And You Think FSA Has Problems?

Over the past years FSA (Farm Service Agency for newcomers) has made news for having computer problems, for not having the capacity to implement the new ACRE program, for paying the estates of dead people for too long, etc. (Their good work goes unreported, as is normal.)

The British counterpart of FSA has its own problems, as these excerpts from a UK Computerworld article show:

The government agency overpaid subsidies under the Single Payment Scheme by £37 million in 2005 to 2006, and some 20,000 farmers were paid incorrectly, according to the ‘progress update’ report by the Committee of Public Accounts.

A third of claims this year, or 34,499 claims, could still be affected unless farmer entitlements were properly checked, it said.

The agency also overspent by £50 million on a business change project that was intended to meet the new payments scheme, taking total project costs to near £300 million.

“The agency’s service to farmers is still undermined by weaknesses in its IT systems, such as its inability to provide farmers with a predicted amount and payment date to assist them with their financial planning,” the report said.

It is spending £750 to process each farmer’s claim for a subsidy payment, and greater automation of small claims processing as well as better use of electronic payments was “essential” in reducing these costs, the report said.

Its IT system was “rigid and task based”, and was “unsuited” to the agency’s needs, the committee said. The Accenture contract was renegotiated so that from September 2007 to 2009, Accenture will receive a managed service fee of £14 million in total, and risk will be better spread.