An independent agriculture appeals review panel should be introduced with an independent chair, a review committee has found.
The three-person review committee was appointed last year to review the Agriculture Appeals Act 2001 and operations of the Agriculture Appeals Office.
It found that the panel should be introduced and where reviews of the decisions of appeals officers are sought, such a panel will considerably strengthen its procedures and underpin public confidence in the operation of the appeals office.
It said the panel should consist of five members: an independent chair, the director of Agriculture Appeals Office and three additional members with technical and practical expertise.
Review time
The committee also recommends the Department would report to the review panel on the length of time taken to respond to requests from the appeals office for information and files and also report summarised details of the decisions made on internal reviews by the Department.
This report should present the data annually on a regional basis.
On further reviews, the committee recommends that the current provision for further review "at any time" should be changed.
It recommends that the period within which a revision can be sought is six months from the date of decision by the appeals officer.
Code of practice
Meanwhile, the appeals office should publish a principles-based code of practice in order to provide greater transparency and assurance to stakeholders in relation to the operation and independence of the appeals office, it also recommended.
It is suggested that the office and the Department should consider including commitments to the following elements in the code of practice:
Full information – An appellant should have access to all material which the Department has supplied to an appeals officer, including the Department’s file. Contacts between an appeals officer and the parties to an appeal should also be documented and disclosed to all parties, it said. Conflicts of interest and facility to request an alternate appeals officer – The committee recommends that the process followed by the appeals office in the context of a conflict of interest in relation to any case assigned to the officer should be outlined in the code of practice. Comprehensive report on findings – The report on a finding by the appeals office should be timely and comprehensive in the interest of informing both the Department and the appellant.Communication - The appeals office should put structures in place to ensure that appellants can be advised of the progress of their appeal. Recordings of proceedings at oral hearings - In the interests of transparency, the committee recommends that the appeals office consider recording oral hearings and providing a copy to all parties to the appeals.Reporting arrangements
The committee considers that the director of the appeals office should engage with the farmers’ charter of rights monitoring committee to discuss the suggestions by the office for consideration by the Department and the suggestions for scheme applicants arising from common errors by scheme participants sections of the appeals office’s annual report.
It also recommends that general difficulties and issues raised by the appeals office, which are directed at both applicants and farmers, should be submitted to the farmers’ charter of rights monitoring committee on an annual basis.
Efforts should also be made to have these recommendations published in the farming media, according to the committee.
IFA deputy president Richard Kennedy has welcomed the publication of the report.
Kennedy said the recommendation for an agriculture appeals review panel with an independent chair is very positive.
He said this was a key part of the IFA’s submission to the review process, which proposed a number of reforms to ensure a fully independent, fair and effective appeals system.
However, the IFA deputy president said the recommendations of the committee could have gone further, but must now be implemented without delay as farmers should have confidence in the appeals system and that their cases will be dealt with fairly, impartially and efficiently.
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An independent agriculture appeals review panel should be introduced with an independent chair, a review committee has found.
The three-person review committee was appointed last year to review the Agriculture Appeals Act 2001 and operations of the Agriculture Appeals Office.
It found that the panel should be introduced and where reviews of the decisions of appeals officers are sought, such a panel will considerably strengthen its procedures and underpin public confidence in the operation of the appeals office.
It said the panel should consist of five members: an independent chair, the director of Agriculture Appeals Office and three additional members with technical and practical expertise.
Review time
The committee also recommends the Department would report to the review panel on the length of time taken to respond to requests from the appeals office for information and files and also report summarised details of the decisions made on internal reviews by the Department.
This report should present the data annually on a regional basis.
On further reviews, the committee recommends that the current provision for further review "at any time" should be changed.
It recommends that the period within which a revision can be sought is six months from the date of decision by the appeals officer.
Code of practice
Meanwhile, the appeals office should publish a principles-based code of practice in order to provide greater transparency and assurance to stakeholders in relation to the operation and independence of the appeals office, it also recommended.
It is suggested that the office and the Department should consider including commitments to the following elements in the code of practice:
Full information – An appellant should have access to all material which the Department has supplied to an appeals officer, including the Department’s file. Contacts between an appeals officer and the parties to an appeal should also be documented and disclosed to all parties, it said. Conflicts of interest and facility to request an alternate appeals officer – The committee recommends that the process followed by the appeals office in the context of a conflict of interest in relation to any case assigned to the officer should be outlined in the code of practice. Comprehensive report on findings – The report on a finding by the appeals office should be timely and comprehensive in the interest of informing both the Department and the appellant.Communication - The appeals office should put structures in place to ensure that appellants can be advised of the progress of their appeal. Recordings of proceedings at oral hearings - In the interests of transparency, the committee recommends that the appeals office consider recording oral hearings and providing a copy to all parties to the appeals.Reporting arrangements
The committee considers that the director of the appeals office should engage with the farmers’ charter of rights monitoring committee to discuss the suggestions by the office for consideration by the Department and the suggestions for scheme applicants arising from common errors by scheme participants sections of the appeals office’s annual report.
It also recommends that general difficulties and issues raised by the appeals office, which are directed at both applicants and farmers, should be submitted to the farmers’ charter of rights monitoring committee on an annual basis.
Efforts should also be made to have these recommendations published in the farming media, according to the committee.
IFA deputy president Richard Kennedy has welcomed the publication of the report.
Kennedy said the recommendation for an agriculture appeals review panel with an independent chair is very positive.
He said this was a key part of the IFA’s submission to the review process, which proposed a number of reforms to ensure a fully independent, fair and effective appeals system.
However, the IFA deputy president said the recommendations of the committee could have gone further, but must now be implemented without delay as farmers should have confidence in the appeals system and that their cases will be dealt with fairly, impartially and efficiently.
Read more
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