The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has hit out at DAERA plans to move to a single-stage review process for claimants to area-based schemes.

The proposals were outlined in a consultation in mid-2017, with DAERA keen to drop the two-stage process, and instead put extra resources into completing a more “robust and comprehensive” stage one review. The changes were prompted by the slowness of the review process, with a stage one review often taking up to 12 months, while a stage two review could take years.

The aim now is to complete a review in under three months.

However, the UFU was among a number of organisations that argued the two-stage process should be maintained, and has suggested that these views were ignored.

“I can’t remember the last time I heard of a farmer winning a first-stage appeal. It’s an approach that stacks the deck in favour of DAERA. Farmers can kiss goodbye to fairness, transparency and independence. This is a disgraceful decision by officials now free of political oversight” said UFU president Barclay Bell.

Responding, a DAERA spokesperson rejected this claim, pointing out that the UFU, among others, had helped shape the new arrangements.

“The new process will offer greatly improved engagement with individual farmers. It will result in faster decisions, while maintaining fair, impartial and transparent consideration of the applicant’s grounds for review,” said the spokesperson.