I have set the following targets for the Rural Payments Agency for 2007-08:

to have paid 75 per cent by value of valid 2007 SPS scheme claims by 31 March 2008 and 90 per cent by value of valid 2007 SPS scheme claims by 31 May 2008¹;

to process and pay SPS claims within 2 per cent materiality threshold and to put in place other arrangements, with associated measures, to improve data quality;

to process and pay at least 85 per cent of valid claims, by volume, for all non-SPS schemes within ministerial guidelines and 99 per cent within EU Commission deadlines or, in their absence, 60 days of receipt of the claim;

to record 98 per cent of notifications of births, deaths and movements of cattle on the cattle tracing system within 14 days of their receipt;

to demonstrate a continually improving trend in customer satisfaction compared with the results of the February 2007 survey as measured for the year through our quarterly customer surveys and a reduction in customer complaints;

to provide training and development to enhance leadership skills to all the RPA’s senior staff to maximise efficiency and deliver results;

to demonstrate a material improvement in effective joint working with Defra and the Defra network across all relevant interfaces compared with the February 2007 survey, as measured by feedback from key partners; and

successful delivery of improvements covered by Defra investment while maintaining performance across the RPA’s core business activities.

Copies of the 2007-08 strategy and business plan will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

¹ This target is based on the assumption that no partial payments will be made. Defra Ministers will consider the issue in autumn 2007, and the target may be adjusted if necessary. The EU regulatory target (for the UK) of paying 96.154 per cent of total fund value by 30 June 2008 is unchanged.