides a sound basis both for target setting and for effective senior input into the overall management, focus and direction of the administration work through time. This is important in current circumstances, given the tendency for policy to move away from more generic support systems towards more targeted and specific systems - which as Section 6 indicates are much more expensive to administer.
7.7 Finally, the new organisation is also designed to address audit and financial control issues. While the review found no systematic weaknesses in this area, more sophisticated procedures are being introduced all the time and there is evidence of lack of clear ownership of some of these. The new CAP Schemes Board will be responsible for ensuring clear ownership of such issues and in providing reporting lines through to senior management.