Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the Rural Payments Agency to resolve the backlog of 2015 Basic Payment Scheme payments.

I have regular discussions with the Rural Payments Agency on the progress of Basic Payment Scheme payments.

As of 3 July 86,760 (99.6%) farmers have received a payment on their 2015 BPS claim. The Rural Payments Agency continues to focus on making top up payments to those farmers who have already received a bridging payment.